The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“NATIONAL TRAIN DAY” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3712-H3714 on May 13, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
NATIONAL TRAIN DAY
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1176) supporting the goals and ideals of National Train Day.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1176
Whereas, on May 10, 1869, the ``golden spike'' was driven into the final tie at Promontory Summit, Utah, to join the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads, ceremonially completing the first transcontinental railroad and therefore connecting both coasts of the United States;
Whereas, in highly populated regions, Amtrak trains and infrastructure carry commuters to and from work in congested metropolitan areas providing a reliable rail option, reducing congestion on roads and in the skies;
Whereas, for many rural Americans, Amtrak represents the only major intercity transportation link to the rest of the country;
Whereas passenger rail provides a more fuel-efficient transportation system thereby providing cleaner transportation alternatives and energy security;
Whereas passenger railroads emit only 0.2 percent of the travel industry's total greenhouse gases;
Whereas Amtrak annually provides intercity passenger rail travel to over 25,000,000 Americans residing in 46 States;
Whereas an increasing number of people are using trains for travel purposes beyond commuting to and from work;
Whereas our railroad stations are a source of civic pride, a gateway to our communities, and a tool for economic growth; and
Whereas Amtrak has designated May 10, 2008, as National Train Day to celebrate the way trains connect people and places: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the contribution trains make to the national transportation system;
(2) urges the people of the United States to recognize such a day as an opportunity to learn more about trains; and
(3) supports the goals and ideals of National Train Day as designated by Amtrak.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.
General Leave
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Res. 1176.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
National Train Day celebrates the 139th anniversary of the ``golden spike,'' which was driven into the final tie in Utah and marked the completion of our Nation's first transcontinental railroad in 1869.
This weekend I celebrated National Train Day by holding events throughout my district, including press conferences and events in Jacksonville, Winter Park, and Sanford Auto Train station. We had a great turnout at every event, and I heard firsthand from people who use Amtrak every day to go to work and visit friends and family all over the country.
As Chair of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, I have had the privilege to see firsthand passenger rail systems in other countries. I have taken high-speed trains from Brussels to Paris, 200 miles, 1\1/4\ hours; and from Barcelona to Madrid, 300 miles, 2\1/2\ hours; and the advantage for travelers and for business are tremendous. We need to catch up with the world, and with gas prices edging toward $4 a gallon, some places $5 and $6, now is the perfect time for us to begin to make serious investment in passenger rail.
Indeed, Amtrak ridership and revenue has never been stronger. In 2007, Amtrak set a new record for ridership, exceeding 25.8 million passengers. In the same year, ticket revenues increased by 11 percent, to more than $1.5 billion. For my State of Florida, Amtrak expenditures for goods and services in the State soared to nearly $40 million last year, and Amtrak currently employs over 700 Florida residents.
I have traveled all over the country and have conducted many transportation roundtable events that feature rail and its importance, and the people I have talked to love Amtrak. It is a great way to commute to work, takes cars off our congested highways, and improves the environment. In many areas of the country, it is the only means of public transportation available.
Now what I can't understand is why the Bush administration, again, in the midst of sharp increases in gas prices, continues in its efforts to destroy passenger rail in this country. Every industrialized country in the world is investing heavily in rail infrastructure because they realize that this is the future of transportation. But sadly, as their systems get bigger and better, our system gets less and less money.
While the administration has spent nearly a trillion dollars on the war in Iraq, it continues to decrease their requests for Amtrak. This year they only requested $800 million for Amtrak's 25.8 million passengers. Well, that is an improvement from zero. For Amtrak, just one week's investment in Iraq would significantly improve passenger rail across the country for an entire year. This is another perfect example of how out of touch this administration is because I can assure the President that there is a whole lot more support for Amtrak in this country than there is for the war in Iraq.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about Amtrak, and it is important for people to know the facts. Ridership numbers and ticket revenue are at a record level. Outstanding debt has been reduced by
$600 million over the past 6 years, and many major infrastructure projects have been completed. And this has been achieved with a workforce that has been reduced by over 4,000 employees. We still have a lot of work ahead of us when it comes to Amtrak, and it took a major step forward last week when we introduced legislation reauthorizing Amtrak at a level that would allow it to grow and prosper. The legislation developed by the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mr. James Oberstar and myself, and introduced with Congressmen Mica and Shuster, provides over $2 billion a year for capital and operating grants, $500 million per year for developing State passenger corridors, $345 million per year to pay down debt, $345 million per year for high-speed rail programs, $600 million to start working on constructing a new tunnel through Baltimore, and requires a plan for restoring service to the Sunset Limited, one of my top priorities.
