[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 4, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3083-S3084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        COMMENDING LINDA MORGAN

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, I want to pay tribute to an 
outstanding public servant, Linda Morgan, as she prepares to leave the 
Surface Transportation Board next month. She has been a Commissioner of 
the Board, and its predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, 
since 1994, much of that time as Chairman. As such, she demonstrated 
real leadership, presiding when there were difficult years for the 
railroad industry as many companies merged.
  I know Linda's excellent work firsthand. She served for 15 years as a 
professional staff member with the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation, and I was proud to name her the first 
female General Counsel to the Committee. It is fair to say that Linda 
Morgan is responsible for much of the legislation that established the 
framework for today's surface transportation system.
  Last month, the Washington Post interviewed Linda, seeking out her 
views on the railroad industry. I think it would do all members of this 
body well to read what this dedicated model of public service had to 
say.
  I ask to print the following article in the Record.
  The article follows:

               [From the Washington Post, Feb. 27, 2003]

                Railroad Regulator Linda Morgan Resigns

                           (By Don Phillips)

       Linda J. Morgan, the federal official who saw the railroad 
     industry through a decade of turbulent mergers, said she will 
     resign from the Surface Transportation Board on April 8, 
     almost nine months before her term expires.
       Morgan, a Democrat who had a cordial relationship with Bush 
     administration officials, had been asked to remain as 
     chairman until the administration could name a replacement, a 
     process that took a year. Roger P. Nober, a Transportation 
     Department official, was named chairman of the three-person 
     board in December. Morgan's departure as a member had been 
     expected. She said she will not decide on a future career 
     until after she leaves.
       Chairman of that board and its predecessor, the Interstate 
     Commerce Commission, since March 23, 1995, Morgan presided 
     over the Union Pacific-Southern Pacific merger in 1996 that 
     resulted in a meltdown in rail service nationwide, and the 
     1999 division of Conrail between Norfolk Southern and CSX 
     Transportation, which created serious service problems that 
     were not solved for months. Those systems have recovered from 
     their problems and service appears to be improving.
       The Surface Transportation Board, in addition to approving 
     rail mergers, also has some powers in regulating the 
     commercial end of the railroad industry.
       Morgan said she believes that the railroad industry has 
     emerged from the merger period better, because the companies 
     learned to pay closer attention to their customers and to 
     day-by-day operations.
       ``This period without mergers has been good for the 
     industry,'' she said. ``For a time, mergers were the answer 
     to everything.''
       But Morgan said she fears for the future of freight rail 
     because the railroads, shippers, Congress and states are 
     polarized over whether government should impose conditions to 
     guarantee greater competition, which would cause freight 
     rates to fall. Such ``open access'' proposals could hurt 
     customers more than they help, she said.

[[Page S3084]]

       Everyone is trying to gain narrow advantage rather than 
     engaging in a debate on what role railroads should play in 
     the future, she said.
       Morgan said that freight railroads, although more 
     successful than ever, do not yet earn enough to pay for the 
     cost of maintaining and expanding their infrastructure. But 
     she said the railroads may have a difficult time investing in 
     infrastructure they would need to move more freight in the 
     future, if some customers and Congress continue to push for 
     even lower rates.
       ``Railroads can't be all things to all people,'' she said. 
     ``They can't be giving people lower rates but then sustaining 
     the network they have in place today and opening up their 
     line to commuters for some sort of low cost. You can't do it 
     all. Somehow the finances have to make sense.''
       Unless there is a comprehensive and sensible debate, Morgan 
     said, Congress and shippers may some day find that their only 
     two choices are to let the industry shrink or to let the 
     federal government take over the railroads or railroad 
     infrastructure at a high cost.
       ``The customers want lower rates,'' she said. ``But do they 
     also understand that over time, over some period of time, if 
     all these rates keep coming down, then there won't be the 
     revenue coming into the system to sustain the network that 
     exists today in the private sector? Then will that mean the 
     customers will lose service that they don't want to lose, and 
     will they be prepared for that?
       ``Will members of Congress understand that if we go in 
     certain directions from a policy position, and that ends up 
     with a situation where there are not enough revenues coming 
     into the system to sustain this rail network in the private 
     sector, will they then be prepared to do what's necessary to 
     do the next thing? . . . I want to make sure that everybody 
     understands that is the challenge for the industry.''

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