WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. John McCain, soon to have new authority over transportation matters before Congress, said on Thursday that lawmakers should expedite passage of rail security legislation and offered no reassurance for the long-term financial survival of Amtrak, Reuters reported.
With Republicans due to take control of the Senate in January, the incoming chairman of the Commerce Committee said he would not back substantial long-term subsidies for the nation’s only city-to-city passenger rail network.
“Subsidization of forever of Amtrak is nothing that this senator will ever support,” the Arizona Republican said in remarks on the Senate floor. He also criticized a legislative proposal for massive rail aid now stalled on Capitol Hill.
The commerce panel has authorization over Amtrak’s future, and McCain, a former chairman of the panel, is a strident critic of the money-losing national railway network.
He will replace Sen. Ernest Hollings, a South Carolina Democrat, who is a champion of Amtrak and fierce opponent of Bush administration proposals to privatize the service.
In his first public remarks on rail matters since Republicans won control of the Senate on Nov. 5, McCain raised a number of subjects, including rail security and the work of Amtrak’s new chairman, David Gunn.
McCain expressed support for a $1.7 billion security proposal now on hold, but sharply criticized a separate $22 billion bill that is also stalled. That measure, pushed by Hollings, includes security enhancements for Amtrak as well as substantial aid over five years for its high-speed service and other national rail development.
Rail security concerns were heightened substantially in October when the FBI alerted law enforcement officials that rail networks, including passenger service, could be targeted for attacks.
Noting his preference for the much smaller security bill, McCain said the bigger measure was misguided. “The reason we don’t have rail security is because of the desire to add billions that don’t have anything to do with rail security,” he said.
A critic of former Amtrak chairman George Warrington, McCain praised his successor, Gunn, as a no-nonsense administrator.
“I’m pleased with some actions taken by the new regime at Amtrak. The new chairman is doing a much better job at making tough decisions,” McCain said. Gunn took over in May from Warrington, who left to head New Jersey Transit.
Gunn overhauled Amtrak’s business plan and over the summer and wrested a $300 million bailout package from Congress and the Bush administration. He has also cut costs and unsuccessful ventures, and directed resources to address the railroad’s antiquated infrastructure.
Amtrak has sought $1.2 billion in federal subsidies for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, but that funding remains tangled in the unresolved congressional budget process with lawmakers in the House of Representatives proposing a subsidy of $760 million. Gunn has said the House proposal is inadequate to maintain service.
Amtrak is receiving a share of its subsidy in temporary spending measures authorized by Congress until lawmakers approve the Transportation Department budget. Approval will not come until next year.