Senator William Roth

From:	crocon@connix.com
Date:	5/23/97  4:50:16AM
To:	steveg@liberty.com
Subject:	Press Release from Sen. Roth

Dear Friends of Amtrak:

The following is a press release from Senator William Roth (R-DE).
Senator Roth is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the
principal author of S.436, Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund
Act of 1997, which would allocate one-half cent of the existing
federal gas tax for Amtrak capital.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 1997

SENATE BUDGET INCLUDES ROTH PLAN TO FUND AMTRAK

WASHINGTON -- "One of my principal goals this year was to secure
for Amtrak a source of capital funding that would give the system
the resources it needs to create a first-class national passenger
rail system," said Senator William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE). "With
this agreement by the Senate Budget Committee, we have taken a
giant step toward making that happen."

Under the Roth brokered plan, Congress would be able to increase
capital funding for passenger rail service by as much as $400
hundred million for each of the next five years -- without
increasing the deficit. When combined with projected
appropriations over that same period, this will give Amtrak the
$4 billion in capital funding the system needs to update its
aging equipment and facilities.

"By definition, the economic growth we currently enjoy means more
people, goods and services will be on the move tomorrow than
today," Roth said. "But yesterday's transportation solutions
won't work for tomorrow's problems. There are new congestion,
space, environmental and cost concerns that were not apparent 40
years ago when the country began to stitch together a nationwide
highway system. That's why we need a revitalized Amtrak.
Passenger rail service saves precious open space and conserves
fuel, while easing air pollution and congestion on our congested
freeways."

Earlier this year, Roth introduced legislation to create a
capital improvement trust fund for Amtrak by transferring
one-half cent of the 4.3 cents-per-gallon fuels tax now being
deposited into the General Fund. Unlike the air and highway
travel systems, passenger rail currently does not have a trust
fund. Roth's new plan would fund capital improvements for Amtrak
through a reserve fund.

Roth also recently founded the Rail Coalition, a bipartisan group
of Senators and Representatives working to support passenger rail
in the United States.
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Regards,

Craig S. O'Connell
Friends of Amtrak
http://www.connix.com/~crocon/amtrak.html


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