[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 30 (Thursday, March 7, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E310-E311]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BRING BART TO THE AIRPORT

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 7, 1996

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, last week the House Appropriations 
Subcommittee on Transportation heard testimony regarding funding of 
mass transit projects across the country. The subcommittee heard from 
the united bipartisan Bay Area congressional delegation which supports 
funding the San Francisco Bar Area Rapid Transit [BART] extension to 
San Francisco International Airport. As you know, this Congress has 
supported this project over the years, and I am happy to report that 
BART is now ready to move forward on construction to provide tens of 
thousands of travelers quick, convenient, and reliable access to the 
nation's fifth busiest airport.
  The BART extension to San Francisco International Airport is a 
longstanding regional priority with overwhelming and broad support from 
the public. Voters in San Mateo County have twice approved ballot 
measures directing local funds and taxes to be used for the airport 
extension and all but one of the cities impacted by the project have 
passed resolutions in support of this project. We have fought the hard 
battles at the local level. We have reached a regional consensus. We 
are ready to move forward on the most important and necessary 
transportation link in the San Francisco Bay area.
  Mr. Speaker, local officials and residents in the bay area have made 
the tough choices in planning and providing local financing for the 
BART extension to SFO Airport. These decisions were made in an open and 
public access process at the local level and should be supported here 
in Washington. I would like to urge my colleagues to continue their 
support of the BART extension to the San Francisco International 
Airport.
  A recent editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle summed up this 
issue brilliantly. I respectfully request that this editorial be placed 
in the Record for the benefit of my colleagues.

[[Page E311]]

                         Don't Stop This Train

       Bart's plans to reach San Francisco International Airport 
     by the year 2000 have run into two potentially significant 
     adversaries in the nation's capital. One is the airline 
     industry, which has been concerned that the airport might try 
     to raise landing fees or slap on a ticket surcharge to cover 
     its $200 million share.
       Although the airline industry carries clout on Capitol 
     Hill, we are confident that Congress will not be swayed by a 
     selfish pitch against a project of such importance. Besides, 
     the industry may eventually realize that this huge step in 
     convenience to its passengers is well worth a relatively 
     modest investment.
       A more unsettling development is the effort of a handful of 
     peninsula naysayers to resurrect the battle they clearly lost 
     at the local level. Their testimony before the House 
     Appropriations Transportation subcommittee last week may have 
     given some legislators the impression that the Bay Area is 
     still debating how to best provide mass-transit service to 
     the airport.
       And Congress may be reluctant to commit $700 million when 
     the issue remains unsettled.
       Well, the matter is settled.
       After years of torturous deliberation, there now is an 
     overwhelming consensus on a plan that would put a BART 
     station just outside the International Terminal. It would get 
     at least half the passengers within a five-minute walk to a 
     ticket counter and it would have a light-rail connection to 
     other terminals. It is a good compromise.
       It's time to get on with it. Opponents of the airport BART 
     station are living in a dream world if they think that 
     derailing the project will suddenly lead Congress to shift 
     the money over to Cal-Train. The proposed $87 million fiscal 
     1997 federal contribution to the BART project would almost 
     surely be scooped up by another legislator for another 
     region.
       We trust that the subcommittee members, having seen the 
     strong support of six Bay Area members of Congress, will 
     realize that the fighting is finished. This train is on the 
     move.

                          ____________________