[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 158 (Wednesday, November 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14534-S14535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. 
        Cleland, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Biden, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Kohl, Mr. 
        Specter, Mr. Robb, Mr. Leahy, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. 
        Torricelli, Mr. L. Chafee, Mr. Graham, Mr. Kennedy, Ms. 
        Mikulski, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Levin, and Mrs. 
        Hutchison):
  S. 1900. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 
credit to holders of qualified bonds issued by Amtrak, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Finance.


                     high-speed rail investment act

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, overcrowding on our highways and in 
our skies is almost at the crisis point. We're spending billions of 
dollars each year in wasted gas and wasted time because there are fewer 
and fewer ways to get somewhere quickly and comfortably.
  We're not going to solve that problem by simply building new roads or 
airports. People don't want airports in their backyards, and there just 
isn't enough space in many parts of the country for new roads. Besides, 
new airports and new roads cost billions. And they become obsolete 
almost as quickly as we build them.
  Instead of wasting money on ineffective short-term solutions, we 
should be investing in a transportation plan that promises lasting 
benefits far into the next century.
  High-speed rail is the future of transportation in this country. 
Train travel is comfortable, reliable, and it's getting faster all the 
time. The rail lines are already there. All we need to do is bring them 
up to 21st-century standards.
  The legislation I'm introducing today would make a serious investment 
in the future of high-speed rail. And an investment in high-speed rail 
is an investment in less crowded highways and airports, cleaner air, 
and a new level of productivity for millions of Americans whose jobs 
and lifestyles depend on efficient transportation.
  Mr. President, I'm willing to bet that every Member of this Senate 
has at least one recent memory of a plane flight that went horribly 
wrong. Missed connections. Hours spent inside an overheated plane stuck 
on the tarmac. Lost baggage. I know I've had plenty of experiences like 
that.
  And even when everything goes according to plan, air travel is 
uncomfortable at best. You almost have to know yoga just to cram 
yourself into one of those tiny seats.
  Commuting by car isn't any better. Parts of Interstate 95 regularly 
turn into parking lots during week-day rush hours. And all this 
congestion can lead to truly life-threatening situations. Traffic 
accidents. Higher pollution levels. Explosions of road rage that 
actually lead people to pull guns on each other on the highway.
  Land and financial resources are scarce and we need to make better 
use of what we already have. Our rail lines are there, ready to help 
solve the overcrowding problems that are making our other 
transportation options less and less appealing. But for the most part, 
U.S. transportation policy has ignored the potential of high-speed rail 
and our rail system has fallen far below the standards set in nearly 
every other developed nation on the planet.
  My legislation seeks to change that by authorizing Amtrak to sell $10 
billion in high-speed rail bonds over ten years to develop high-speed 
corridors across the nation. This leveraging of private sector 
investment will allow Amtrak to complete the Northeast Corridor high-
speed project and provide the funding needed to bring faster, better 
service to federally designated high-speed corridors in other regions.
  These corridors cover states in the Northeast, the Southeast, the 
Midwest, the Gulf Coast, and the Pacific Coast. Our aim is to take what 
we've learned in the Northeast and provide it to the rest of the 
nation.
  The Federal Government would subsidize these bonds by providing tax 
credits to bondholders in lieu of interest payments. And state matching 
funds would help to secure repayment of the bond principal.
  Mr. President, the money we don't spend on high-speed rail today we 
will have to spend tomorrow--on things like highway construction and 
pollution controls.
  Investing in high speed rail is not only good transportation policy, 
it is good land use policy. Constructing an airport or highway outside 
of city limits promotes sprawl, robs cities of valuable revenue, and 
increases the pressure for even more road construction.

[[Page S14535]]

Rail travel, on the other hand, is downtown-to-downtown, not suburb-to-
suburb. Rail transportation encourages efficient, ``smart growth'' land 
use patterns, preserves downtown economies, protects open space, and 
improves air quality.
  Furthermore, passenger rail stations serve as focal points for 
commercial development, promoting downtown redevelopment and generating 
increased retail business and tax revenue. Making efficient and cost-
effective use of existing infrastructures is an increasingly important 
goal and one which this legislation will help achieve.
  Mr. President, high-speed rail is already proving itself. In 1999, 
Amtrak's Metroliner train between Washington and New York set its third 
consecutive ridership record with over two million passengers, and 
Amtrak reported the highest total revenues in the corporation's 28-year 
history. The reason is simple--people are becoming less and less 
satisfied with traveling by plane. And more and more frustrated with 
gridlock on our highways.
  You can see why. The summer of 1999 was the most delay-plagued season 
in history for airlines. And these delays are expensive. In 1998, air 
traffic control delays cost the airlines and passengers a combined $4.5 
billion.
  Unfortunately, this problem is only going to get worse. The number of 
people flying is increasing significantly. In 1998 there were 643 
million airplane boardings in the U.S., up 25 percent from just five 
years ago. The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that boardings 
will increase to 917 million by 2008. Our current aviation system can't 
handle this demand. We need a quality passenger rail system to relieve 
some of this pressure.
  Passenger rail can make a difference, particularly between cities 
located on high-speed corridors. I went back and looked at the list of 
the 31 airports expected to experience more than 20,000 passenger hours 
of flight delays in 2007. The vast majority of these airports--more 
than three out of four--are located on a high-speed rail corridor. If 
the funding envisioned in this legislation were made available to 
develop these corridors, we could take much of the burden of short 
flights off our aviation system. That would allow airlines to 
concentrate their limited slots and resources on longer-distance 
flights.
  Traffic congestion costs commuters even more--an estimated $74 
billion a year in lost productivity and wasted fuel. These commuters, 
even the ones who continue to drive, will be well served by an 
investment in high-speed rail corridors. Amtrak takes 18,000 cars a day 
off the roads between Philadelphia and New York. Without Amtrak, these 
congested roads would be in far worse shape. Commuters in other parts 
of the country should be able to benefit from high-quality, fast rail 
service that takes cars off the road and helps to improve the 
performance of our overall transportation system.
  This bill does not just benefit those who ride trains. Everyone who 
drives a car on congested highways or suffers from delays while using 
our overburdened aviation system will benefit from the rail investment 
called for in this legislation. I can tell you, as a former businessman 
who helped run a very profitable company, that high-speed rail is a 
smart investment. And it's an investment that deserves support from 
Congress.
                                 ______