Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, while I do not oppose this open rule, I do have some serious concerns about the impact of the underlying…”

“Mr. Speaker, while I do not oppose this open rule, I do have some serious concerns about the impact of the underlying bill on Amtrak. This passenger rail system is vital to the economic needs of millions of train passengers and thousands of communities across the Nation, including my own community in upstate New York. The bill provides a total of $793 million for Amtrak in fiscal year 1998, but only $283 million of that will go for operating costs. This is the lowest operating budget in 20 years for Amtrak and represents a cut of $61 million below the administration's request for operations. A cut of this size could make Amtrak's cash problems insurmountable. According to Amtrak President Thomas Downs, Amtrak could go bankrupt within a year. Amtrak is already borrowing to go meet the payroll and may soon reach its commercial borrowing limits. By failing to provide the necessary funding in this bill to allow Amtrak to meet its existing obligations, we are placing at risk 23,000 American jobs. Moreover, we risk losing this essential transportation and economic resource forever. If that happens, under current law, the Federal Government would be responsible for an estimated $6 billion in costs associated with closing Amtrak.”