WASHINGTON — Sen. Ernest Hollings, pushing a plan to dramatically increase federal funding of Amtrak, criticized the Bush administration Thursday for offering no concrete opinions about the future of the passenger railroad, according to a wire service.
“What do you all want to do?” Hollings, D-S.C., asked Deputy Transportation Secretary Michael Jackson, after Jackson presented the Senate Commerce Committee with 10 questions on the future of passenger rail.
When Jackson said the administration looks forward to a dialogue with Congress, Hollings — the committee’s chairman — interjected, “This isn’t foreign policy. We don’t want to get into a dialogue. We want to make decisions.”
Twenty-four senators have signed on to Hollings’ bill, the most comprehensive and Amtrak-friendly of several passenger rail proposals.
The bill would spend $4.6 billion a year for the next five years on Amtrak operations, renovations to Amtrak-owned tracks in the Northeast and development of new high-speed corridors around the country. It also would provide a one-time infusion of $1.3 billion for safety and security improvements, mostly in the Northeast.
“We’ve been limping along, fixing a broken system,” Hollings said. “This is an entirely new endeavor.”
Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead reported in January that Amtrak lost $1.1 billion in 2001, the most in its 30-year history, and had made no progress toward meeting Congress’ 1997 order to wean itself from annual government operating subsidies.
Congress is due this year to vote on Amtrak’s continued existence.
Amtrak is seeking a 10- to 20-year federal spending program to develop the nation’s rail system. Some Amtrak critics want to turn over its routes to private companies and let money-losing routes die.
The ranking Republican on the committee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has proposed competing legislation that would break up Amtrak.
“I’m concerned Congress will pour more money into Amtrak without addressing its fundamental problems,” said McCain. He said Hollings’ bill “requires virtually no reform or restructuring.”
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said legislation to ensure Amtrak’s survival must guarantee it continues to run a national system.
Outgoing Amtrak President George Warrington has said Amtrak may cut 18 long-distance routes if it does not get at least $1.2 billion in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. President Bush has proposed $521 million.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the current system is “of the Northeast, for the Northeast and by the Northeast.”
But Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., an Amtrak supporter, warned his colleagues not to start voting against government programs that primarily help other regions.
“Maybe I should stop voting for farm bills. Maybe I should stop voting for water projects,” Biden said. “But I’m not going to do that.”