Bush OKs $13 Billion for Amtrak Upgrades. By Herb Jackson, BergenRec, October 17, 2008. "President Bush reversed his seven-year opposition to a nationally subsidized railroad Thursday and signed a bill authorizing more than $2.6 billion a year over five years to upgrade and expand Amtrak... Without comment, Bush bowed to broad bipartisan support for a bill sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ] that combined Amtrak funding with new railroad safety standards... The last long-term federal commitment to Amtrak was signed by President Clinton and expired in 2002, requiring the railroad to wait for Congress' annual appropriations each year to know how much money it could spend. 'After a decade of starvation diets by the Bush administration and inaction of the Republican-controlled Congress, we stand together to rebuild Amtrak and provide the necessary resources to construct a network of high-speed rail corridors across America,' said Rep. James Oberstar, [D, Minn.], chairman of the House transportation committee."
2008-10-19
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