Mark Kennedy: “my amendment is simple. It increases funding for some incredibly important programs within this bill. The amendment…”

“my amendment is simple. It increases funding for some incredibly important programs within this bill. The amendment doubles funding for the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, the tax counseling for the elderly programs, low-income tax clinics, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. It also increases funding for the high-intensity drug trafficking areas program. These increases are offset by restoring funding for Amtrak to the level originally approved by the committee. We have heard a lot about Amtrak today, and I support intercity rail transit where it can be viable. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney) said that the core of Amtrak was in the northeast corridor, and I am confident with regional support that northeast corridor can continue to thrive and be successful whatever we do at the national level. And where we have even close to the population density of Europe that makes sense, but there are too many lines where we are pouring money in as fast as we can in areas that will never be viable. Given the scarcity of our dollars, we should be focusing on things like high-speed rail or roads or other forms of transportation which make more sense. The simple fact is that Federal subsidies to Amtrak are a poor investment that offer little return.”