Washington - Today, the U.S. Senate is considering the Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act, a bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to support the operation of Amtrak and improvements to the passenger rail system.

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), a strong supporter of Amtrak and co-sponsor of the legislation, spoke today on the Senate floor in favor of the legislation.

Excerpts from Menendez remarks:

"Every year since 2002 Amtrak has had to continue operations on a yearly basis without adequate funds to maintain the rail system over the long term. It's almost like a starvation diet - just enough to be temporarily alive, but cutting its funding in such a way that it can neither be successful nor fully survive. Right now the system is at a breaking point. Amtrak's equipment is aging and no amount of maintenance can keep cars built in the 1950's on the tracks.

"Amtrak is not just a passenger rail system that serves 25 million people each year. Amtrak is also a program that reduces our greenhouse gas emissions, reduces congestion on our roadways, fights sprawl, creates jobs, and fosters economic activity. I know first hand the benefits of Amtrak because over one hundred thousand New Jersey commuters depend on Amtrak's infrastructure every day.

"Over the last 35 years we have spent less money on Amtrak than we will on highways in this year alone. We have never committed the same support behind Amtrak that we have for other modes of transportation. This bill will finally give Amtrak a stable amount of authorized funds it needs over the next 6 years to adequately fund its operations and finance capital improvements."

Text of full Menendez remarks, as prepared:

"M. President, I rise in support of the Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act of 2007. I want to thank Senators Lautenberg and Lott for their efforts to guide this important legislation to the floor. My distinguished colleague from New Jersey not only in this legislation but for some time has been probably Amtrak's strongest advocate.

Every year since 2002 Amtrak has had to continue operations on a yearly basis without adequate funds to maintain of the rail system over the long term. It's almost like a starvation diet - keeping it just enough to be temporarily alive but working it in such a way, cutting its funding in such a way that it can neither be successful or fully survive.

Right now the system is at a breaking point. Amtrak's equipment is aging and no amount of maintenance can keep cars built in the 1950's on the tracks.

Amtrak is not just a passenger rail system that serves 25 million people each year. Amtrak is also a program that reduces our greenhouse gas emissions, reduces congestion on our roadways, fights sprawl, creates jobs, and fosters economic activity. I know first hand the benefits of Amtrak because over one hundred thousand New Jersey commuters depend on Amtrak's infrastructure every day. And there are many other commuter rail systems in states that depend upon Amtrak's infrastructure as well to move very large amounts of their residents over the Amtrak lines.

Some critics want Amtrak to be the only major transportation system in the world that operates without government subsidy. This standard is simply impossible to meet and a standard we do not hold any other mode of transportation to. Over the last 35 years we have spent less money on Amtrak than we will on highways in this year alone. When you factor in state and local subsidies for infrastructure and parking some studies suggest that up to 8% of our Gross National Product is spent on subsidies for automobile use.

We have never committed the same support behind Amtrak that we have for other modes of transportation. This bill will finally give Amtrak a stable amount of authorized funds it needs over the next 6 years to adequately fund its operations and finance capital improvements. But these funds are not free.

To get these funds Amtrak will be forced to tighten its belt while simultaneously improving service. The bill reduces Amtrak's annual appropriations need by requiring reforms that will reduce Amtrak's operating costs by 40 percent over the life of the bill. In addition, bill provides for $1.4 billion dollars for state to provide new passenger rail service between cities. In some instances these state operations will likely provide service that compliments existing Amtrak service just as the recent light rail projects in New Jersey have done. But in other cases these funds may actually create competition for Amtrak for service between some cities.

The bill will also require Amtrak to use a new financial accounting system so regulators and legislators can better monitor how Amtrak uses its resources. And this bill will require Amtrak to use it resources to provide a new level of service by improving on-time performance, upgrading on-board services, and providing easier access to other transportation systems. Finally, the bill will also require a system wide security review to ensure that rail remains a safe transportation alternative.

With record high gasoline prices, congested highways and airports that are experiencing record delays, we need all of the alternative forms of transportation we can provide to the frustrated American traveler.

As someone who represents a state that saw the consequences of what happened on September 11th, I know that we have come to appreciate the importance of multiple modes of transportation in a security context. We've always talked about transportation in the context of getting people to work and economic opportunity. We've talked about people who might get on a rail line to Johns Hopkins University or Robert Wood Johnson or Hackensack Medical Center or the great hospitals in New York. We've talked about tourism and people being able to take Amtrak to go to different parts of the country to see the greatness of this nation.

But on September 11th, we learned that multiple modes of transportation are critical to the nation's security well-being. On that fateful day we had the attacks in New York, as well as Washington and Pennsylvania. On that fateful day the metropolitan region where there are millions of people, saw the tunnels were closed down, and the bridges were closed down, and it was a different mode of transportation that got people out of downtown Manhattan from the World Trade Center and to the hospitals to be triaged, and that mode of transportation happened to be the ferries. And the only way to get the only mode of commercial intercity travel, when all the airlines were shut down for that period of time, was Amtrak.

So we've learned a lesson that this is beyond economics. A lesson that this is beyond tourism. This is beyond getting people to research areas to be cured. It is about security too. If we do away with Amtrak, we do away with the ability to have another mode of transportation that is critical to our security blanket. Amtrak was absolutely essential in keeping the country going in spite of a horrendous terror attack. We have to think about Amtrak in that way as well.

M. President I urge my colleagues to recognize that a strong, well-funded Amtrak is an essential resource for our country. Please join me in voting for the Passenger Rail Improvement and Investment Act of 2007.

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