[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 59 (Friday, May 10, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E764-E765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   STUDENT CONGRESSIONAL TOWN MEETING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 9, 2002

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, today, I recognize the outstanding work 
done by participants in my Student Congressional Town Meeting held this 
spring at the University of Vermont. These participants were part of a 
group of high school students from around Vermont who testified about 
the concerns they have as teenagers, and about what they would like to 
see government do regarding these concerns.

                     Regarding Necessity of Amtrak

                           (By Joseph Ferris)

       Thank you for allowing me to speak here.
       In the winter of 1997, Congress withheld $2.2 billion from 
     Amtrak, that had already been promised. Eventually, Congress 
     allocated the money to Amtrak, with the stipulation that 
     Amtrak achieve self-sufficiency by 2002. It is now 2002, and 
     Amtrak has yet to attain self-sufficiency, and several 
     congressional leaders, as well as the Amtrak Reform Council, 
     are calling for the privatization. In the following minutes, 
     I will explain to what the failures of achieving self-
     sufficiency can be attributed, and why such a radical idea 
     such as privatization is unnecessary for Amtrak.
       First, the costs to run Amtrak are astronomical. It costs 
     $3 million a year to maintain stations, tunnels and rails at 
     operational conditions. Since 1997, there has been a $5.8 
     billion backlog in work, in yards, equipment and technology. 
     Also, Amtrak pays $400 million to $600 million a year to 
     freight rail companies to use their tracks outside of the 
     northeast corridor.
       The funds Amtrak needs are $20 billion to repair the 
     century-and-a-half old East River and Hudson River tunnels 
     that enter into Penn Station. Also, several billion dollars 
     to implement the security systems necessary after September 
     11th. And also, in the fiscal year of 2003, Amtrak needs $1.2 
     billion to operate long-distance trains along with other 
     routes.
       Now the money Amtrak is actually given over their 31 years 
     history is trifling compared to the money that government 
     doles out to airports and roads in a singular year. Over 30 
     years, Amtrak has been given a total of $23 billion. last 
     year Amtrak got $560 million, compared to 13 billion for 
     airports and 33 billion for roads. Airlines received massive 
     bailouts after September 11th. Amtrak was given only a token 
     $100 million for security.
       Amtrak right now is caught in catch-22. It needs money to 
     fix rails and crumbling infrastructure, but Congress won't 
     give money to something they don't think will be around in a 
     few years. Therefore, the following happens. Even though new 
     trains, such as the Excel Express, are running, old rails 
     only allow it to run at top speed for 18 miles of the 452-
     mile run from Boston to DC. Amtrak could be making money if 
     the 2001 High-Speed Rail Initiative had not been killed in 
     Congress. And also, a bill allowing for tax-exempt bonds, and 
     loan guarantees for construction was pushed through the House 
     and Senate.
       Also, there is a severe philosophical and policy planning 
     issue in Washington, DC right now. Though several national 
     agencies are involved, none has ever set a policy path for 
     Amtrak. Second, Amtrak has never had a dedicated source of 
     funding that they could build around. Also, Congress expects 
     Amtrak to make a profit, while history clearly indicates the 
     exact opposite. Passenger rail was never a moneymaker. Even 
     the New York Central in its heyday, with the Twentieth 
     Century Limited, lost money on each passenger per mile. Even 
     the European high-speed lines, which are heralded as 
     blueprints for privatization, are money-losers. Thus, it 
     would be ludicrous for Amtrak, which suffers from a 
     fundamental problem--underinvestment--to then be expected to 
     turn a tidy profit. Even though Amtrak's funding has been 
     severely reduced, there are many positive signs that need to 
     be highlighted before a decision about Amtrak's fate is made.
       But first, right now, the status quo: We have wing-lock, 
     gridlock, air congestion, rising gas prices, and in some 
     major metropolitan cities, six-hour long rush hours. Also, 
     airplanes release poisonous toxins into the upper atmosphere 
     at rates astronomical compared to what trains release.
       Also, rail works. It's the safest and most reliable 
     transportation system during

[[Page E765]]

     storms. In the past decade, light rail and freight expansion 
     have worked. Also, passenger trains are two to eight times 
     more fuel-efficient than planes, and much more economical.
       The Pacific Northwest Corridor, which is run by Amtrak and 
     the state governments of Oregon and Washington, has seen a 
     dramatic increase over the past decade, after infusion of 
     state money was allowed to build a high-speed rail corridor. 
     Also, sleeping cars, which are often referred to as archaic, 
     and for train-bus alone, experienced an increase of 19 
     percent over last year's statistics. February of 2002 was the 
     sixth straight month that rail ridership was up and air 
     ridership went down.
       Amtrak handles 40 percent of all traffic in the New York-
     Washington, DC, corridor. If high-speed rail corridors were 
     developed in Florida, the southeast and Texas, per se, they 
     could garner up to 20 to 30 percent of all traffic in that 
     area. Ridership from 1978 to 2001 increased 24 percent, while 
     funding was drastically cut by almost 80 percent.
       What should be done? I believe a one-cent tax should be 
     instituted on all gasoline purchases, as well as a one-and-a-
     half cent tax on all domestic airplane tickets, which would 
     give Amtrak a sustained source of income coming out to about 
     $3.1 billion a year.
       Also, Amtrak should be given $50 billion grants spread over 
     two years to replace antiquated signals, rails, equipment and 
     technology. Congress shall reintroduce the $12 billion high-
     speed rail initiative, and will follow the DOT's report on 
     high-speed rail corridors, which indoctrinated eleven 
     corridors in 33 states. A system of 80 percent matching funds 
     will be established to match funds invested by state and 
     local government; because, right now, states and local 
     governments get zero percent matching funds, while for 
     highway they get almost a hundred percent.
       An independent committee will be formed to find timesaving 
     and performance-enhancing changes, such as customs agents 
     will be put aboard international trains, and will check 
     passenger IDs at each respective station that the passenger 
     gets on, instead of at the border, which causes a backlog of 
     about three hours.
       Also, mail cars, which in the status quo are put on after 
     the train is boarded in the yard, which costs another two 
     hours for each train, will now be added to the train when it 
     is put together in the yard, so there will be a flow from the 
     station to point B.
       Thank you very much.

