(The following article by Kimberly Atkins was posted on the Boston Herald website on March 1.)
BOSTON — Sen. John F. Kerry [related, bio] last night slammed President Bush’s plan to cut federal support to the fiscally strapped Amtrak passenger rail system, calling the proposed budget cut “incomprehensible.”
Kerry, accepting an award for public service from the Kennedy Library Foundation, said the president’s plan to zero out Amtrak must be derailed by Congress – and vowed to lead the fight.
Calling the move one of several “backwards” steps resulting from White House policies, the Bay State senator said the focus should instead be on building high-speed railway systems to support the industry and create jobs.
The Bush administration says the proposal is a way to cut government losses at Amtrak by privatizing parts of the rail service and eliminating routes that do not turn a profit.
In a sweeping indictment of the president’s policies from the podium before a friendly audience in Boston, Kerry also took aim at the president’s policies on child care, the environment, international relations and health care, declaring, “Health care is not a faith-based initiative.”
Kerry emphasized what he views as positive results of his losing White House bid last year, saying the presidential election brought out some 10 million more Democratic voters than President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign.
Calling his bid “the largest grassroots effort in history,” Kerry said, “We made states more blue than they were before.”