[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 128 (Friday, October 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENACTMENT OF THE STAGGERS ACT

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                            HON. BUD SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 12, 2000

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, twenty years ago, on October 14, 1980, 
President Jimmy Carter signed the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 into law. 
This landmark legislation transformed the nation's freight railroad 
industry from a state of physical deterioration and widespread 
bankruptcy to the modern system we have today that is the envy of the 
world.
  In the 1970s, after years of federal regulation that did not allow 
the railroad industry to compete effectively with other modes of 
transportation, the railroads were in severe decline. Twenty percent of 
railroad mileage was being operated in bankruptcy. Capital investment 
was not being made. Infrastructure suffered from deferred maintenance, 
and accidents were on the rise.
  The Staggers Act partially deregulated the railroads and freed them 
to operate in the free market system like other industries. It allowed 
the railroads to make their own business decisions, to establish their 
own routes, to set rates based on market demand and to invest in new 
technologies and infrastructure.
  Our nation's economy has benefited enormously from the Staggers Act. 
Lower railroad rates mean consumers pay less for the goods they buy. 
Railroad customers have more money to invest in their own businesses. 
Fewer accidents mean a safer working environment for railroad 
employees.
  Mr. Speaker, twenty years ago the enactment of the Staggers Act set 
the stage for the renewal of the railroad industry and today our 
nation's economy continues to benefit from this important law.

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