[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11102-11103]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 AMTRAK

  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I rise to talk about Amtrak. As we did 
last week, this morning we hear on the news that there is a proposal to 
shut down our Amtrak rail passenger service in the middle of this week. 
Why? Because Amtrak needs the resources to continue and lacks them. You 
know, you often hear that it is so-and-so's job to keep the trains 
running on time. Well, it has to be somebody's job to keep the trains 
running, period. It makes no sense for us to be here on a Monday 
wondering whether Amtrak will shut down on a Wednesday.
  In North Dakota, we have Amtrak service; 82,000 North Dakotans 
boarded Amtrak last year as the trains came through and stopped at many 
points. I happen to think Amtrak is critically important as a part of 
our transportation system.

[[Page 11103]]

  Every other form of transportation is subsidized. We have people 
saying: Let's not subsidize Amtrak. Why not? Every other country in the 
world provides a subsidy for their rail passenger service. I think our 
country is justified in doing so to keep that rail passenger service 
working.
  The Secretary of Transportation has a plan that would virtually 
destroy Amtrak as we know it. He says: Let's take the Northeast 
corridor out, Boston to Washington, DC, and separate it from the rest. 
That is a sure-fire way to kill the rest of Amtrak service for the 
country. It is a huge step backwards; that is not progress.
  We must ask the Secretary and the administration not only to announce 
Wednesday that there is financing to have Amtrak continue, but also to 
work with those of us in Congress who want to ensure the long-term 
future of rail passenger service.

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