[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12601-S12602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FIRING OF DAVID GUNN

  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I have received a press statement, 
issued moments ago, from the Amtrak National Rail Passenger Corporation 
board of directors. Four members on the board of directors represent 
membership appointed by the President. Two of them are recess 
appointments not given the stamp of approval by the Senate. The four 
members of the board of directors at Amtrak this morning decided to 
fire David Gunn, president of Amtrak.
  David Gunn is not anybody's crony. He happens to be an appointment 
that is smart, tough, with experience in the area. He has run Amtrak 
like a true champion. He ran afoul of the White House when the White 
House decided they wanted to shut down Amtrak, shut down long-distance 
trains and effectively get rid of Amtrak.
  David Gunn was the president of Amtrak. He and others fought to 
maintain rail passenger service and fought to persuade this Congress to 
fund Amtrak. The administration recommended zero funding for Amtrak. 
The Congress didn't agree. So the Congress funded Amtrak in a manner 
that would allow it to continue to be a national rail passenger system. 
Apparently, David Gunn doesn't measure up to the White House, and so 
they got the board of directors this morning to fire him. Incidentally, 
two of the recess appointments on the board of directors, one from New 
Jersey, one from Florida, will have some kind of rail passenger service 
no matter what happens to Amtrak. All those folks who live on the east 
coast, from Boston to Florida, they probably are always going to have a 
train running down that little strip on the eastern seaboard. I can 
understand these two members of the board, neither of whom were 
confirmed by the Senate, both of whom were given recess appointments by 
the President and cannot continue beyond this Congress, I can 
understand if the President or somebody in the White House said: Let's 
get rid of this David Gunn. They say: That's all right because even if 
we get rid of Amtrak, we will have rail passenger service on the east 
coast.
  I wish to say what a horrible mistake it was for the board of 
directors of Amtrak to do this. I understand where it came from. It 
came from the White House. It came from the Secretary of 
Transportation. I understand meetings were held in recent days, and the 
decision was made. That decision was carried out by the President's 
board of directors.
  I am saying this: A national rail passenger system, Amtrak, is 
beneficial to this country. In my State, 100,000 people used Amtrak 
last year. Many of those people don't have alternative transportation 
opportunities. Yet when Amtrak, the Empire Builder, in this case, runs 
from Chicago to Seattle, 100,000 North Dakotans have used it. It is an 
important part of our Nation's transportation system. But there is a 
disagreement about Amtrak. The President wants to shut it down. He 
doesn't want it. That is why he proposed no funding for it. The 
Congress, the majority from his own party, said: No, we want to fund 
it. We believe Amtrak advances this country's transportation system. We 
believe it is worthy, something we should do.
  The president of Amtrak, David Gunn, is a first-rate executive. He 
has experience. He has done a great job. I say that as a member of the 
committee that authorizes Amtrak, so I have watched this enterprise. I 
have spent time with Mr. Gunn. I have spent time with Amtrak officials. 
I know what is happening there. This guy is nobody's crony. As a 
result, he gets fired.
  The ``you are doing a great job, Brownie stuff,'' I am sick of that. 
I would like to see people who are qualified to run things running 
things in this Government. They had one running Amtrak. Today he gets 
fired because somebody got their nose out of joint and decided, 
apparently, the Congress won't allow us to shut down Amtrak so we will 
fire the president of Amtrak.
  It is a big mistake for the country. I don't know how others in 
Congress will react, but for me, this is a setback and a setback for 
those who care about rail passenger service. It was a travesty to treat 
David Gunn, an executive who came out of retirement to run Amtrak and 
who did a first-rate job, this way. Shame on those who made that 
decision. This is all about politics. It has nothing to do with 
performance. I thought, especially in the wake of what happened with 
Hurricane Katrina, maybe we would get back to performance and decide 
that when people know how to do things and organize well, they are 
appreciated. That is not the case with respect to the decision by the 
board of directors at Amtrak this morning.
  Those of us who feel that way probably won't have a chance to 
overturn this because the board of directors made the decision coming 
from the

[[Page S12602]]

Secretary of Transportation, coming from the White House, I guess. But 
I still think it is a setback for the country. I hope others know it as 
well.

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