Date: 2008-06-11
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of final passage of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act -and to commend Chairman OBERSTAR. Ranking Member MICA. and Subcommittee Chairwoman BROWN and Ranking Member SHUSTER for their leadership in constructing this bipartisan bill. Mr. Chairman. the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008authorizes appropriations for Amtrak for FY2009FY2013 and makes long overdue improvements and enhancements to the system. Millions of Americans rely on Amtrak and its local lines for everything from commuting to work to going on holiday. In 2007 alone. 28 million passengers rode Amtrak. Amtrak has become a critical part of the Nations transportation infrastructure and every effort must be made to sustain the system as a safe and reliable source of transportation. This bill authorizes $14.5 billion for commuter rail transit enhancements. a highspeed rail service route between New York and Washington. DC. and contains important reforms and operational enhancement. The bill also contains needed accountability measures and capital improvement funding. To increase accountability. the bill requires Amtrak to implement a modern financial accounting and reporting system. Amtrak must also submit an annual budget and business plan. With the passage of the D~visNan Hollen/ Hoyer amendment regarding WMATA. the bill also provides a more reliable source of funding for maintenance and improvement projects in the Washington. DC Metro area. We all know that the Federal Government relies heavily on the Metro system to bring thousands of its employees to work each day: employees of our national security agencies. employees of the Department of -Health and Human Services. and all the other Federal agencies that help provide services to the American people. But. the Metro system is also a critical link in any evacuation plan of the Nations capital. These are just a couple of the reasons the Federal government has invested billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in WMATA construction and maintenance projects over the years. Since WMATAs creation. keeping the Metro up and running has become a national priority. The DavisNan Hollen/Hoyer amendment helps ensure the Metro remains a reliable source of transportation for Federal employees by authorizing $150 million a year in matching funds for ten years to help WMATA pay for critical improvement and maintenance. .But. importantly. these matching funds can only be accessed when the local jurisdictions of Maryland. Virginia and the District of Columbia contribute their own funds from a dedicated source. Currently. the Federal Government is at the whim of local jurisdictions on a yeartoyear basis. as to whether they will uphold their part of this longterm Federallocal funding partnership regarding WMATA. Our amendment specifically states that funds authorized in the legislation cannot be available until WMATA notifies the Department of Transportation that local jurisdictions have established a reliable source of funds to pay their share of Metro operating and maintenance costs. Over the years. Amtrak has proven it is a critical and growing part of the countrys transportation infrastructure. Last May. Amtrak ridership rose 12.3 percent from a year earlier. and ticket sales climbed 15.6 percent. Despite continued growth. Amtrak has not been reauthorized since 1997. With the passage of this bill. we have an opportunity to end 8 years of starvation budgets that have strained Amtrak resources. frozen salaries and delayed capital improvements. I encourage my colleagues to support final passage of this bill.