I'm with Rep. Charlie Norwood on this one. Rep. Istook, Vengeance is Mine saith the Lord God. -- Amtrak funding.
I preface my remarks by noting that I am a big Amtrak fan.
As an eight-year old I rode on a train from Waycross to Atlanta through Birmingham to Oklahoma City, stayed several weeks for a visit with my Grandmother, and then made the trip back. And something we as parents wouldn't consider these days, I made the trip all by my lonesome. It was great.
My experiences on the diner, with the conductors looking after the young kid and saying "All Aboard," and just generally watching the countryside go by, were experiences I could not allow my 3 girls to miss, although in truth they would have rather gone along with the Mother's preference of flying as we normally do.
We can drive an hour to Jesup, leave our car parked at the railway station there, and board the Silver Service for Washington. And even when we had flown to Washington to be with Sally's parents over the holidays, on several occasions while my three daughters were growing up, we would board the Metroliner in Washington and head for New York City.
As I noted, there is a special place in my heart for trains.
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Excerpts from a 11-24-04 article in The Hill:
Istook derails earmarks. 21 GOP colleagues fume over his stance on Amtrak
Deep in the transportation section of this year’s omnibus spending bill, Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) dispensed a little appropriator’s justice, punishing 21 Republicans who wrote him a letter in support of $1.8 billion for Amtrak.
Istook, chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies, drastically reduced, or entirely excised, the transportation earmarks that those lawmakers were expecting to receive, making good on a little-noticed threat he issued in a letter last February.
Istook’s anti-Amtrak retribution hit several of the Republican majority’s most vulnerable members . . . who won tight races, in part, by convincing constituents of their ability to bring home road money.
The affected lawmakers did not learn of Istook’s drastic action until last Saturday, when the bill was passed. Several of them contacted Republican leaders to inquire if they knew of Istook’s punitive action and were told that party leaders were unaware that Istook was harming vulnerable members.
Reps. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) were said to be particularly outraged at Istook’s actions, according several committee sources. Upon learning that his projects were cut, McHugh came close to physical blows with Istook, according to some accounts.
Istook’s office disputed this version of events, but his spokeswoman, Micah Ledorf, said, “I think Mr. McHugh was pretty upset.”
In February, Istook wrote the 32 lawmakers who signed a letter in support of Amtrak funding. “A ‘Dear Colleague’ letter has just been sent to every House Member, to outline the process for reviewing the transportation priorities for your district as we develop our fiscal 2005 bill,” he wrote.
“As you submit these important priorities for your district, please bear in mind that any request for Amtrak funding, even if submitted in a separate document, must and will be weighed against your other requests, and I will consider it as a project request for your district.”
Responding to the lawmakers’ shock that their requested projects were not included in the final bill, Ledorf said, “They can’t say they weren’t warned.”
But aides to those lawmakers said they had not received any indication from Istook, aside from the lone February letter, that their projects would be axed. Nor did some of those lawmakers believe that Istook would make good on his threat.
“The fact that he cut their projects without telling them verbally and that he cut projects to vulnerables is shocking,” a GOP leadership aide said.
Ledorf confirmed that Istook made no additional effort — written, verbal or at the staff level — to inform the 21 lawmakers that their projects were in jeopardy.
“Last year, they had 32 members sign the letter, and this year it was only 21, so some people got the message,” Ledorf said, adding that she expects even fewer public supporters for Amtrak funding in next year’s process.
The other 17 Republicans who signed the bill and had many, if not all, of their projects stripped are . . . Charlie Norwood (Ga.) . . . .
_______________
P.S. Rep. Chuck Sims, I think you are just going to love being a part of such a fine, distinguished and considerate group of people.
As an eight-year old I rode on a train from Waycross to Atlanta through Birmingham to Oklahoma City, stayed several weeks for a visit with my Grandmother, and then made the trip back. And something we as parents wouldn't consider these days, I made the trip all by my lonesome. It was great.
My experiences on the diner, with the conductors looking after the young kid and saying "All Aboard," and just generally watching the countryside go by, were experiences I could not allow my 3 girls to miss, although in truth they would have rather gone along with the Mother's preference of flying as we normally do.
We can drive an hour to Jesup, leave our car parked at the railway station there, and board the Silver Service for Washington. And even when we had flown to Washington to be with Sally's parents over the holidays, on several occasions while my three daughters were growing up, we would board the Metroliner in Washington and head for New York City.
As I noted, there is a special place in my heart for trains.
_______________
Excerpts from a 11-24-04 article in The Hill:
Istook derails earmarks. 21 GOP colleagues fume over his stance on Amtrak
Deep in the transportation section of this year’s omnibus spending bill, Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) dispensed a little appropriator’s justice, punishing 21 Republicans who wrote him a letter in support of $1.8 billion for Amtrak.
Istook, chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies, drastically reduced, or entirely excised, the transportation earmarks that those lawmakers were expecting to receive, making good on a little-noticed threat he issued in a letter last February.
Istook’s anti-Amtrak retribution hit several of the Republican majority’s most vulnerable members . . . who won tight races, in part, by convincing constituents of their ability to bring home road money.
The affected lawmakers did not learn of Istook’s drastic action until last Saturday, when the bill was passed. Several of them contacted Republican leaders to inquire if they knew of Istook’s punitive action and were told that party leaders were unaware that Istook was harming vulnerable members.
Reps. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) were said to be particularly outraged at Istook’s actions, according several committee sources. Upon learning that his projects were cut, McHugh came close to physical blows with Istook, according to some accounts.
Istook’s office disputed this version of events, but his spokeswoman, Micah Ledorf, said, “I think Mr. McHugh was pretty upset.”
In February, Istook wrote the 32 lawmakers who signed a letter in support of Amtrak funding. “A ‘Dear Colleague’ letter has just been sent to every House Member, to outline the process for reviewing the transportation priorities for your district as we develop our fiscal 2005 bill,” he wrote.
“As you submit these important priorities for your district, please bear in mind that any request for Amtrak funding, even if submitted in a separate document, must and will be weighed against your other requests, and I will consider it as a project request for your district.”
Responding to the lawmakers’ shock that their requested projects were not included in the final bill, Ledorf said, “They can’t say they weren’t warned.”
But aides to those lawmakers said they had not received any indication from Istook, aside from the lone February letter, that their projects would be axed. Nor did some of those lawmakers believe that Istook would make good on his threat.
“The fact that he cut their projects without telling them verbally and that he cut projects to vulnerables is shocking,” a GOP leadership aide said.
Ledorf confirmed that Istook made no additional effort — written, verbal or at the staff level — to inform the 21 lawmakers that their projects were in jeopardy.
“Last year, they had 32 members sign the letter, and this year it was only 21, so some people got the message,” Ledorf said, adding that she expects even fewer public supporters for Amtrak funding in next year’s process.
The other 17 Republicans who signed the bill and had many, if not all, of their projects stripped are . . . Charlie Norwood (Ga.) . . . .
_______________
P.S. Rep. Chuck Sims, I think you are just going to love being a part of such a fine, distinguished and considerate group of people.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 4:05 PM
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