Senator Makes Proposal on Amtrak
By LAURENCE ARNOLD, Associated Press Writer
October 10, 2001

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of a Senate committee involved with Amtrak
wants Congress to abandon the law that threatens the future of the national
rail service if it still needs taxpayer help after December 2002.

A bill by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., would guarantee Amtrak's existence
through 2003, grant its request for $3.2 billion in emergency financing and
authorize $35 billion in loans and loan guarantees for freight and passenger
rail development.

``Since Sept. 11, we have a radically changed environment,'' Andy Davis, a
spokesman for Hollings, said Wednesday. ``There are new demands placed on
Amtrak, both in terms of short-term security and long-term capacity and
stability of rail.''

Amtrak has experienced an increase in riders since the terror strikes. The
bill by Hollings, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, joins other
proposals circulating on Capitol Hill to upgrade the system.

A group of lawmakers that includes Hollings is pushing a $12 billion,
10-year program to put Amtrak at the center of high-speed rail development
nationwide. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, has proposed a $71 billion, 10-year
program that puts states in charge of high-speed rail.

Several senators favor granting Amtrak's request for $3.2 billion in
emergency money to upgrade its security and ridership capacity.

The Hollings proposal would overturn a key part of the 1997 Amtrak Reform
and Accountability Act. That is the law's requirement that Amtrak wean
itself from annual operating subsidies within five years or face
restructuring or dissolution.

Government monitors have repeatedly said they doubt Amtrak can achieve
operational self-sufficiency by the deadline.

Few believe Congress would go so far as to dissolve Amtrak if it failed to
do so. Still, the self-sufficiency requirement hangs over the railway, and
Amtrak critics in Congress have opposed any effort to devote more money to
the railway until it proves it can cover operating costs.

Amtrak President George Warrington has long maintained that the target is
achievable but shortsighted. He said recently that in the wake of the
terrorist attacks, the self-sufficiency requirement is now ``impractical and
irrational.''

Copyright © 2001 Associated Press.
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