FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION!
Call or write a brief note or post card to the President, our two Senators, and your Representative. If possible, send a fax or e-mail message, always with your regular mailing address.
- Tell the President that there needs to be a national - not disconnected - passenger-rail network.
- Urge your Senators and your Congressman to maintain or enlarge the present nation-wide network, and to make the federal government a genuine funding partner with states developing high-speed rail.
- Phone Numbers at Bottom
NATIONWIDE SERVICE COULD END OCTOBER 1!
CLICK HERE to see a map showing the decline of railway service
HELP SAVE OUR TRAINS!
Amtrak, whose Southwest Chief runs the length of the state, has station stops in Lawrence, Topeka, Newton, Hutchinson, Dodge City, and Garden City (unfortunately the Emporia stop was discontinued some time ago). The SW Chief is a Chicago to LA train with connections to all parts of the country. There has been talk of linking it (at Newton) with the Heartland Flyer, a Ft. Worth to Oklahoma City Amtrak train.
Congressional funding for Amtrak is up for re-authorization in October of this year. Unless increased funding is provided, Amtrak has said that drastic service cuts - including all long-distance services - will result as soon as October 1, 2002.
Amtrak should be saved for several reasons. Trains are safe, especially in bad weather, and provide more mobility and travel choice. They are energy-efficient - Amtrak trains are far more efficient than airlines (2441 BTU's per passenger-mile vs. 3999 for airlines in 1998, according to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory). This greater efficiency means that the increased use of trains reduces America's dependence on foreign oil. Trains also pollute less than other modes of transportation.
The U.S. has tried for too long to have a rail system on the cheap. In the last 20 years - adjusted for inflation - federal highway spending has more than doubled, aviation spending has more than tripled, while Amtrak funding has been cut by more than half.
This is not what other, developed countries are doing - and it is not what we should be doing.
Nationwide service gives Americans a travel choice they have used increasingly since September 11. It serves many smaller communities with few transportation alternatives. It provides a financial and political framework for future corridor development. Strong demand continues for Amtrak's sleeping-car network.
Who To Call:
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
202-456-1111
president@whitehouse.gov
Senator Pat Roberts
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-4774
913-648-3103
http://www.senate.gov/~roberts/email.htm (website email)
http://www.senate.gov/~roberts/ (website)
Senator Sam Brownback
303 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-6521
785-233-2503
http://www.senate.gov/~brownback/CMEmailMe.htm (website email)
http://www.senate.gov/~brownback/ (website)
Rep. Jerry Moran (1st Dist)
1519 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-2715
620-665-6138
785-628-6401
http://www.house.gov/moranks01/hearingfromyou.htm (website email)
http://www.house.gov/moranks01/ (website)
Rep. Jim Ryun (2nd Dist)
330 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-6601
316-232-6100
785-232-4500
http://www.house.gov/writerep/ (website email)
http://wwwa.house.gov/ryun/ (website)
Rep. Dennis Moore (3rd Dist)
431 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-2865
913-383-2013
785-842-9313
http://www.house.gov/writerep/ (website email)
http://www.house.gov/moore/ (website)
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (4th Dist)
401 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-6216
316-262-8992
http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/email.htm (website email)
http://www.house.gov/tiahrt/ (website)
|
