WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Jack F. Quinn, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, called a Bush administration plan to dismantle and de-fund Amtrak “pointless,” in a sharp break with the White House, the Buffalo News reports.
Quinn warned that the administration’s posture could result in a national shutdown of the passenger railroad system by the end of the month.
Bush’s long-awaited plan for Amtrak’s future was outlined by Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta in a speech before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Mineta called for breaking up the national passenger railroad system, and franchising its parts to the states in public-private partnerships. Mineta said Amtrak’s lucrative Northeast Corridor line running from Washington to Boston should be split off and possibly sold. He added Amtrak was created as a profit making operation, but has operated for three decades in the red. Mineta demanded Amtrak’s subsidies be ended.
“I don’t think privatization is the way to proceed,” said Quinn, R-Hamburg. Quinn said unless Congress provides the system with the money it needs now, it will fold.
Mineta made no mention of the $200 million loan guarantee Amtrak says it needs to avert a complete system shutdown in 10 days.
In fact, Quinn said the administration ignored Amtrak’s calls for funding and said it would not support congressional appropriations of $1.2 billion for the coming fiscal year unless some of its proposals were adopted. Without federal help, Quinn warned, “Amtrak is on a course to be derailed.”
Amtrak President David Gunn on Monday asked the Federal Railroad Administration to help it get the money by granting a $200 million loan guarantee. Despite Mineta’s demands that subsidies to Amtrak end, he said the administration is reviewing the request for the loan guarantee.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., reacted angrily to Mineta’s speech, saying the secretary “squandered a unique opportunity to give the nation’s rail system the shot in the arm it has needed for decades.”
Instead of helping the system, Schumer charged, Mineta wants to cut off Amtrak’s legs.
“If there is method to the madness behind this plan,” he said, “I’d sure like to know what it is. Every other mode of transportation in this country gets federal support. Amtrak should be no different.”
Quinn’s statement also indicated a sharp break with the chairman of his committee, Alaska Republican Don Young, over the issue.
Young said breaking up Amtrak and selling off the Northeastern lines “will help America finally achieve a world-class passenger rail system.”
Mineta’s proposals and Young’s are closely parallel to recommendations made last December by the congressionally-chartered Amtrak Reform Council, which is dominated by commissioners appointed by conservative members of the House and Senate who want to kill the system.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, said the Bush administration “needs to be prepared to explain to the American people why it will allow Amtrak to go bankrupt in the middle of the summer travel season.”