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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by jwinter New Transportation Secretary Mineta lays out Amtrak agenda WASHINGTON, D.C. - Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, named Thursday to serve in President Bush's second-term Cabinet, vowed to press a controversial plan to overhaul Amtrak financing in order to end "a drain on the budget,” according to a story in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. Mineta, 73, the former Democratic mayor and House member from San Jose, Calif., said in an interview that he would work to win congressional approval for the pending plan to reduce federal spending on Amtrak by shifting a greater burden to states served by the passenger carrier on the east and west coasts. Federal assistance for Amtrak should be on the same basis as federal assistance for highways and metropolitan transit systems, with the federal government paying a smaller share of the costs, Mineta said, adding that President Bush backs the hard-nosed plan requiring states to pay up or lose service. "If a train goes through a state and that state is not willing to pony up the state's share, then we would run the train through that state, not stopping and keeping the doors closed," Mineta said. The transportation chief said he intends to "deal with the long-term longevity of Amtrak," which receives $1.2 billion under Bush's latest annual budget - about $600 million less than Amtrak requested. Mineta conceded that he was "quite sure we'll find resistance" in Congress to the plan. But he added: "We have spent something like $37 billion on Amtrak (since its inception in 1971). It has been a drain on the budget, and we haven't really improved services in a major way. I want to make sure that we keep this system safe and provide a good service." Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, said states already shoulder a significant portion of Amtrak's capital expenditures. Mineta's plan would merely "take the bill for existing railroad service and dump a greater share on the states" when states need more generous federal support "to take railroad service to the next level," Capon said. Of the $417 million Amtrak invested in capital improvements in fiscal 2003, the federal government provided $268 million, leaving the remaining $149 million to be financed by states, localities, and borrowing. "The rhetoric the administration is using just doesn't match up to the reality," Capon said. "This plan would be the death knell for expansion of railroad service." Amtrak enjoys wide support in Congress and lawmakers with Amtrak trains running through their states or districts represent a formidable lobby against any attempt to reduce service. Mineta's plan calls for gradually handing over control of Northeast Corridor tracks between Washington, D.C. and Boston, Mass. to a coalition of states. [/quote] I am a bit disappointed in Norman, I thought that he of all people that had been a member of the House would know that such talk before the Bulls in the leadership give their blessing is a best a bit premature.
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