[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 140 (Thursday, October 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10781-S10782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             AMTRAK CRISIS

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, Amtrak is at a crisis point. Actually, 
it faces two crises: a strike and the financial crisis brought about by 
failure to reform the railroad. Reform is a prerequisite to accessing 
the much-needed capital Congress provided for the railroad in the 
Balanced Budget bill. Congress decided when that bill was passed that 
it did not make sense to provide that money unless the railroad was 
able to act more like a business. I strongly support intercity 
passenger rail but believe that reform is essential before putting this 
major financial commitment in place.
  First, and most immediately, Amtrak is facing a possible national 
shut down because of an impasse between the Brotherhood of Maintenance 
of Way Employees (BMWE) and Amtrak over wages and work rules. At 
question is Amtrak's ability to pay for any increase in wages during 
the difficult financial times the railroad is currently going through.
  Using the Railway Labor Act, the President has named a Presidential 
Emergency Board to recommend a solution to the dispute. It concluded 
its investigation and made its recommendations. The parties are now in 
a 30 day ``cooling off'' period to consider the recommendations. If no 
agreement is reached by the end of this period, which falls on October 
22nd, we could have a strike or a management ``lockout of employees''. 
Either action would have the effect of shutting down all commuter 
operations, as well as other services, across the country. A strike 
would not be confined to the Northeast Corridor, but would affect all 
of the passengers in the entire Amtrak system.
  Amtrak's largest operations are in the Northeast Corridor, where a 
large number of commuter authorities between Washington, New York and 
Boston depend on that infrastructure to operate their railroads.
  They include: the MBTA or Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 
CONNDOT, Long Island Railroad, NJ Transit, the SEPTA or Southeastern 
Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, and the two local services, the 
MARC or Maryland Commuter service and the VRE or Virginia Railway 
Express. Each one of these commuter authorities use the Northeast 
Corridor. If Amtrak cannot operate the Corridor, these services come to 
a halt. In addition, freight carriers such as Conrail who use the 
Corridor would be seriously affected, because Amtrak operates much of 
the track on the Northeast corridor.
  Mr. President, let me put this in perspective. When a 60-day cooling 
off period recently expired in California, the San Francisco Bay Area's 
commuter railroad was shut down by a strike which stranded 270,000 
commuters.
  Dispatchers at Norfolk Southern, which carries commuters between 
Manassas, Virginia, and Washington, DC recently called a ``wildcat'' 
strike for three hours and the VRE had to cancel one-half of its 
afternoon trains.
  But if Amtrak is shut down, it won't be one commuter authority 
paralyzed as we saw in San Francisco or Virginia, it will be many. It 
won't be thousands of commuters, it will be millions.
  If this happens, the strike in San Francisco will pale by comparison.
  Mr. President, my colleagues need to be aware of this situation, 
because the Senate needs to address it head-on before we leave in 
November.
  Congress has to act because the future of America's railroad depends 
on it. Amtrak is simply in a no-win situation. Amtrak cannot afford the 
terms of the PEB and it cannot afford a strike.
  The PEB recommended a package of wage increases recently implemented 
by the profitable freight railroads. The freight deal for the BMWE 
would cost Amtrak $25 million in FY98. If it were extended to all of 
Amtrak's employees, it would cost Amtrak $250 million. I seriously 
doubt that Congress would appropriate funds for these wages. As it is, 
the railroad is currently borrowing just to meet existing daily 
expenses.
  Mr. President, my colleagues have to be realistic. I look forward to 
working with both the Majority Leader and Senate Labor Committee 
Chairman to find the right solution to this dilemma.

  Mr. President, in that spirit, I plan to move forward on Amtrak's 
reform legislation. I have had extensive discussions with the Majority 
Leader on this matter and he feels the same way.
  Mr. LOTT. The Senator from Texas is correct. Amtrak is an important 
part of the national transportation system, not just for the Northeast 
Corridor, but for the entire interstate passenger rail system. This 
summer, in the Taxpayer Relief Act, Congress provided Amtrak with a 
secure source of funding for capital assets--some $2.3 billion for 
infrastructure. I worked hard for those funds, against considerable 
opposition, as did the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the 
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation.
  Rail transportation will continue to play a critical role in the 
American intermodal passenger system through the 21st century. However, 
rail transportation of passengers cannot be done without federal and 
state funding. It simply cannot be done. Just as commercial air 
transportation of passengers would have never gotten off the ground 
without federal and state assistance, rail transportation of passengers 
will not progress unless Congress provides infrastructure assistance.
  Congress is willing to support Amtrak, on the condition that Amtrak 
be reformed. That is why we insisted that not one dime of that $2.3 
billion be spent until a reform package is approved by Congress.
  If Amtrak is to survive, it is critical that we complete our work on 
the authorizing legislation. However, the Senate still has some 
colleagues who are holding up the authorization bill over labor 
provisions. These provisions are essentially identical to language that 
labor supported just last year. Now some of our colleagues find them 
unacceptable. Organized labor has joined the Administration in creating 
a moving target. If this continues, Amtrak may never get the capital we 
provided.
  Mr. President, there will be no capital, I repeat, no $2.3 billion in 
capital funds provided until an authorization is enacted.
  I support a national rail system, but I will not support continued 
inefficient use of taxpayers money.
  If Amtrak is ever going to operate like a business, it must have 
flexibility. It needs freedom from federal laws

