Tom Tancredo: “my amendment would transfer $320 million from Amtrak to the Federal Aid Highway Program, reducing Amtrak's total…”

“my amendment would transfer $320 million from Amtrak to the Federal Aid Highway Program, reducing Amtrak's total appropriation to $580 million for this year. This amount, by the way, is the original amount that the Transportation Appropriations bill called for prior to the adoption of an amendment in full committee. Mr. Chairman, Amtrak has posted staggering losses in recent years, despite their continued promises to become self-sufficient. Time and time again, however, those promises have been broken as Amtrak continues to hemorrhage money and continues to come back to this body with out-stretched hands. Ironically, Mr. Chairman, Amtrak was originally established in 1971 as a, believe it or not, for-profit corporation by Congress. Over the last 30 years though, Amtrak has never once turned a profit. It has, however, racked up nearly $30 billion in operating losses and even managed to receive a $2 billion tax credit in 1997. That is despite the fact that the rail provider has never paid a penny in income tax. Now, some of my friends who oppose this amendment will tell you that the service provided by this inefficient monopoly is invaluable to the traveling public, but the statistics do not bear that out. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, for example, the percentage of Americans who walk to work every day is roughly equal to the number that ride the train, about 5 percent.”