Travel Referendums: Bipartisan Support for Amtrak Not Maverick-y Enough for McCain

October 23, 2008 at 2:30 PM | by pbb | 0 Comments

This November 4 is about more than just deciding between McCain and Obama. Other issues that directly affect travelers are up for decision, and this week we're taking a closer look at some of them.

After Amtrak reported record ridership, President Bush signed a bill earlier this month to give the rail operator $13 billion in new funding over the next five years as well as expand safety measures. (Even though he said he wouldn't sign it back in June.) Amazingly, the investment had the support of an overwhelming majority of Congress.

Behind the bill was New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg (inset), whose state sees roughly 1.6 million Amtrak passengers a year. His version of the bill actually didn't provide for the $13 billion, though, as money-related legislation has to originate in the House. So whose idea was it to give Amtrak all that cash? Our old pal James Oberstar!

The chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, we usually see Oberstar trying to regulate airlines. But he introduced HR.2095, the funding and safety measure that would cross President Bush's desk, back in 2007. What changed Bush's mind about the bill since this summer? Well, what's $13 billion for mass transit when you're spending $700 billion on bad paper?

More than 20 percent of the House signed on as co-sponsors for the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007, and it passed by a huge margin of 377 to 38, with 16 not voting. The senate version of the bill--the one introduced by Sen. Lautenberg--had the support of Barack Obama and 73 other senators, while John McCain voted against it. Joe Biden didn't vote. Maybe he was stuck on a delayed Amtrak train?

Jaunted

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Tags: Travel Referendums / Train Travel / Amtrak / Frank Lautenberg / John McCain / Barack Obama / James Oberstar / → All Tags