Political Quotes

“I rise this morning to offer an amendment to H.R. 1 which would decrease the amount the Federal Government subsidizes Amtrak by $446,900,000. In 2008, the Pew Charitable Trusts Foundation performed a study of Amtrak's services. According to that study, the 20 most egregiously inefficient train lines run annual deficits between $4.9 million and $59.4 million per year, with many operating at a 100 percent loss. My amendment would decrease the spending authority to Amtrak by the amount equal to those lines' losses. Mr. Chairman, in 1997, Congress passed what was referred to as the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act which required that Amtrak operate without any Federal assistance after 2002. By the way, that was 8 years ago, Mr. Chairman. It has never reached the intended level of self-sufficiency. It is time that Congress stop supporting these failed rail lines. It is important to the taxpayers of this country, Mr. Chairman. Instead, by eliminating these very inefficient and seldom used lines, Amtrak can focus on its core competency of urban and suburban transportation. For example, the Acela line which operates along the northeast corridor continually operates in a self-sufficient manner. We need to shift Amtrak's focus to the things that it does well, not the extremely inefficient long-distance line it fails to operate within the budget. Mr. Chairman, Amtrak has proven to be a money-losing venture that the government can no longer sustain and support.”