National Association of Railroad Passengers: www.narprail.org

Rail Passengers Support Reintroduction of Rail Passenger Bill

Release #07-01—January 16, 2007

Contact NARP

Washington, D.C.—Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Trent Lott (R-MS), appearing at a joint news conference this noon at Washington Union Station, announced that they were introducing today their Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act. The new bill, S. 294, is similar to S. 1516 in the last Congress, except for changes in the dates and technical amendments. S. 294 also includes the rail security package that the Senate has passed unanimously three times, most recently as H.R.4954, the SAFE Port Act (109th Congress).

Both senators alluded with humor to the change in control on Capitol Hill.  Lott said the bill “used to be Lott-Lautenberg. Now, it’s Lautenberg-Lott. We never miss a step…There are some things in Washington that are truly bipartisan, including transportation…There are limits to how many lanes we can build, how many planes we can fly.”

Lautenberg said, “We have a chance to get Amtrak back on track…The future of Amtrak is looking bright…Congress is ready to pass a bill to revitalize Amtrak…I chair the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine.  This bill is my top priority.”

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon said, “We applaud the continued, strong, bipartisan work of Senators Lautenberg and Lott to get this reauthorization passed. This lays the foundation for meaningful federal support for state corridor development. It also should encourage the appropriations committees to focus on funding and not on micromanaging legislative provisions.”

[More comments by the two senators from today’s news conference can be found here on our website.]