Date: 2006-06-13
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Once again. we are up here fighting for the life of Amtrak. 35 years of service to the public. It just amazes me that .constantly people. the Chair of aviation. billions of dollars that we have put in aviation. billions of dollars. and yet it doesnt pay for itself. and we do not want zero funding for Amtrak. This administration constantly. constantly cut down the funds for Amtrak. This administration has come up with a lot of wacky ideas. but let me tell you something. When gasoline will go up to $4 a gallon. you are going to see a lot of people lining up to take Amtrak. With the passage of the latest emergency funding. President Bush will have spent over $439 billion on the war in Iraq. but we dont want to spend money for Amtrak. During Hurricane Katrina. the way the victims and first responders were able to leave the gulf region and the New Orleans area was through Amtrak. Aimtrak. Mr. Chairman. this year. Amtrak is celebrating 35 years of public service to this nation through its commitment to passenger rail. I travel all over the country and the people I talk to love Amtrak. It is a great way to commute to work. it takes cars off our already congested highways. and in many areas of the country is the only mode of transportation available. In fact. ridership has increased in 8 of the last 9 years reaching a record level of over 25 million passengers last year. It is also important to note that Amtraks long distance trains are the only inner city passenger trains in half the states in America. Amtrak was also a First Responder dudng hurricane Katrina. and helped evacuate thousands of Gulf region residents while President Bush and his Administration were nowhere to be found. Now they are becoming a key part in each states future evacuation plans. Now what I cant understand is why the Bush Administration is trying to destroy passenger rail in this country. Every Industrialized country in the world is investing heavily in rail infrastructure because they realize that this is the future of transportation. But sadly. as there systems get bigger and better. our system gets less and less money. President Bush has a lot of wacky ideas for dealing with the high gas prices he created. but I can assure him that as prices climb to $4 per gallon. you are going to see Americans lining up to use a passenger rail system that has been neglected by this very Administration. But what more do you expect when you put J.R. Ewing in the White House. Once again we see the Bush Administration paying for its failed policies by cutting funds to vital public services and jeopardizing more American jobs. This Administration sees nothing wrong with taking money from the hard working Amtrak employees who work day and night to provide top quality service to their passengers. These folks are trying to. make a living for their families. and they dont deserve this shabby treatment from the President. With the passage of the latest emergency funding for the war. President Bush will have spent over $439 Billion on the war in Iraq. but million. major infrastructure projects have been completed. All with a workforce that has been reduced by over 4.000 employees. We still have a lot of work ahead of us when it comes to Amtrak. But were starting $900 million dollars closer to our goal. and I know with the help of the American public. we can fully fund Amtrak at $1.6 Billion and keep Amtrak running long into the future.