Congressman Brendan Boyle Opposes Inadequate Transportation Funding Bill and Amtrak Cuts

Washington, D.C. – Last night, Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA-13) opposed legislation that cuts Amtrak funding by roughly $250 million. H.R. 2577, the annual Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill, passed the House of Representatives 216-210, largely on a party-line vote.

"This bill drastically short-changes job creating investments critical to hard-working American families, like roads, bridges, and rail systems, and undermines access to safe and affordable housing. These investments are especially important for Southeast Pennsylvania's crumbling infrastructure," said Congressman Boyle. "The bill's cuts to Amtrak are particularly offensive in light of last month's Philadelphia derailment and the growing needs of the Northeast Corridor. It is unacceptable that the United States still lags behind in many basic rail safety investments, in addition to our sorry deficit in high-speed innovation and modernization."

The Federal Rail Administration estimates that the Northeast Corridor's aging train infrastructure needs an additional $4.3 billion just to salvage it from a state of chronic disrepair. Last month's derailment in Philadelphia was a tragic reminder of the costs of our failure to invest in rail safety and modernization.

The bill provides an inadequate $55.3 billion in net discretionary spending for the upcoming fiscal year – $9.7 billion below the President's budget request, which called for robust investment in our nation's bridges, roads and rail. The overall Republican budget framework for FY 2016 is dangerously inadequate. The sequester-level caps would put non-defense discretionary spending at its lowest level, adjusted for inflation, in the past decade, leading to draconian cuts to crucial investments.

Boyle supports the bill's new funding for video cameras inside locomotive cabs to record engineers and help investigators get to the bottom of crashes like last month's derailment.

On March 4, 2015, Congressman Boyle voted for H.R. 749, the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015, which authorizes increased investment and capital improvement projects in the Northeast Corridor. In addition, the bill authorized $5.3 billion in grants to Amtrak and included an amendment requiring a report to be submitted to Congress on a proposal for Northeast Corridor Express Service (high speed rail).

Congressman Boyle will continue to call for bold investment in our nation's infrastructure, particularly Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. His Op-Ed piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer highlights that call.

Both bills await Senate consideration. President Obama has threatened to veto the appropriations bill due to its inadequate funding for needed infrastructure investments.