Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 105 Part 1.djvu/212

 105 STAT. 184 PUBLIC LAW 102-38—MAY 3, 1991 Public Law 102-38 102d Congress Joint Resolution May 3, 1991 To express appreciation for the benefit brought to the Nation by Amtrak during its [S.J. Res. 98] twenty years of existence. Whereas May 1, 1991, will mark the twentieth anniversary of the commencement of intercity rail passenger service by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak; Whereas Amtrak has dramatically improved both the quality and the economics of rail passenger service in the past twenty years and provides a marketable and highly desired national transportation service, with over two hundred and twenty trains each day operating over twenty-four thousand track miles through forty- four States; Whereas Amtrak carries passengers more miles and longer distances than carried by all the passenger railroads in 1970 prior to the establishment of Amtrak, provides transportation to nearly twenty-two million intercity and eighteen million commuter passengers each year, and serves as a vital national transportation link to rural America, which increasingly is losing other modes of public transportation; Whereas Amtrak employs nearly twenty-four thousand railroad employees, who cumulatively earn over $1,000,000,000 in annual taxable income, and procures over $350,000,000 in goods and services from domestic companies across the country; Whereas the country is witnessing a remarkable resurgence in support for a national rail passenger system, reflected by trains that frequently are sold out far in advance of departure and by increasing demands across the country for additional Amtrak service; Whereas Amtrak is now covering over 80 percent of its operating costs without Federal support compared to just 50 percent in 1981, and is committed to covering 100 percent of its operating costs by the year 2000; Whereas rail passenger service increasingly is recognized as a critical element of a balanced national transportation system and as an energy efficient, environmentally benign alternative to growing highway and airport congestion; Whereas Congress has repeatedly been required to preserve funding for a national rail passenger system in the face of proposals to eliminate Federal assistance for Amtrak, and is proud of the success Amtrak has achieved in providing increasingly better service at less cost to the Federal taxpayer; and Whereas Amtrak has a critical role to play in the future of the Nation's surface transportation system, as the operator of both conventional and high-speed rail systems, new systems based on magnetic levitation, and contract commuter rail systems: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the creation

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