Major infrastructure improvements are also necessary to improve the safety and security of the system and its passengers and workers. Amtrak has and will continue to play a critical role in evacuating and transporting citizens during national emergencies. Unfortunately, it is also a prime target for those who wish to harm us and we must provide resources to make the system less vulnerable.
Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower created the national highway system that changed the way we travel in this country. Today we need to do the same thing with our rail system, and with Amtrak reauthorization we are doing just that.
The United States used to have a first class passenger rail system. However, after years of neglect, we are now the caboose, and they don't even use cabooses anymore. The American people deserve better, and I believe our Amtrak reauthorization bill will go a long way to restoring the American passenger system.
I encourage my colleagues to show their support for our Nation's rail system and its employees by holding events at our local commuter train stations any time during the year, and I would also encourage Members to cosponsor H.R. 6003, the Amtrak reauthorization bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I enthusiastically support this resolution recognizing National Train Day. The ceremonial golden spike hammered on May 10, 1869, marked the completion of one of this Nation's greatest engineering masterpieces, and marked the birth of what would become the greatest rail network in the world.
The United States now has 140,000 miles of railroads, making up the transportation backbone of this Nation. These railroads are environmentally friendly, producing significantly less pollution than competing modes of transit. In fact, a train can haul one ton of freight 436 miles on one gallon of diesel fuel, and is three times cleaner than a truck. Furthermore, trains help alleviate congestion on our crowded highways. One train can take 280 trucks off the road.
The recently introduced Amtrak reauthorization, H.R. 6003, will make significant enhancements to Amtrak's growing business. The legislation will give Amtrak the funding it needs to continue improving its service while also creating innovative programs to enhance passenger rail service.
The State grants provision in the bill will give a greater say in how Federal funding is utilized for capital projects, and a private operator pilot program will increase innovation and competition in passenger rail service.
Additionally, H.R. 6003 includes a plan to create public-private partnerships to construct true high speed rail corridors all over the Nation. High-speed rail promises safe, fast and convenient service, all the while helping to alleviate aviation and highway congestion. I urge passage of H. Res. 1176.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Florida has 13\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Delaware (Mr. Castle).
Mr. CASTLE. I thank the distinguished chairwoman of the House Railroads Subcommittee for yielding me this time.
We have heard many words of accolade for our railroads. I would like to second some of that. This marks the 139th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, indeed a very strong engineering feat in our country's history.
Today, with gas prices soaring, which we have had a debate already on this floor, congestion building on our highways, and concern about greenhouse gases on the rise, we need to address this. The I-95 corridor is in difficult shape with respect to all of these issues.
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Highway congestion has become a critical problem, costing Americans 4.2 billion hours and 2.9 billion gallons of fuel, sitting in traffic delays.
In contrast, passenger railroads are one of the cleanest forms of transportation. It emits only 0.2 percent of transportation industry's greenhouse gases.
Between Boston and Washington, D.C., ridership on Amtrak has surged by 20 percent, representing enough new passengers to fill 2000 757 jetliners.
As a co-chair of the House Passenger Rail Caucus, and as one who takes Amtrak on a regular basis, and I've seen the increase in the crowds on it and talked to many people on it, I realize that this truly the future, and something that Congress should be paying a lot of attention to in terms of supporting the need for future legislation in dealing with the issues of Amtrak and rail travel in our country.
I thank Chairwoman Brown for her strong leadership, and encourage all the Members of the House to support this legislation.
I'd just like to point out, as I often have in speaking about Amtrak, Mr. Speaker, we really need to look at our highways and our airports as well. This is one way of relieving a good number of those burdens. And hopefully we can pass this legislation and pay a lot more attention to what we're dealing with on rail travel in this country in the future.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I will continue to reserve my time.
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. I yield 3 minutes to the Congresswoman from California, my friend, Mrs. Grace Napolitano.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 1176, supporting the goals and ideals of National Train Day. And I do congratulate the hard work that's gone into transportation on rail, because I sit on the subcommittee, I see the great need and the great movement that is happening.
The National Train Day recognizes the day when Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were joined in a golden spike Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, 1869. Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF both run through my cities. One has 90 freight and passenger trains, and BNSF has 75 freight and passenger trains daily, carrying over $400 billion in annual trade for this Nation.
We must continue to work to relieve the public problems caused by railroads, the traffic delays at great crossings, the air quality concerns from pollution, the noise from the whistles and the rail cars and the safety concerns over derailments and other accidents.
I know that we have been able to understand a lot more of what the railroads need from us here in Congress, but, by the same token, I think they continue to try to be good citizens.
This House has passed H.R. 2095, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007. That bill takes a major step forward in addressing safety concerns with our railroads. We urge the Senate to pass this bill quickly.
H.R. 6003, the Passenger Rail Investments and Improvement Act of 2008 was introduced by the Transportation Committee this week. This will be a much needed investment as was recognized in Amtrak in our passenger rail system.
