WASHINGTON — A wire service reports that a key U.S. senator warned the Bush administration on Tuesday that he would resist attempts to link major operating reforms at Amtrak to another year of federal subsidies.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, South Carolina Democrat Ernest Hollings, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, urged the administration to drop its current Amtrak reform plans and work with him on a passenger rail bill already approved by his committee.
Hollings has complained recently that that the Transportation Department was indifferent to his rail plan, but his letter to Mineta clearly spelled out his intention to obstruct attempts to change Amtrak through different channels.
“Let me be clear, I will resist all efforts to have long-term proposals regarding Amtrak considered as part of the one-year appropriations process,” Hollings wrote.
Amtrak is seeking $1.2 billion in aid for the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1. The Bush administration has proposed $521 million. It has not ruled out meeting Amtrak’s request for more money but has said big changes in how the railroad operates would be a necessary condition.
Mineta has proposed a breakup of Amtrak over the long term, but has warned repeatedly in recent weeks that another year of aid must be offset by reforms that include possible route cuts and asset sales, a range of dramatic cost savings and more efficient management.
Amtrak has never made money in its 31-year history and lost more than $1.1 billion last year.
Hollings’ bill would provide $4.6 billion annually for the next five years to support current high-speed rail service and development of future corridors. The legislation that also includes $1.3 billion for rail security upgrades was overwhelmingly approved by the Commerce Committee in April.
Hollings argued that his bill makes a long-term investment in rail and would end the annual funding drama over Amtrak, which averted a threatened shutdown after receiving an emergency $100 million loan from the government. The bailout was reached after an excruciating week of negotiations between Amtrak and the Transportation Department in June.
The Bush administration has proposed another loan of up to $170 million to maintain Amtrak operations through the end of the current fiscal year. Mineta has sought congressional approval of that plan.
Hollings and other key members of Congress oppose new loans for Amtrak, saying it makes poor fiscal sense because new credit only adds to its debt of nearly $4 billion.
Congressional leaders favor a $205 million appropriation included in a fiscal 2002 supplemental funding bill that House and Senate lawmakers are struggling to finalize on Capitol Hill. The White House rejects the notion of an emergency grant for Amtrak, saying that a blank check would not hold railroad management accountable for short-term reforms it would require as part of a loan package.