[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10840]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CUTTING FUNDING FOR A GROWING AMTRAK IS WORST POSSIBLE RESPONSE

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, as we speak this morning, the 
administration is distributing a statement that will cut ground out 
from underneath the efforts of Amtrak to deal with its $200 million 
shortfall. They are ignoring the wishes of over 160 Members of this 
House who have joined with us, and a majority of the Senate, to support 
the bipartisan compromise that has been worked out by the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Quinn) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
Clement).
  We can long debate the merits of their destructive proposals to gut 
long runs across the country, to privatize the most profitable lines, 
and to abandon any semblance of a rail system in this country, but 
every Member should push back now to protect Amtrak.
  The irony of our giving $5 billion to the airlines after we give them 
$11 billion in subsidy, despite declining passengers, yet we are going 
to cut Amtrak off when it is growing, is the worst possible message at 
the worst possible time. I hope this House will reject the proposals 
from the administration.

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