Hey I wrote to my Representative

[P40Power]

A few months ago there was a poster on this forum stressing that we all should write our representatives in congress on the subject of proper funding for Amtrak. . . well I did, I sent John W. Olver of the 1st District, Massachusetts which is on the committee of appropriations of Transportation and Treasury.

Yesterday I recieved a letter back in the mail from him personally!

He says he too is a great advocate for passenger rail travel and has been trying his best to raise the amount of money that the government wants to give to Amtrak. He even proposed an amendment that would rase the 900 million amount by 500,000 but it was ruled out by majority. He reminds me though that the Senate has not yet passed its version of the Appropriations bill and he is very hopeful that it will increase funding for Amtrak.

I particually like the message towards the bottom of the letter " Please be assured that I will continue to advocate for full funding for Amtrak to ensure that Americans like you have access to a reliable, safe, and environmentally-friendly form of transportation"

He closes out with a thank you and says to contact him in the future with further questions and concerns.

I thought that was very thoughtful of him since Im not even of voting age to respond to me! Hopefully things will work out for Amtrak funding wise.

P.S please excuse the misspelling of representatives in the title of the post! I just caught that after looking at the title of the letter I recieved!

 

[amtrak_flyer]

Way to go! Its a good lesson in politics too! I appreciate everyone who read my post and wrote letters or made calls. Keep them coming especially the next 10 days til the final funding number is determined.

 

[WICT106]

My representative wrote back to me as well. This is what she wrote:

"Thank you for contacting me regarding Amtrak reauthorization and amtrak funding. It's good to hear from you and I appreciate learning your views. "

She then went on to write that she thinks passenger rail is an important component of our transport system, and that there is room for improvement, and in order to imporove the syustem, the gov't must invest in improvements to rail service. She wrote that she will continue to advocate for a comprehensive plan that provides adequate investment and allows citizens a legitimate alternative to driving or flying. She then went on to make the point that has been reitiereated here several times: many critics complain that Amtrak has recieved billions in "subsidies," while failing to acknowledge tohe massive amounts of funding that roads and air transport recieve via their respective taxpayer supported Trust Funds. At the end of that paragraph she writes that she believes "we should provide sufficient funding for Amtrak." she then points out how she thinks that the MWRRI is a good idea whose time has come.

Even though I realize that the Rep here probably has form letters made out just in case sherecives something like what she did from me, it is good to hear from one's legislators, and not just get the typical "Thank You For Your Input - Duly Noted."

 

[tp49]

I'm just curious to know who your rep is. Maybe at some point we could get a list going of who in Congress supports Amtrak and who does not.

 

[battalion51]

I think that NARP put one out some time ago in their Hotline.

 

[WICT106]

I'm just curious to know who your rep is. Maybe at some point we could get a list going of who in Congress supports Amtrak and who does not.

Mine's Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). I disagreee with some of her other politics, but when it comes to support of passenger rail, she's better informed than several others out there. The Rep for the district where i attend Grad School is Ron Kind.