HIGH SPEED RAIL LINE: Press Release - 10/20/92 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 20, 1992 [Statement of Bob Boorstin, Deputy Communications Director] GEORGE BUSH CAN'T RAILROAD VIRGINIA AND AMERICA. Today's sudden unveiling of George Bush's plan to build a new high speed rail line is more evidence that he's reached the end of the line. Just as he did on college aid and job training, George Bush is following Bill Clinton's lead. After a decade of neglecting investment in America's rail system, Bush's new proposal for a Washington-Richmond-Charlotte line is just another election year promise to buy votes for his flagging re-election effort and to cover up a failed record of investment in America's rail system. The voters of Virginia won't be railroaded by the empty promises of the Bush Administration. They know George Bush won't invest in high speed rail. Look at the record. George Bush had a chance to modernize the Boston-Washington rail corridor, the nation's most traveled. He didn't. His administration has failed to proceed with any of the high-speed programs authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Infrastructure Act (ISTEA) of 1991; his own Department Transportation's Inspector General reported that $722 million of the department's funds were being underutilized; and he's tried to eliminate all federal subsidies for Amtrak. Bill Clinton and Al Gore know that just as constructing interstate highways in the 1950s ushered in two decades of unparalleled growth, creating the pathways of the 21st century will help put Americans back to work and spur economic growth. Bill Clinton and Al Gore are committed to building a high-speed rail system to link our major cities, by investing $20 billion a year in federal dollars in transportation and other critical areas. George Bush wants Americans to believe he will invest in American's transportation system. But the voters know if America wants a world class rail system, they should vote for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. -- 30 -- 30 -- 30 -- BUSH AND HIGH SPEED RAIL BUSH HAS YET TO IMPLEMENT MANDATED HIGH-SPEED PROGRAMS: * Bush, until the middle of a difficult re-election campaign, refused to proceed with the magnetic levitation prototype development as well as the high-speed demonstration program mandated by Intermodal Surface Transportation Act (ISTEA) of 1991, disrupting the ability of contractors to prepare magnetic levitation plans. [Hearing before the Senate Surface Transportation Subcommittee, 8/6/92] * Bush's Office of Management and Budget has thwarted most attempts to spend funds on high-speed rail, despite nominal support from Transportation Secretary Card and Federal Railroad Administrator Gilbert Carmichael. [Washington Post, 10/18/92] * Bush's FY 1993 Department of Transportation budget fails to fund a high-speed technology demonstration program or high-speed rail loan guarantees provided under ISTEA. [President's Proposed Budget, FY 1993] BUSH TRIED TO HALT BOSTON-WASHINGTON CORRIDOR UPGRADE: * In his FY 1993 budget proposal, Bush proposed eliminating federal funds for the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (NECIP), which would upgrade the Boston-Washington rail corridor. [Washington Post, 10/18/92] * High-speed rail between Boston and Washington, according to the Coalition of Northeastern Governors, would save 24.5 million gallons of gas and jet fuel annually, and reduce toxic emissions in the Northeast by more than 2,600 tons each year. [States News Service, 9/18/92] * NECIP, according to the New England Council, could provide 9,000 construction jobs over the next nine years, and 4,900 permanent jobs, create $894 million in new business sales during construction, and generate $440 million annually in economic activity. [States News Service, 9/18/92] BUSH OPPOSED TRANSPORTATION BILL: * In 1991, then-Transportation Secretary Sam Skinner formally threatened to veto the transportation bill that authorized funds for the rail corridors Secretary Card and Administrator Carmichael are currently announcing. Although Bush supported the legislation, Senator Daniel Moynihan, (D-NY), is generally credited with pushing through the ISTEA legislation. [Letter from Samuel Skinner, 10/15/91; Boston Globe, 9/21/92] BUSH OPPOSES AMTRAK FUNDING: * The Bush Administration tried for three years to kill all federal subsidies for Amtrak. [Washington Post, 10/18/92]