I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4394 
To alter the composition and terms of the Board of Directors of Amtrak, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2005 
Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and 
Mr. COSTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To alter the composition and terms of the Board of Directors 
of Amtrak, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amtrak Board Leader-
ship Enhancement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMTRAK BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 24302 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 24302. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 
‘‘(a) COMPOSITION AND TERMS.—(1) The Board of 
Directors of Amtrak is composed of the following 9 direc-
tors: 
‘‘(A) The Secretary of Transportation. 
‘‘(B) The President of Amtrak. 
‘‘(C) 7 individuals appointed by the President 
of the United States, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, each of whom shall be a cit-
izen of the United States, who— 
‘‘(i) have general business and financial ex-
perience; 
‘‘(ii) have experience or qualifications in 
transportation, freight and passenger rail trans-
portation, travel, hospitality, cruise line, or pas-
senger air transportation businesses; or 
‘‘(iii) are representatives of users of pas-
senger rail transportation or State government. 
‘‘(2) In selecting individuals under paragraph (1)(C) 
for nominations for appointments to the Board, the Presi-
dent shall consult with the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives, the minority leader of the House of Rep-
resentatives, the majority leader of the Senate, and the 
minority leader of the Senate and try to provide adequate 
and balanced representation of the major geographic re-
gions of the United States served by Amtrak.
‘‘(3) The term of an individual appointed under para-
graph (1)(C) shall be 5 years, or until the individual’s suc-
cessor is appointed and qualified. Not more than 4 individ-
uals appointed under paragraph (1)(C) may be members 
of the same political party. 
‘‘(4) The Board shall elect a chairman and a vice 
chairman from among its membership. The vice chairman 
shall serve as chairman in the absence of the chairman. 
‘‘(5) The Secretary of Transportation may be rep-
resented at board meetings by the Secretary’s designee. 
‘‘(b) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Board shall be 
filled in the same way as the original selection, except that 
an individual appointed by the President of the United 
States under subsection (a)(1)(C) to fill a vacancy occur-
ring before the end of the term for which the predecessor 
of that individual was appointed is appointed for the re-
mainder of that term. A vacancy required to be filled by 
appointment under subsection (a)(1)(C) shall be filled not 
later than 120 days after the vacancy occurs. 
‘‘(c) QUORUM.—A majority of the members serving 
shall constitute a quorum for doing business. 
‘‘(d) BYLAWS.—The Board may adopt and amend by-
laws governing the operation of Amtrak. The bylaws shall 
be consistent with this part and the articles of incorpora-
tion.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on January 1, 2006. The 
members of the Amtrak Reform Board serving on the date 
of enactment of this Act may continue to serve for the 
remainder of the term to which they were appointed. 
Æ