093_HR0192

                                     LRB093 11453 DRH 14393 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS,  in  order  to  ensure  the   safety,   quality,
 3    reliability,   and   efficiency   of   our   country's  vital
 4    transportation network and to preserve our national  defense,
 5    America  needs  a  balanced, integrated transportation system
 6    and the American people need diverse transportation  choices;
 7    and

 8        WHEREAS,  passenger  rail  is  a  critical component of a
 9    modern multi-modal transportation system and  needs  to  have
10    financial  support, unified policy development, and oversight
11    similar to that  afforded  to  our  air,  highway,  and  mass
12    transit modes, therefore be it

13        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
14    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
15    we  urge  Congress  and the President of the United States to
16    fully institute  the  following  passenger  rail  components,
17    which  are  critical  to  the future of passenger rail in the
18    United States, within the  upcoming  reauthorization  of  the
19    Transportation  Equity  Act  for the 21st Century (TEA 21) or
20    Amtrak Reauthorization legislation:
21             1. Establish a dedicated, multi-year federal capital
22        funding program for intercity passenger  rail,  patterned
23        after  the  resting  federal  highway,  airport, and mass
24        transit programs.
25             2. Establish, as federal  policy,  a  preserved  and
26        improved  national  passenger rail system - a nationwide,
27        interconnected  passenger  rail  system  that  stimulates
28        higher   levels   of    efficiency,    innovation,    and
29        responsiveness.     Direct     the    Federal    Railroad
30        Administration,  or  another  agency  within   the   U.S.
31        Department  of  Transportation, to - with state and local
32        input - develop, fund, and oversee this federal policy.
33             3.  Provide  full  federal  funding  of  Amtrak   to
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11453 DRH 14393 r
 1        maintain  the national network during the period that the
 2        new federal plans and policies are being developed. Then,
 3        fully fund implementation of the national passenger  rail
 4        system  -  with  its  new  efficiencies,  innovation, and
 5        responsiveness - in subsequent years; and be it further

 6        RESOLVED, That suitable  copies  of  this  resolution  be
 7    delivered  to  the  president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate,
 8    the Speaker of the U.S. House of  Representatives,  and  each
 9    member of the Illinois congressional delegation.