Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I rise today to talk about Amtrak. Our Amtrak national rail passenger system is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.…”

“I rise today to talk about Amtrak. Our Amtrak national rail passenger system is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. They have said they need $200 million in operating cash or the entire system will grind to a halt very soon. The effect of such a shutdown would be devastating. With the Independence Day weekend approaching, and the number of airline flights slashed since September 11, families throughout the Nation are counting on Amtrak to get them to their destinations. If Amtrak is not running, those families will add to the millions of cars already expected to crowd our Nation's highways. Amtrak has already received more than 100,000 reservations for the holiday weekend. Reservations account for about half of Amtrak's expected passenger load. I have noticed from articles in the paper that people are already beginning to question whether Amtrak service is going to be there, so they are already suffering cancellations, which adds to the deficits we already have. I have always been a supporter of Amtrak, but sometimes it has been hard because Amtrak has not really come to grips with the inefficiencies in the system.”