{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11827", "2000-12-15", 106, 2, null, null, "THE OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S11827", "S11828", "[{\"name\": \"Thomas A. Daschle\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Trent Lott\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Robert C. Byrd\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Harry Reid\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Frank R. Lautenberg\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "146 Cong. Rec. S11827", "Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S11827-S11828]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                    THE OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS BILL\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.\n  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, although there are a lot of good things\nin the bill we are about to debate, there is one glaring omission--\nlegislation to provide Amtrak with the authority to issue tax credit\nbonds for capital improvements. This bonding authority is critical to\nAmtrak's future and to the economic health of the northeast and many\nother areas of the country.\n  I have discussed this issue with members of my caucus. We had a very\nspirited discussion in our caucus this morning, and I know how strongly\nthey support Amtrak and this legislation. We are very disappointed this\nprovision was not included in this otherwise praiseworthy legislation.\nAmtrak supporters will not give up on passing it. In order to help them\nsecure enactment of this important measure next year, the majority\nleader and I have discussed and agreed on how best to proceed. I yield\nthe floor to allow the majority leader to describe what that\nunderstanding is at this time.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.\n  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I thank the Democratic leader for his fine\nwork on this issue. I know there is a lot of passion, a lot of support\nfor Amtrak. But let me remind my colleagues, I am one of those\nsupporters. I have been an active supporter of the national rail\npassenger system and was very much involved a couple of years ago when\nwe passed the Amtrak legislation. I had some strong opposition on our\nside of the aisle. I think we need it.\n  Now, I must confess one of the reasons I think we need it is I want\nus to have good service, not just in the northeast but I also would\nlike to have access from my own State of Mississippi to be able to get\nto Atlanta and Washington and Boston, and we are the beneficiaries of\nAmtrak service. I think we have to do it. I have pledged if it can't\nrun efficiently, if it cannot run without going into debt, at some\npoint we may want to say we just can't do that and decide what is going\nto be the successor program.\n  But I also think it is guaranteed and doomed to failure if we don't\ngive it an opportunity to succeed. If you don't have modern equipment,\nif you don't have the new fast trains, if you don't have a rapid rail\nsystem, it will not work.\n  So I support this legislation. I want to commit to our colleagues\nhere that I will join with Senator Daschle in cosponsoring this\nlegislation next year. We will work together to get the appropriate\nhearings in the Finance Committee and hopefully in the Commerce\nCommittee, too--even though this bill is under the Finance subcommittee\njurisdiction because of the tax aspects of it--but the Amtrak part of\nit, of course, would fall under Commerce. I am on both committees and\nSenator Daschle will probably be on the Finance Committee, too. We will\nwork with the ranking member and the chairman to get hearings and move\nthis legislation.\n  I cannot guarantee we will have the votes or that it will not be\nfilibustered or that we can break a filibuster, but I think it is the\nright thing to do. I might just add, the chairman of the Amtrak board,\nGovernor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, has been very actively involved.\nHe supports this legislation. He has called me personally about this\nlegislation. He really cares about it.\n  When we talk about bipartisanship, transportation is an issue on\nwhich we have been able to work together in a bipartisan way, whether\nit is roads, AIR-21, TEA-21, Amtrak, rapid rail system. We can do it\nagain.\n  Maybe we can improve on this bill. We talked about that in an\nexchange yesterday. Maybe there are some things we can do, some tweaks\nthat would make it better and resolve some of the concerns. And we will\ntry to do that. I am prepared to make that commitment. I believe we can\ndo it early next year. I am not talking about having it languish; I am\ntrying to get movement on it in the first 3 months, 6 months of the\nsession, so those who have reservations can offer amendments and we\nwill vote on them. Hopefully, we can get it done, and I commit to do\nthat.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.\n  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I have long been a supporter of Amtrak. I\nwas chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation\nbefore my friend, Mr. Lautenberg, swore to support and defend the\nConstitution of the United States against all enemies of the United\nStates, foreign and domestic. I was for it then. I am for it now. We\nhad some problems in connection with putting this measure into this\nbill. I don't need to go into those problems here.\n  But I want to assure Mr. Biden and I want to assure Mr. Lautenberg,\nand assure both leaders, that I will do anything I can next year to\nsupport this legislation. I am a cosponsor of the bill, and I will do\nmy best to help enact it at the earliest possible date in the coming\nCongress. Like the distinguished majority leader, I can't guarantee\nanything except that I will do\n\n[[Page S11828]]\n\nmy best to be helpful. Certainly on the Appropriations Committee, if\nthere is an appropriations item, as always, I will support it. Amtrak\ncomes to West Virginia. It comes 3 days a week. I wish it came more\noften.\n  But I support Amtrak as much as anybody in this Chamber. We don't\nhave large airports in West Virginia; all we have is highways. We\ncertainly are grateful for and certainly very supportive of the limited\namount of rail transportation we have. We used to have the Hilltopper;\nwe used to have the Mountaineer in West Virginia. I have been a\nsupporter of the Cardinal longer than I can remember.\n  So Senators may be reassured that I shall do everything I can within\nmy power next year to be helpful.\n  The principal cosponsors, Mr. Lautenberg and Mr. Biden, made a strong\ncase for the importance of this vital legislation. It will be a central\npart of our efforts to ensure that our Amtrak system not only is\nmaintained but is also able to make necessary improvements in the\nfuture to ensure its continued success.\n  I thank all Senators.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.\n  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have been here, not as many years by far\nas most everyone on this floor right now, but it is not often that you\nsee the two leaders and our longtime leader Senator Byrd, stand and say\nthey will support a piece of legislation. I have never seen it happen\nbefore. I think this is to show the intensity of the feelings of the\npeople who support this legislation, led by Senator Joe Biden. So I am\nreally pleased it appears at this stage that the three leaders, Senator\nLott, Senator Daschle, and Senator Byrd, have agreed to do this.\n  I was at lunch today with Senator Hollings, who is the ranking\nDemocrat on the committee of jurisdiction that may have something to do\nwith this, the Commerce Committee. He said he will do everything he can\nto move this matter along. I know I will. Senator Specter, on the other\nside of the aisle, said he would do anything possible to move this\nalong. This is a rare occasion in the Senate that you see this much\nsupport for a piece of legislation.\n  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, if I could ask my colleagues to defer just a\nmoment, Senator Daschle and I would like to get one more unanimous\nconsent agreement in. Then I would like to yield to the Senators who\nare on their feet.\n  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, may I, with all due respect, remind\nthe majority leader and the President that I yielded time based on the\nfact that I would recover the floor.\n  Mr. LOTT. There is no question about it. I thought perhaps the\nSenator would want to comment, too, on what has just transpired. But I\ndo want to include in the Record the fact that Senator Stevens also has\nassured our colleagues, and has reminded me again, he also commits, as\nchairman of the Appropriations Committee, his continued support for\nAmtrak.\n  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I thank the majority leader.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11827"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 22.197542944923043, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}