Martin Heinrich: “I just want to take a moment and, in particular, thank my colleagues from Kansas and Colorado, as well as my colleague…”

“I just want to take a moment and, in particular, thank my colleagues from Kansas and Colorado, as well as my colleague from New Mexico, Senator Udall, and especially Senator Moran of Kansas, as well as Senator Roberts and Senator Gardner and Senator Bennet, all for their efforts on behalf of the Southwest Chief line. Long-distance passenger rail routes, like the Southwest Chief, literally connect millions of Americans from across the country who live in rural communities to the rest of the Nation. They do that culturally, and they do that economically. Each year, the Southwest Chief in New Mexico, for example, brings thousands of Boy Scouts from all across our great Nation to the Philmont Scout Ranch and generates economic activity in every community along the way, whether it is in Las Vegas or Lamy or Albuquerque--you name it. In many cases, long-distance routes provide the only affordable transportation alternatives to highways for rural residents, particularly the elderly and the disabled. I thank all of my colleagues from these States for standing up for long-distance passenger rail, for working to reject any proposals that would suspend long-distance rail service and literally send rural residents back to the back of the bus. We have a disconnect in this country between the rural and the urban economies, between the center of the heartland and the coasts in this country, particularly economically.…”