{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11830-3", "2000-12-15", 106, 2, null, null, "AMTRAK", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S11830", "S11831", "[{\"name\": \"Daniel Patrick Moynihan\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Frank R. Lautenberg\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Arlen Specter\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "146 Cong. Rec. S11830", "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 S11830-S11831]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                                 AMTRAK\n\n  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I will not require more than a few\nmoments to thank my friend from New Jersey and express confidence in\nthe Senators\n\n[[Page S11831]]\n\nfrom Massachusetts and Delaware who have just spoken, to thank the\ndistinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee and my revered\nfriend, the ranking member, the Senator from West Virginia, and the\nmajority leader.\n  May I say, sir--something we often lose sight of--this is a national\nissue and ought to be addressed by the Congress. We are the only major\nindustrial state in the world that has not sought to recreate and\nrevivify its rail system in the last generation.\n  The Committee on Environment and Public Works in the last 20 years\nhas turned to this. In 1989, we passed the Intermodal Surface\nTransportation Efficiency Act, calling for just such measures--later\nthe Transportation Efficiency Act. We created financial instruments and\nthe possibility of investments to be involved.\n  We can do this. We are on the verge of it. To miss it at this moment\nwould be to miss a moment in history for which I think we will not be\nhappy. But I am so confident, from what I have heard today, that I\nleave the Senate yet more proud of having been here 24 years, thanking\nall--thanking particularly the Presiding Officer for his friendship and\nleadership in so many important matters.\n  I yield the floor with great satisfaction of what has just\ntranspired. If this is the kind of mode we enter into in January, there\nis much to expect from the 107th.\n  Thanks to my friend from New Jersey.\n  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from New York.\n  The majority leader made a private statement to me, which I will\nstate publicly. He said, as we ready for my departure, bipartisanship\nis breaking out all over. And I am not quite sure how that is meant.\nBut I yield up to 3 minutes to the Senator from Pennsylvania, with the\nunderstanding I retain the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The\nSenator from Pennsylvania.\n  Mr. SPECTER. I thank the distinguished Senator from New Jersey for\nyielding to me. I compliment him for his leadership on Amtrak generally\nand especially on this current plan for financing.\n  I support Amtrak and believe the proposal to provide this additional\nfunding is very much in the national interest. I think it is a very\nsalutary thing, as some have already commented, that we have people\nextending their hands across the aisle on a matter of great national\nimportance.\n  The Senator from Delaware, I think, characterized the situation very\naptly when he talked about federalism; and that is, one region helping\nanother region.\n  There is no doubt that those of us who live in the eastern corridor--\nand I am a beneficiary of Amtrak. It is 1 hour and 37 civilized minutes\nfrom Washington, DC, to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. But it is\nmore than my convenience; it is the infrastructure of the country.\n  I think this is very good for the country that we are going to be\nmoving ahead with this legislation next year, and a very good sign for\nthe 107th Congress that hands are being extended across the aisle to\nshow bipartisanship. If this carries forward in the next year\ngenerally, it will be very good for the American people.\n  I, again, thank my colleague from New Jersey.\n  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I thank the Senator from Pennsylvania for not only\nhis comments but for his help. He is someone we counted on to work so\nclosely with us, to bring seriously a bipartisan aspect to the\nprotection that we are looking for to make sure that Amtrak--the\nnational goal for railroading all across this country--will be able to\ncontinue.\n  It is obvious to me, as we have listened to the comments, that unless\nthese investments are made now, or very soon, we will be unable to\nfulfill the objectives of having Amtrak as a self-sufficient entity\noperating with its operating budget met by the revenues that it\nderives. The funds that we will be able to get from this proposed bond\nissue will enable it to make the capital investment it so desperately\nneeds.\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-PgS11830-3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.40209596045315266, "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"}