(The following appeared on the Congressional Quarterly website on June 11.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to give new life and more money to Amtrak by passing a bipartisan compromise measure to reauthorize the beleaguered rail company.
The $14.4 billion reauthorization measure passed 311-104, but future prospects for the legislation are less certain. An expected conference committee with the Senate could be tough, and President Bush has already threatened to veto the bill.
The bill marks a historic compromise between Republicans and Democrats who have long disagreed on how best to finance Amtrak. Supporters of the railroad have been trying to enact a reauthorization for more than a decade.
Republicans acquiesced in the price tag exchange for language prompting privatization of a high-speed rail line in the Northeast Corridor.
The line between Washington and New York would move passengers between the metropolitan cities in less than two hours. Private companies would bid on the construction of the line, which lead proponent John L. Mica , R-Fla., says is a gold mine.
Lawmakers earlier approved several amendments to the bill, including one to give the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority a $1.5 billion boost to relieve crowding on the Metro transit system. That amendment, from Thomas M. Davis III, R-Va., was approved 295-127.
“I would shudder to think how the nation’s capital would function without Metro,” Frank R. Wolf , R-Va., said.
The Senate version does not have privatization language and Amtrak supporters in that chamber, such as Frank R. Lautenberg , D-N.J., are unlikely to accept it easily.
The Bush administration has expressed concerns about the measure’s cost.