Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I think all of us have come together on a bill that will give Amtrak a chance to succeed and will also make Amtrak…”

“I think all of us have come together on a bill that will give Amtrak a chance to succeed and will also make Amtrak accountable. In fact, Senator Lott, the majority leader, who has worked on this for, as he said, 3 years--he was the Surface Transportation Subcommittee chairman before I took that position, before he became majority leader--Senator McCain, Senator Hollings, Senator Breaux, Senator Kerry, all contributed greatly to a very hard-fought compromise. Because, of course, we are making huge changes in the law as it affects Amtrak and passenger rail in our country. Anything that makes this many changes, of course, could not be done easily. It took the labor groups, it took the trial lawyer groups to come together and work with us, along with Senators such as Senator McCain who want accountability. So I think we have come together in a bill that will give Amtrak a chance. It is not a slam dunk. It is not an assured success. This is the first step in many steps that must be made for Amtrak to be able to operate without subsidies in the future.”