Reauthorization of Amtrak Hearing
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
S. HRG. 109–369 REAUTHORIZATION OF AMTRAK HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND MERCHANT MARINE OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 21, 2005 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 26–844 PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:17 May 02, 2006 Jkt 026844 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26844.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Co-Chairman CONRAD BURNS, Montana JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia TRENT LOTT, Mississippi JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada MARIA CANTWELL, Washington GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska JIM DEMINT, South Carolina MARK PRYOR, Arkansas DAVID VITTER, Louisiana LISA J. SUTHERLAND, Republican Staff Director CHRISTINE DRAGER KURTH, Republican Deputy Staff Director DAVID RUSSELL, Republican Chief Counsel MARGARET L. CUMMISKY, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel SAMUEL E. WHITEHORN, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel LILA HARPER HELMS, Democratic Policy Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND MERCHANT MARINE TRENT LOTT, Mississippi, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Ranking JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia CONRAD BURNS, Montana BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BARBARA BOXER, California OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine MARIA CANTWELL, Washington GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire MARK PRYOR, Arkansas DAVID VITTER, Louisiana (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:17 May 02, 2006 Jkt 026844 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26844.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on April 21, 2005 .............................................................................. 1 Statement of Senator Burns ................................................................................... 44 Statement of Senator Dorgan ................................................................................. 41 Statement of Senator Lautenberg .......................................................................... 3 Statement of Senator Lott ...................................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Pryor .................................................................................... 39 Statement of Senator Stevens ................................................................................ 49 Statement of Senator Sununu ................................................................................ 46 WITNESSES Gunn, David L., President and CEO, Amtrak ...................................................... 22 Laney, ESQ., David M., Chairman of the Board, Amtrak ................................... 17 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 20 Mead, Hon. Kenneth M., Inspector General, Department of Transportation ..... 23 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 Rosen, Hon. Jeffrey A., General Counsel, Department of Transportation .......... 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 APPENDIX Response to Written Questions Submitted to Kenneth M. Mead by: Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 71 Hon. Olympia J. Snowe .................................................................................... 64 Hon. Frank R. Lautenberg ............................................................................... 73 Response to Written Questions Submitted to Hon. Jeffrey A. Rosen by: Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 72 Hon. Frank R. Lautenberg ............................................................................... 73 Response to Written Questions Submitted to David M. Laney, ESQ. by: Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 69 Hon. Frank R. Lautenberg ............................................................................... 71 Hon. Gordon H. Smith ..................................................................................... 67 Response to Written Questions Submitted to David L. Gunn by: Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 68 Hon. Frank R. Lautenberg ............................................................................... 71 Hon. Gordon H. Smith ..................................................................................... 66 Hon. Olympia J. Snowe .................................................................................... 65 Smith, Hon. Gordon H., U.S. Senator from Oregon, prepared statement .......... 64 Snowe, Hon. Olympia J., U.S. Senator from Maine, prepared statement .......... 63 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:17 May 02, 2006 Jkt 026844 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26844.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:17 May 02, 2006 Jkt 026844 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26844.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF REAUTHORIZATION OF AMTRAK THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND MERCHANT MARINE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building. Hon. Trent Lott, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TRENT LOTT, U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI Senator LOTT. If the hearing will come to order, we will go ahead and get started with my opening statement and then we will move to the witness testimony, we’re going to have a number of Senators that will be joining us this morning, we expect eight or ten, but we work on Senate time, which is about 15 minutes late. But we’ll get started anyway, so we can sort of set the parameters on this hear- ing. I want to thank the witnesses for being here, I’m looking forward to hearing your testimony, and I’m also looking forward to having the chance for the Committee to ask some questions, and try to begin to get a vision of where we really want to go. This morning the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine will be receiving testimony on the policy issues surrounding the reauthorization of Amtrak. As Chairman of this Subcommittee, enacting legislation to reform Amtrak is one of my top priorities for this session of Congress. I am willing to work hard on developing consensus, bipartisan legislation, but only if the legislation truly improves the situation and makes some sense for the future. Ten years ago, when I also served as Chairman of this Sub- committee, I helped write the legislation which eventually became the Amtrak Reform Act of 1997. Unfortunately, for a variety of rea- sons, I’m sure, many of the Act’s provisions intended to improve Amtrak’s performance were never used. Despite assurances from Amtrak management at the time that the railroad was on a ‘‘glide path to self-sufficiency,’’ Amtrak still requires large Federal oper- ating subsidies. One of my goals for today’s hearing is to determine why we didn’t use more of the 1997 legislation, what was wrong with the way we wrote it, and make sure that we don’t repeat those mistakes, come up with some new and different ideas. (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:17 May 02, 2006 Jkt 026844 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\26844.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF 2 I also think that it’s important we are honest with ourselves about what are the prospects for Amtrak or whatever we have in its place to actually ever make a profit, or to be self-sufficient. If that’s not going to happen, we need to acknowledge it, if it’s not going to happen, but if we want to keep it or some form of it, how are we going to fund it? We put that decision off long enough. This is the year where we have to make the cut, make the decision. Today we will basically hear three proposals on how to proceed with intercity rail. First we’ll hear from the Administration. The President proposed zero funding for Amtrak—as I understand it, not to kill it, but to send Congress a wake-up call that the time to reform Amtrak is now. I hope that was their thinking, and I hope that we get the message without actually killing it. In a way it could happen, we didn’t get the legislation last year for a variety of reasons, no use trying to re-hash that, we’re going to get something this year, one way or the other, we’re going to make a decision. Now last week the Administration re-submitted its