Frank Lautenberg: “the Senate is now back on the Amtrak bill that Senator Lott and I have been working on together for many years. I am…”

“the Senate is now back on the Amtrak bill that Senator Lott and I have been working on together for many years. I am glad we are moving closer to passing this bipartisan legislation. Our bill has had wide support with over 40 cosponsors. This is our fifth day on the Amtrak bill, and we have made very good progress. We have been able to work through most amendments. Some we were able to agree to, while some required votes. We still have a few amendments, however, we need to address. But we should be able to finish this bill soon, hopefully today. It is critical that we do so. When we think about how crowded our roads are, the high price of gasoline, airport delays as an alternative, the potential fuel savings and reduction in greenhouse gases from more people riding the trains, the need for multiple modes of transportation for evacuations during emergencies, rail is a critical answer to our needs. The need for multiple modes of transportation for evacuations during emergencies is a critical factor, and rail is one very important answer. We know people will ride the train when there is service available. Amtrak set a new company record of almost 26 million passengers in the last fiscal year. We have seen successes in the Northeast corridor between Boston and New York and through New Jersey to Washington, but there is no reason why we can't have world-class rail service in other regions of the country.”