Thursday, July 26, 2007
Arkansas congressmen vote on Amtrak
I cover this in more detail on my "Trains for America" blog. It is noteworthy that the Arkansas delegation is, for the most part pro-Amtrak. I have a link to the votes cast by every member of congress over there, so knock yourself out.
There is an exception, so let's make a game out of this. Which Arkansas representative do you think is not in favor of reliable convenient ground transportation? Hmmmmm.... who could that be?
While you ponder, let's consider the five proposals that would have crippled Amtrak's ability to serve most of America.
OK. Time's up. If you guessed "John Boozman (R-Wal Mart), you win! He voted against the Bachmann proposal to transfer Amtrak funds to the homeless, so I guess John puts the homeless behind Amtrak passengers in the pecking order of worthiness. He was, otherwise, solidly anti-Amtrak.
Thanks to Congressmen Snyder, Ross and Berry for supporting rail passenger service, even though current proposals can only be described as embarrassingly inadequate.
There is an exception, so let's make a game out of this. Which Arkansas representative do you think is not in favor of reliable convenient ground transportation? Hmmmmm.... who could that be?
While you ponder, let's consider the five proposals that would have crippled Amtrak's ability to serve most of America.
The amendment offered by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to require Amtrak to eliminate the train with the highest loss per passenger-mile [Sunset Limited] failed on a 139-283 vote.
Bachmann (R-MN; transfer $106 million from Amtrak to homeless programs) FAILED 110-308
Flake (R-AZ; eliminate $475 million from Amtrak operations to reduce the overall cost of the bill) FAILED 94-328
Flake (R-AZ; eliminate $425 million from Amtrak Capital and debt service grants to reduce the overall cost of the bill) FAILED 104-312
Sessions (R-TX; eliminate the Sunset Limited) FAILED 139-283.
OK. Time's up. If you guessed "John Boozman (R-Wal Mart), you win! He voted against the Bachmann proposal to transfer Amtrak funds to the homeless, so I guess John puts the homeless behind Amtrak passengers in the pecking order of worthiness. He was, otherwise, solidly anti-Amtrak.
Thanks to Congressmen Snyder, Ross and Berry for supporting rail passenger service, even though current proposals can only be described as embarrassingly inadequate.