Earlier we heard from speakers talking about the price of gas. Well, the more people get on trains and Amtrak, the better off that we're going to be able to meet those demands.
The Railroad Subcommittee will hold a hearing on this bill tomorrow.
I thank Chairwoman Brown for authorizing this resolution and Chairman Oberstar for his leadership on this issue.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I will continue to reserve my time.
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, let me reiterate that 50 years ago, Eisenhower created a national highway system that changed America. Today we need to do the same thing with our rail system; and with this Amtrak reauthorization, we're doing just that.
The United States of America used to be the first as far as passenger rail was concerned. And I say it over and over again, now we are the caboose. And we don't use cabooses anymore. The American people need and deserve better.
Let me also mention that joining us on celebrating Amtrak National Train Day were 150 ladies from the Hope Chapel Church who rode from Jacksonville to Winter Park. And also, we had over 60 activities throughout the country. Participating in those activities were the Harlem Globetrotters and many Members of Congress.
I, in closing, am very excited about moving this country forward as far as making sure that we are no longer the caboose.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I also want to urge adoption of this resolution. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Florida and the ranking member, Mr. Shuster, for bringing it forward. I also want to compliment them and their staffs for the hard work that they are pursuing now on the Amtrak reauthorization.
Again, I urge adoption.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 1176, which supports the goals and ideals of National Train Day.
National Train Day marks the 139th anniversary of the ``golden spike'' being driven into the ground at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869. The golden spike bound the last tie connecting the last rail that united the Central Pacific Railroad with the Union Pacific Railroad, connecting the United States by rail from coast to coast.
The transcontinental railroad was born thanks to the support of President Abraham Lincoln. He, along with Civil War leaders, envisioned and planned the creation of the railroad. Not only did the completion of the railroad result in the ability to deliver goods and people across the country, it ultimately bound the East with the West, further unifying the country as the divide between the North and the South was beginning to mend.
The transcontinental railroad was the first of its kind. It was an engineering marvel completed with great precision and speed. The railroad was an engineering wonder and it set the example for how transcontinental railroads would be built across Canada and Russia some 20 to 25 years later.
Completion of the transcontinental railroad created a new sense of wonder and enthusiasm for discovery and entrepreneurship across the country. It set the stage for a great migration of businessmen, created a new frontier for those seeking a new way of life, enabled faster movement of people and goods, and provided the country with a great opportunity to expand the economy.
Today, we are witnessing a rebirth of passenger rail in America. In the same way that the transcontinental railroad was critical to our Nation in the late 19th century, a strong national passenger rail system is vital today. To strengthen intercity passenger rail in this country, I have introduced H.R. 6003, the ``Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008.'' The bill authorizes $14.4 billion for Amtrak over the next 5 years. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will mark up the bill next week.
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, more commonly known as Amtrak, operates a nationwide rail network, serving more than 500 destinations in 46 states over 21,000 miles of routes, with nearly 19,000 employees. Amtrak recently marked the beginning of its 38th year of operation. Our passenger rail service has come a long way since its beginnings in 1971, and has faced many challenges since, but continues to grow stronger with each passing year. Despite uneven Federal investment over the years, Amtrak has persevered, achieving many successes in improved operating efficiency, increased ridership, and higher revenue.
In fact, in FY 2007, Amtrak set a new ridership record for the fifth year in a row, exceeding 25.8 million passengers. At the same time, Amtrak increased ticket revenues by 11 percent to more than $1.5 billion, a figure that increased for the third straight year. These successes are being enjoyed across Amtrak's entire network. In fiscal year 2007, Amtrak held 56 percent of the air/rail market between New York and Washington and 41 percent of the market share between New York and Boston. This shows that where Amtrak is provided the resources to succeed, it provides a trip-time competitive alternative to air and automobile.
America needs to look toward Amtrak as we address our growing transportation needs. The Department of Transportation describes the problem of congestion on our highways and in the air as ``chronic.'' Amtrak removes almost 8 million cars from the road annually. Airports are experiencing significant delays too, with more than 400,000 flights departing or arriving late in 2006. Amtrak eases air congestion by eliminating the need for 50,000 fully loaded airplanes each year.
Amtrak is also a substantially more environmentally friendly mode of transportation than automobiles or airplanes. According to the World Resources Institute, rail transportation produces 57 percent less carbon emissions than airplanes, and 40 percent less carbon emissions than cars.
Mr. Speaker, I lend my strong support to the commemoration of National Train Day on May 10, 2008, and encourage all of my colleagues to use this excellent opportunity to reflect on the benefits that Amtrak and intercity passenger rail provide to our Nation.
Mr. BOOZMAN. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1176.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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