Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006
TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 29, 2005)
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(Mr. COSTA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I, too, rise to support the amendment for increased Amtrak funding.
Mr. Chairman, the LaTourette/Oberstar Amendment will increase by $626 million the annual funding to AMTRAK.
Mr. Chairman, the President's push to eliminate Federal support of AMTRAK is a shortsighted, poorly-conceived policy. Federal support of national transportation systems is a national priority that goes back to Abraham Lincoln, and to act in the face of such an American tradition is to do so at our own peril.
AMTRAK provides a great service to California, and is an extremely important tool for my constituents. In the State of California alone, AMTRAK operates 70 intercity trains and over 200 commuter trains per day. The San Joaquins line, which services Fresno and Bakersfield in my district, is the fifth-busiest passenger line in the country, and carries over 700,000 people annually. As a matter of fact, three of the Nation's top five busiest intercity corridors are in California.
California recognizes the importance of AMTRAK, and has invested heavily over time to maintain its presence in the State. Over the past 10 years, California has invested approximately $100 million per year to work towards this goal. Many of the routes in California--including the San Joaquins--continue to experience double-digit ridership growth, demonstrating the importance AMTRAK has for my constituents and Californians.
While continued reform of AMTRAK is essential, it must be accomplished in a bipartisan fashion that reflects a post-9/11 view of the world. The United States requires an intermodal transportation system that has real interconnectivity, and protects our citizens' socio-economic needs in a flexible and cost-effective fashion. We must remember all forms of transportation in America have and continue to utilize some form of subsidy.
If this body chooses to not support Amtrak, it will ignore the needs of the citizens of this Nation. AMTRAK remains a vital and viable mode of transportation for many people in this Nation, and to undermine that service will go against a history of service this Nation has put into the national transportation network.
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