[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 7, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S1120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HIGH SPEED RAIL IMPROVEMENT ACT

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I wish to express my gratitude to the 
leadership of both parties for making good on their commitment to make 
high speed rail a priority early in the 107th Congress. The support of 
both Senator Lott and Senator Daschle and a majority of our colleagues 
will send a message that Congress is serious about establishing rail as 
a viable alternative to our crowded roads and skies.
  This innovative finance bill will provide a dedicated source of 
capital funding for high-speed rail that will not subtract from the 
highway or aviation trust funds, or general appropriations. This is not 
a handout. We will use a modest Federal investment to leverage $12 
billion in rail improvements. Amtrak's congressionally mandated 
requirement to become operationally self sufficient is not affected by 
this legislation.
  Air traffic congestion is at an all time high and will only worsen 
over the next ten years. U.S. airports will have to deal with one 
billion annual passengers in less than ten years. Already, one in every 
four flights is delayed or canceled. Meanwhile, highway expansion has 
become extremely expensive and environmentally sensitive, as our major 
arteries grow ever more clogged with traffic.
  We desperately need a third leg to our national transportation 
strategy. I believe passenger rail can function in that role.
  High-speed rail is a reliable, efficient alternative to both driving 
and air travel--particularly over distances of 500 miles or less. 
Investment in high-speed rail will ease overcrowding and delays at the 
airports that have the worst problems. Of the 20 airports with the most 
flight delays in 1999, 18 were located on high-speed rail corridors. 
And most of the airports projected to have the worst flight delay 
problems over the next ten years are located on high-speed rail 
corridors.
  There has never been so much support at the national, state and local 
levels for such an innovative rail financing measure. Last year, we had 
67 United States Senators, 171 U.S. House Members, the National 
Governors' Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors, National League of 
Cities, National Conference of State Legislatures, the environmental 
community, organized labor and the business community--including such 
notables as Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley Dean 
Witter--all support the High Speed Rail Investment Act. Today, we enjoy 
similar support, with more than half of the Senate joining us in 
sponsoring this landmark legislation.
  High-speed rail projects are ready to go in more than 20 states 
across the country. States that have promoted passenger rail for years 
and those which are just now investing in rail alternatives will 
benefit from this Federal commitment to partnership in passenger rail 
funding. The 2001 version of the bill provides sufficient financing to 
ensure that these new corridors can enjoy the benefits of passenger 
rail.
  The United States currently invests less than $600 million on its 
rail infrastructure, while spending $80 billion per year on highways 
and $19 billion per year on aviation. We even spend $1 billion every 
year clearing road kills and $1.4 billion salting icy roads, but only a 
fraction of that amount on rail.
  Where adding new highway and aviation capacity is now prohibitively 
expensive, incremental improvements in rail capacity can provide a 
viable alternative for intercity travelers who face rising congestion 
on existing highways. In fact, every dollar invested in new rail 
capacity can deliver 5 to 10 times as much capacity as a dollar 
invested in new highway capacity, depending on the location. A 
comparable mile of new high-speed track is estimated to cost about $8 
million per track-mile--the equivalent of about 450 passengers per hour 
for every $1 million invested.
  With this Federal investment, we can increase speeds, further reduce 
trip times and better compete with airlines. In states like Texas, 
these funds will be used to increase train speeds of existing Amtrak 
trains, and to establish better, more reliable service along our three 
corridors.

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