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| June 22, 2005 |
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| WASHINGTON, DC - A day after a House panel voted to strip funding from Amtrak’s long distance passenger train routes, Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, is urging the Chairman of the committee to help keep passenger service running across Montana. During yesterday’s Appropriations Committee meeting, Rehberg, a member of the panel, was unsuccessful in his attempt to restore funding for the Empire Builder with an amendment. Rehberg today asked Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) to help “ensure that the Empire Builder is preserved” on behalf of Montana. “A majority of my constituents - more than half a million people - live in rural areas comprising farming and ranching communities. Taking Amtrak out of Montana will have a detrimental impact on the small businesses in these rural communities, and on the families who depend on their local economy to make ends meet,” Rehberg said in a letter to Lewis. “Many Montanans who live in rural isolation along the line depend on Amtrak's Empire Builder for medical appointments, business trips, shopping visits, college travel and, more importantly, the same access to the rest of nation as that enjoyed by urban residents.” Last week, an Appropriations subcommittee agreed to strike funding for all of Amtrak's long distance passenger rail lines, including the Empire Builder. Rehberg, who sits on the full Appropriations Committee offered an amendment to restore funding to the Empire Builder, but the amendment was rejected, and the committee okayed the as part of the Transportation, Treasury & HUD spending bill for 2006. “In most of rural Montana, there is no other access to mass transportation, as bus service in the state has been scaled back, while the airlines operate extremely restricted service at only a handful of airports scattered across a state as wide as the distance between Chicago and Washington, DC,” Rehberg explained in his letter to Lewis. “I ask that you, as a valued Chairman and friend, will work with me throughout the legislative process to ensure that the Empire Builder is preserved on behalf of rural Montana.” Rehberg has pledged to continue the fight: a vote on the legislation, including its Amtrak de-funding language, is likely to come before the full House of Representatives next week.
LETTER BELOW: June 22, 2005 The Honorable Jerry Lewis Chairman House Committee on Appropriations H-218, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Lewis, Thank you for your leadership. I want you to know how much I appreciate the work you have done, both for the House and for my constituents. As you know, I am deeply concerned about cuts to Amtrak reported by the Transportation, Treasury & HUD Subcommittee. I represent a magnificent, wide-open state in its entirety. A majority of my constituents - more than half a million people - live in rural areas comprising farming and ranching communities. Taking Amtrak out of Montana will have a detrimental impact on the small businesses in these rural communities, and on the families who depend on their local economy to make ends meet. Last year, nearly 500,000 people rode the Empire Builder, including the 130,000 that rode to, from, and through Montana. Many Montanans who live in rural isolation along the line depend on Amtrak's Empire Builder for medical appointments, business trips, shopping visits, college travel and, more importantly, the same access to the rest of nation as that enjoyed by urban residents. In most of rural Montana, there is no other access to mass transportation, as bus service in the state has been scaled back, while the airlines operate extremely restricted service at only a handful of airports scattered across a state as wide as the distance between Chicago and Washington, DC. I ask that you, as a valued Chairman and friend, will work with me throughout the legislative process to ensure that the Empire Builder is preserved on behalf of rural Montana. Thank you, Denny Rehberg |