                         Regarding Child Labor

   (By Colin Robinson, Marcia Lo Monoco, Sarah Kunz, and Delia Kipp)

       COLIN ROBINSON. Good morning, Congressman Sanders and 
     Professor Gutman.
       Our testimony is going to begin with a description of the 
     problem of child labor, and then we're going to move on to an 
     explanation of the causes of child labor, then possible 
     solutions, and wrapping up with what the Child Labor 
     Education Act, CLEA, has done in Guatemala.
       MARCIA LO MONOCO. Exploitative child labor is when children 
     work under conditions that are hazardous to their physical 
     and/or mental health, when they are deprived of an 
     opportunity to get an education, and not paid a liveable 
     wage. Once children begin to work, sometimes as early as the 
     age of 4, their chances to change the future are very small.
       It is common to think that child labor is a problem in 
     Third World countries, but it is also a very real problem in 
     the United States. One million children in the U.S. pick the 
     produce we eat every day. There are an estimated 250,000 
     sweat shops in American cities. But child labor is a global 
     problem.
       The most prevalent type of child labor is agricultural 
     work. Children work in fields for long, hard hours, and are 
     exposed to hazardous chemicals. Children also work in 
     manufacturing, construction, mining, the sex trade, and 
     bonded labor. Bonded labor is when children are sold by their 
     parents to manufacturers, where they are sometimes chained to 
     their machines or locked in workrooms. Child labor is a 
     global problem which prevents educational opportunities and 
     continues the cycle of poverty and deprivation.
       SARAH KUNZ. Child labor is one of the most heinous human 
     rights violations occurring today. It can be thought of as a 
     fire sparked by the oppressive cyclical nature of capitalism 
     and fueled by corporate greed and corporate imperialism. 
     American megacorporations such as Nike, Disney and 
     Universityware exploit Third World economies through promises 
     of mass employment. Instead, mass poverty ensues, due to 
     subpoverty wages.
       The frightening phenomenon that is globalization creates 
     homogenous global markets driven by low wages and high profit 
     margins. New global trade agreements and organizations such 
     as NAFTA, WTO, the IMF, and pending free-trade areas of the 
     Americas in effect declare labor laws barriers to trade. 
     Union-busting in sweat shops, mines and fields all around the 
     world destroy democratic principles at their roots.
       The oppressive nature of capitalism inherently creates such 
     conditions as poverty and inopportunity. The child population 
     is easily manipulated and often exemplifies the most 
     desperate of the human condition. Due to the plight of the 
     economically distressed, many children have no other choice 
     than to work.
       COLIN ROBINSON. The issue of a solution to child labor is 
     one that is intimately intertwined with the global economy. 
     However, the exploitation and abuse of innocent children 
     cannot be outrightly ignored. A solution will come out of 
     hard work and education. We must educate people about the 
     human rights abuses, about the four-year-olds carrying twenty 
     pounds of bricks, about the young boys and girls forced to 
     work the streets, selling their bodies for sex. We need to 
     create a conscious consumer, starting at a young age, a 
     consumer who will think twice before buying goods made by 
     children.
       Furthermore, we must appeal to lawmakers, lobbyists and 
     corporate officers to instate rules giving children their 
     rights. Through letters, we have a voice. The 1998 bonded 
     labor act, written by you, Congressman Sanders, was the first 
     step in this branch of change. Finally, the fortunate youth 
     of the industrialized world can unite to help their distant 
     peers. Through student organizations like ours, CLEA, Child 
     Labor Education in Action, the youth have a voice. It gives 
     them a pulpit from which would be heard.
       The child laborers of our world need a voice. So educate 
     yourself and speak out.
       DELIA KIPP. In April of 2001, sixteen students from Child 
     Labor Education in Action traveled to Pasac Segundo in 
     western highlands of Guatemala. The people of the Pasac 
     Segundo are Mayans and victims of extraordinary poverty. This 
     is an agricultural community, and here is where the children 
     work, in the fields surrounding their homes. This is a place 
     where the land is rich and the people are poor.
       The children of the Pasac Segundo had no way of breaking 
     the vicious poverty cycle until two years ago, when their 
     parents and other community members joined together to start 
     a school. We went to Pasac Segundo to help them build a new 
     school. Alongside adults and children of the village, we 
     cleared the land of stone and leveled the ground. We dug 
     foundations and constructed rebar frames to reinforce cement 
     and bricks.
       We left with unbreakable ties and eagerness to continue to 
     support the school. We have continued to fund-raise during 
     the past school year. We held concerts, a benefit dinner, as 
     well as many other successful activities. In total, we have 
     given Pasac Segundo over $6,000. In conjunction with many 
     area elementary and high schools, we have collected school, 
     health supplies, and shoes for children of Pasac Segundo. We 
     are extremely excited and proud to announce that the school 
     in Guatemala should be finished by the end of this month. We 
     also invite students to learn more about our building project 
     in Guatemala and our organization by visiting table in lobby 
     or http://www.clea.sit.edu.
 COLIN ROBINSON. And I'd like to thank you, Congressman 
     Sanders, for allowing us to be here.

     

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