[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 85 (Monday, June 24, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5941-S5942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 AMTRAK

  Mr. CORZINE. Madam President, I rise to reinforce some of the dialog 
we have had on the floor with regard to Amtrak. This is a major 
economic issue for our Nation--not just the Northeast corridor.
  We have enormous numbers of interconnected elements of our economy 
which are dependent on the functioning of inner-city rail 
transportation, and certainly in the Northeast corridor where I come 
from, the most densely populated State in the Nation. There are almost 
300,000 commuters a day using Amtrak or Amtrak-related facilities that 
move in and out of Penn Station and the New York metropolitan region. 
There are 82,000 daily commuters in New Jersey traffic.
  These folks are involved in the financial affairs of this Nation. We 
are going to create havoc in operations in our metropolitan regions of 
New York City if we have a shutdown of this highway transportation. I 
think it is absolutely essential that we get long-term Amtrak reform.
  What I want to speak about tonight is that we need not create a 
crisis with a short-term shutdown, which is going to impact an enormous 
number of innocent bystanders, to get to long-term reform. The 
President, the Transportation Department, and the Congress need to sit 
down and put together a long-term plan with regard to how we are going 
to reform Amtrak.
  I don't think it should be done at the expense of a part of our 
country that is already suffering. It would spread across the country 
and undermine the confidence of our already shaken economic expansion. 
We have seen enormous erosion in a whole series of different levels--
the stock market being the most obvious reminder, but at levels that 
are approaching where we were right after September 11. It strikes me 
that we don't need to throw another log on the fire and undermine the 
economic security of our Nation.

  That is why I think we need to have a short-term solution with loan 
guarantees, with the administration and Congress working together to 
implement a solution to keep this railroad running. We don't need a 
train ride. What we need to do is make sure we are supportive of our 
economy.
  I am very fearful that if we don't move forward with this short-run 
solution, we may never get to the long-run reform of Amtrak, which will 
be deteriorating substantially in the interim while it is shut down.
  Let me give you two facts. It costs $50 million to shut this entity 
down and $200 million to keep it running for the remainder of the year. 
It would cost almost $1 billion to bring Amtrak back and operating if 
it were shut down. That is on a nationwide basis.
  I think that is too much of an investment to make in a risky 
proposition of getting to reform without the kind of debate we have 
had. I hope we can do that on a thoughtful, measured basis in the days 
and weeks ahead in this 107th Congress. I don't think it should be 
formulated on the basis of a crisis brought about by a temporary 
shutdown.
  I want to make sure that I am registered very strongly for the people 
of New Jersey, for the people of the metropolitan New York region, and 
for the Nation in support of our economy by making sure that Amtrak 
continues to run until we have a thoughtful, long-term solution.
  I thank my colleague from Arizona. I appreciate it. I hope I stayed 
under 4 minutes. I will come back on another day.

[[Page S5942]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
Arizona is recognized.

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