Doubters delay Amtrak appropriation - Transit Update - Brief Article

Railway Age, August, 2003

An apparent change of sentiment in a key House Committee raised new questions last month about the likelihood of Congress giving Amtrak the $1.8 billion that the railroad's president, David Gunn, says is needed to keep the trains running and to improve equipment and infrastructure.

A majority of House members signed a letter urging the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee to approve Amtrak's request. But under the leadership of anti-Amtrak Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.), the subcommittee reported out a bill authorizing what would amount to a going-out-of-business appropriation of $580 million. The full committee rejected this but prepared a bill appropriating $900 million for Amtrak and at the same time restoring proposed transit cuts.

In the Senate, Amtrak has powerful friends, but there are senators--including the heads of both the Transportation Appropriation Subcommittee and the full Appropriations Committee--with reservations about funding the passenger railroad.

Both houses have authorized long term funding of Amtrak at a $2 billion annual level. But authorization of a program can be meaningless without the appropriations to pay for it.