CLEVELAND, July 18 — In an agreement reached this afternoon, the U.S. Congress has voted to provide Amtrak with $205 million in supplemental funding to take it through to the end of the fiscal year.
The deal is now headed to the White House for President Bush’s approval. Sources tell the BLE the plan “should be acceptable to the White House.”
The $205 million for Amtrak is part of a larger $28.9 billion supplemental spending package approved by the House and Senate Thursday afternoon. Other provisions in the overall package include $15 billion for the Defense Department, $6.7 billion for homeland defense, and $5.5 billion in assistance for New York (related to the Sept. 11 attack).
In addition, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) has set a tentative date of July 23 to begin consideration of the 2003 transportation spending bill. Rail labor is pushing to make sure Amtrak is at the top of the agenda.
While there is broad support in the Senate for giving Amtrak their requested level of $1.2 billion, the Bush administration has requested only $521 million for Amtrak.