[[Page S10782]]

that tie its hands at the collective bargaining table. Amtrak's labor 
rules must be the same as the private sector's, just like in other 
transportation modes. Labor's unwillingness to negotiate makes it 
appear that severance packages are more important than rail passenger 
service.
  Mayor John Robert Smith, of Meridian, Mississippi, has noted that 
rail labor's message seems to be that they are more willing to allow 
Amtrak to go under and sacrifice all 23,000 Amtrak employees to 
unemployment than to allow collective bargaining in the reform bill. 
Like me, he is appalled that the rail union leadership, supposedly 
representing its workers, would abandon them for its own purposes. 
Equally amazing is the fact that the Amtrak reform language is language 
that the union leadership itself once drafted, supported, and came in 
my office to ask me to support. And I did.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. The Majority Leader has summed up this situation 
exactly. If we really care about our national rail passenger system, 
the communities that it serves, the employees that work there and the 
role it plays in our transportation infrastructure, then we need to 
take up and pass the Amtrak authorization bill that has been reported 
from the Commerce Committee. If the Senate wants to give Amtrak the 
tools it needs to run a national system and collectively bargain with 
the employees, the Senate needs to act now.
  The clock is ticking and time is running out. Congress needs to act 
or there most likely will be a national rail strike, crippling 
transportation of people and goods across the country. Congress also 
needs to act on the Amtrak reforms to ensure it receives adequate 
capital funding and becomes solvent. If Congress doesn't act, there 
will be no national rail passenger system.
  Mr. LOTT. Senator Hutchison and I are committed to bring the Amtrak 
reform bill to the floor, but not against a swell of opposition. It's a 
very clear cut choice. My colleagues need to decide if they want a 
national rail system or not.


                        HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I join 
with my colleagues in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic 
Heritage Month pays a special tribute to a group of Americans that have 
made important and lasting contributions to this country's political, 
cultural and intellectual life.
  Hispanic Americans are people of diverse background. Their forebears 
came from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Central and South America, and 
Spain--at different times and for different reasons. Nonetheless, they 
share a common culture and a deeply held belief in the American Dream. 
They came here to share in the freedom and prosperity that we have 
achieved as a nation and have added greatly to that richness.
  It is true that Hispanic-Americans faced discrimination in this 
country. In recent years, however, we have made great strides to 
eliminate legal and societal barriers to their full integration into 
American life. Since the passage of laws barring employment 
discrimination, Hispanics have made great advancements economically 
and, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, have increased their 
participation in the political process. There are currently 17 members 
of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
  Just recently, a great Hispanic Congressional leader, Congressman 
Henry B. Gonzalez, announced his retirement to the great sadness of his 
colleagues. Henry Gonzalez has served as the dean of the Hispanic 
Caucus and is the former chairman, and now ranking member, of the 
Committee on Banking and Financial Services.
  I proudly worked with him when I served in the House of 
Representatives and witnessed for myself his hard work and commitment 
to doing what is right. Dean Gonzalez has given 36 years of dedicated 
service to his constituents in Texas, the Hispanic community and the 
American people. He came to Washington in 1961, after serving in the 
San Antonio City Council and the Texas State Legislature, and was the 
first Hispanic Congressman ever elected from the State of Texas. And 
back in December, 1976, Dean Gonzalez, with 4 other members of 
Congress, founded the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
  Dean Gonzalez has served as a leader and trail blazer for Hispanic-
Americans and an inspiration to all Americans. He demonstrated to all 
of us that, as a nation, we are capable of coming together, of 
overcoming discrimination, and of celebrating the cultural bounty 
brought by people of all backgrounds. When he leaves the House later 
this year, I know that he will be sorely missed by his colleagues in 
the House of Representatives and by those of us in the Senate who had 
the good fortune to work with him.
  Dean Gonzalez is just one of many great Hispanic-Americans. I am 
proud to add my tribute to these Americans and thank them for enriching 
our social, intellectual and artistic life.

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