[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23359]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        BUSH TRANSPORTATION POLICIES ARE WRONG FOR RURAL AMERICA

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, 4 years ago, candidates George Bush and Dick 
Cheney promised those of us from rural America that they understood the 
challenges we face and that they would work to make our lives better. 
Now, the President and Vice President are going back out to the rural 
parts of the country, to Appalachia, to my home State of West Virginia, 
to tell us that we have turned the corner. They are saying that, thanks 
to their work during these past 4 years, our prospects are improving. 
They tell us that, due to their policies, job growth is increasing. And 
they argue that if we want more of the same in the future, we need to 
re-elect them to another term.
  The reality is a far cry from the picture the President paints. Those 
of us in rural America, and for me that means the rugged Appalachian 
mountains of West Virginia, have known that, in order to improve our 
ability to attract and maintain good-paying jobs, we have to build an 
infrastructure to match those in the urban parts of America. That 
includes more four-lane divided highways and an improved national 
passenger rail network. But, the President has proposed policies to 
slow highway construction and shut down Amtrak. If enacted, these 
proposals would add to the staggering job losses already experienced in 
rural America under the Bush administration.
  This Congress is now a year late in passing reauthorization 
legislation for the Federal Government's surface transportation 
programs. The main reason for this delay is that the President opposes 
efforts to adequately fund the construction of better and safer roads, 
particularly in rural America. In the meantime, transportation projects 
are stalled and tens of thousands of construction jobs have been lost.
  In 1965, the Congress adopted the Appalachian Regional Development 
Act that promised a network of modern highways to connect the 
Appalachian Region to the rest of the Nation's highway network and, 
even more importantly, the rest of the Nation's economy. Absent the 
Appalachian Development Highway System, ADHS, my region of the country 
would have been left solely with a transportation infrastructure of 
dangerous, narrow, winding roads which follow the paths of river 
valleys and stream beds between mountains. These roads are still, more 
often than not, two-lane roads that are squeezed into very limited 
rights-of-way. They are characterized by low travel speeds and long 
travel distances and are often built to inadequate design standards.
  The rationale behind the completion of the Appalachian Development 
Highway System is no less sound today than it was in 1965. 
Unfortunately, there are still children in Appalachia who lack decent 
transportation routes to school; and there are still pregnant mothers, 
elderly citizens and others who lack timely road access to area 
hospitals. There are thousands upon thousands of people who cannot 
obtain sustainable, well-paying jobs because of poor road access to 
major employment centers.
  We have virtually completed the construction of the Interstate 
Highway System and have moved on to many other important transportation 
goals. However, the people of my region are still waiting for the 
Federal Government to live up to its promise, made some 39 years ago, 
to complete the Appalachian Development Highway System. And under the 
President's plan, they may have to wait several more decades.
  Regrettably, the President has threatened to veto the highway bill 
that was passed by an overwhelming margin in the Senate. That bill 
would provide the funds necessary for a robust investment in rural 
America's infrastructure, including the Appalachian Development Highway 
System. It appears that under this administration, investments in road 
conditions are beginning to mirror the distribution of wealth in our 
country. The rich are getting richer while the poor get poorer.
  The President and Vice President also have proposed to further limit 
our transportation options in rural America, including West Virginia, 
by underfunding and thereby shutting down Amtrak. Each of the Bush 
administration's four budget requests has targeted Amtrak and suggested 
funding levels that would have rendered the system inoperable. 
President Bush has proposed to limit Amtrak to the Northeast where it 
would serve only as a commuter rail network. Long distance trains, such 
as the Cardinal that provides a lifeline for communities across 
southern West Virginia, or the Capitol Limited that serves the eastern 
panhandle, would be eliminated under the President's plan.
  Amtrak is a critical transportation link for people in all corners of 
this country. Each day, millions of people ride the rails to get to and 
from work, to visit family and friends living many miles away, or to 
travel on vacation. Make no mistake, if Amtrak closes operations, it 
will not be without great cost to communities both large and small. If 
Amtrak were to shut down, the Nation's transportation system would be 
thrown into chaos.
  For many rural Americans, Amtrak represents the only major 
transportation link to the rest of the country. If the President has 
his way, West Virginians who live in or near Harpers Ferry and 
Martinsburg would lose access to the Capitol Limited train that runs 
from Washington, DC, to Chicago. Others who live in or near White 
Sulphur Springs, Hinton, Beckley, Thurmond, Montgomery, Charleston, and 
Huntington would lose access to the Cardinal train that runs from New 
York City to Chicago.
  At a time when countries across the globe are moving forward by 
making investments in various passenger rail projects, whether it be 
high-speed bullet trains in Taiwan or Mag-Lev trains in Japan, 
President Bush has proposed to shut down America's passenger rail 
service. Next time the President or Vice President campaigns in 
Huntington, Charleston, or Beckley, I hope they will explain why they 
believe the economic prospects of these communities will be improved 
with the elimination of the national passenger rail network.
  I have worked my entire Congressional career to ensure that West 
Virginia gets a fair shake from the Federal Government. My State was 
long ignored by those deciding where Federal monies would be spent. 
Infrastructure development in rural America still lags far behind the 
investments being made in our urban areas. And this problem will only 
be compounded by the re-election of a President who is tone-deaf to the 
needs of rural America.
  The President continues to make empty promises, continues to assure 
us that we have, indeed, turned the corner. But, for many rural 
Americans, that corner is on a dangerous, winding road with no help in 
sight.

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