House Passes Funding Boost for Amtrak: $14.4 billion
According to the CQPolitics.com:
The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to give new life and more money to Amtrak by passing a bipartisan compromise measure to reauthorize the beleaguered rail company. The $14.4 billion reauthorization measure passed 311-104, but future prospects for the legislation are less certain. An expected conference committee with the Senate could be tough, and President Bush has already threatened to veto the bill. The bill marks a historic compromise between Republicans and Democrats who have long disagreed on how best to finance Amtrak. Supporters of the railroad have been trying to enact a reauthorization for more than a decade. Republicans acquiesced in the price tag exchange for language prompting privatization of a high-speed rail line in the Northeast Corridor.... click to continue.
