Barbara Boxer: “I am very pleased my friend has raised this issue of Amtrak rail passenger service in this country, a system owned by…”

“I am very pleased my friend has raised this issue of Amtrak rail passenger service in this country, a system owned by the American people. I am glad to see one of our leaders on this issue on the floor, Senator Carper. He and Senator Biden have been extraordinary on this issue. I am here to join because a lot of people think it is just a Northeast issue. If you look at California--and we are highly impacted--in the year 2001 we had 8 million passenger trips in California related to Amtrak. My friend is right on the issue of national security. But it is not only national security, which is huge; it is also economic security for our people.”