By Edwards                                            H.C.R. No. 39
       74R3742 MPC-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, Established in 1971, Amtrak has provided fast,
    1-2  efficient, and cost-effective travel for millions of people across
    1-3  the United States for more than two decades; and
    1-4        WHEREAS, This railroad provides mobility to citizens of many
    1-5  smaller communities poorly served by air or bus service as well as
    1-6  to students, senior citizens, disabled people, and persons with
    1-7  medical conditions who may be prevented from flying and need trains
    1-8  as a travel option; and
    1-9        WHEREAS, Nine times safer than driving an automobile on a
   1-10  passenger-mile basis, Amtrak provides safe and comfortable travel
   1-11  even in severe weather conditions; and
   1-12        WHEREAS, Amtrak is energy efficient and environmentally
   1-13  beneficial, consuming approximately half as much energy per
   1-14  passenger mile as airlines and causing less air pollution; and
   1-15        WHEREAS, The number of people using Amtrak to meet their
   1-16  travel needs rose by 48 percent from 1982 to 1993, enabling Amtrak
   1-17  to dramatically improve coverage of its operating costs from
   1-18  revenue; and
   1-19        WHEREAS, By using existing rail rights-of-way, expansion of
   1-20  Amtrak service would cost less and use less land than constructing
   1-21  new highways and airports and would further increase Amtrak's
   1-22  energy-efficiency advantage; and
   1-23        WHEREAS, Federal investment in Amtrak has decreased in the
   1-24  last decade while it has increased for airports and highways;
    2-1  moreover, Amtrak pays a fuel tax that airlines do not pay; and
    2-2        WHEREAS, States may use highway trust fund money as an 80
    2-3  percent match for a variety of nonhighway programs, but they are
    2-4  prohibited from using such money for Amtrak projects; and
    2-5        WHEREAS, Amtrak workers and vendors pay more in taxes than
    2-6  the federal government invests in Amtrak; now, therefore, be it
    2-7        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
    2-8  hereby urge the president and the Congress of the United States to
    2-9  continue financial support of Amtrak, abolish the requirement that
   2-10  Amtrak pay fuel taxes, grant states the authority to use federal
   2-11  highway trust fund money on Amtrak projects if they so choose, and
   2-12  include a strong Amtrak system in any plans for a National
   2-13  Transportation System; and, be it further
   2-14        RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
   2-15  copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
   2-16  the speaker of the house of representatives and president of the
   2-17  senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the
   2-18  Texas delegation to the congress, with the request that it be
   2-19  officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the
   2-20  Congress of the United States of America.