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AMTRAK: TELLING IT LIKE IT IS
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), one of the UTU’s best friends and an ardent supporter of Amtrak and its conductors, pulled no punches last week when the House Railroad Subcommittee heard testimony on Amtrak.
Brown especially bristled at stated plans to break apart the national railroad passenger network and parcel it out to possibly non-union operators.
Following is what Brown said at that congressional hearing.
“Last year, Amtrak achieved record ridership of 25 million passengers nationwide – the equivalent of 125,000 fully loaded Boeing 757 airliners. That is a substantial increase in ridership, which tells me that support for Amtrak is growing.
“Recent polls show that 66 percent of the American people support Amtrak – not 66 percent from the “red states” or “blue states,” but 66 percent of the American people.
“Amtrak works, and Americans depend on it.
“We should be investing in our railroad system just like we invest in the other modes of transportation. We spend trillions of dollars to subsidize every form of transportation – highways, aviation, transit, and maritime – and Amtrak gets the short end of the stick, with just over $1 billion a year from the federal government.
“We’ve spent $18 billion on aviation security since 9/11, but nothing to secure Amtrak’s passengers. The airlines are looking for another hand-out from Congress because of fuel prices – about $600 million in tax relief. I don’t see any relief for Amtrak.
“We spend $4 billion a month in Iraq, but we can’t find $3 billion to get the Northeast Corridor to a state of good repair.
“Haliburton wastes $7.2 billion of federal funds and inflates costs billed to the federal government for things like soda, movie rentals, tailoring services and equipment, but that gets swept under the rug.
“Haliburton billed the federal government for 37,200 cases of soda each month at $45 per case, and we complain about a $3 beverage that Amtrak sells to passengers.
“Haliburton spent $10,000 per day to house their employees in Kuwait at a five-star hotel, instead of moving them to air-conditioned tent facilities -- as requested by the Army, for under $600 per day -- and we complain about the cost of Amtrak sleeper cars.
“Then there is the Transportation Security Agency, which spends $1,200 for 20 gallons of Starbucks coffee, $1,500 for 14 extension cords, $500,000 to rent tents that flooded in a rainstorm, $250,000 for artwork for TSA’s new crisis management center in Virginia, $30,000 for silk plants and flowers, $13,000 for lamps, and $29,000 for art consultants. And we’re complaining about $1 billion for a service that millions of Americans rely on.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves.
“Let’s stop nickel-and-diming Amtrak to death. Let’s stop looking for ways to get rid of the railroad. Let’s start giving David Gunn the support he needs and our constituents – many of which are Amtrak passengers – deserve.”
To this the UTU can only add, “Thank you, Rep. Brown.”
AMTRAK: TELLING IT LIKE IT IS
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), one of the UTU’s best friends and an ardent supporter of Amtrak and its conductors, pulled no punches last week when the House Railroad Subcommittee heard testimony on Amtrak.
Brown especially bristled at stated plans to break apart the national railroad passenger network and parcel it out to possibly non-union operators.
Following is what Brown said at that congressional hearing.
“Last year, Amtrak achieved record ridership of 25 million passengers nationwide – the equivalent of 125,000 fully loaded Boeing 757 airliners. That is a substantial increase in ridership, which tells me that support for Amtrak is growing.
“Recent polls show that 66 percent of the American people support Amtrak – not 66 percent from the “red states” or “blue states,” but 66 percent of the American people.
“Amtrak works, and Americans depend on it.
“We should be investing in our railroad system just like we invest in the other modes of transportation. We spend trillions of dollars to subsidize every form of transportation – highways, aviation, transit, and maritime – and Amtrak gets the short end of the stick, with just over $1 billion a year from the federal government.
“We’ve spent $18 billion on aviation security since 9/11, but nothing to secure Amtrak’s passengers. The airlines are looking for another hand-out from Congress because of fuel prices – about $600 million in tax relief. I don’t see any relief for Amtrak.
“We spend $4 billion a month in Iraq, but we can’t find $3 billion to get the Northeast Corridor to a state of good repair.
“Haliburton wastes $7.2 billion of federal funds and inflates costs billed to the federal government for things like soda, movie rentals, tailoring services and equipment, but that gets swept under the rug.
“Haliburton billed the federal government for 37,200 cases of soda each month at $45 per case, and we complain about a $3 beverage that Amtrak sells to passengers.
“Haliburton spent $10,000 per day to house their employees in Kuwait at a five-star hotel, instead of moving them to air-conditioned tent facilities -- as requested by the Army, for under $600 per day -- and we complain about the cost of Amtrak sleeper cars.
“Then there is the Transportation Security Agency, which spends $1,200 for 20 gallons of Starbucks coffee, $1,500 for 14 extension cords, $500,000 to rent tents that flooded in a rainstorm, $250,000 for artwork for TSA’s new crisis management center in Virginia, $30,000 for silk plants and flowers, $13,000 for lamps, and $29,000 for art consultants. And we’re complaining about $1 billion for a service that millions of Americans rely on.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves.
“Let’s stop nickel-and-diming Amtrak to death. Let’s stop looking for ways to get rid of the railroad. Let’s start giving David Gunn the support he needs and our constituents – many of which are Amtrak passengers – deserve.”
To this the UTU can only add, “Thank you, Rep. Brown.”
