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I just got a Google alert on Amtrak which said that Bush had signed a spending bill and Amtrak is frozen at 1.3 billion. For those of you who aren't aware of it Google alerts tell you every time there is something in Congress pertaining to Amtrak. Interesting
cajon Member # 40
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$1.3 billion is a whole lot more than he gave in the past. But then it's OK now being a lame duck president. <G>
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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Its about the same amount Amtrak has gotten the last two years.
20th Century Member # 2196
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It's better than 500 million, but still not enough.
train lady Member # 3920
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I reread the article and it says that Amtrak was frozen at 1.3 mi instead of absorbing the 400mi Bush wanted. So I guess some is better than nothing. I had read a quote from Bush saying that he didn't see any need for trains because people could either drive or fly. How accurate that is I do not know
PullmanCo Member # 1138
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What happened is that Congress finally sent a FY 2007 Omnibus Appropriation Act to the President on February 14. What they did, rather than doing real appropriations, was simply appropriate all agencies at their FY2006 funding levels:
As far as freezing the number, that is reporterese. The term is appropriation. The number for FY07 appears to be indeed $1.3 billion. That is less than the "state of good repair" which is still the concept at Amtrak, even with Mr Kummant on board (and he wasn't on board for the FY07 submission), but more than the Administration wanted to give him.
If you read the CNN version, Bush wasn't happy about anything. Big Deal. Bush is laser-lighted onto one issue now, and it's NOT Amtrak.
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