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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Amtrak is a vital part of the Illinois economy and
3 the Bush Administration's recent proposal to eliminate federal
4 operating dollars for Amtrak is a threat to the State of
5 Illinois; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The Administration's expectation that the State
7 of Illinois can find additional dollars to replace disappearing
8 federal dollars is short-sighted and unrealistic, as the burden
9 on the State of Illinois would be severe and well beyond the
10 means of state government to meet; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Every developed nation in the world invests in a
12 national passenger rail system and the perpetual lack of
13 funding from the United States Congress has left our passenger
14 rail system far behind what our citizens deserve; and
 
15     WHEREAS, The purpose of a federal government is to fund and
16 implement those interstate programs that state governments are
17 not equipped to administer well, and interstate passenger rail
18 is a proper program for the federal government to administer;
19 and
 
20     WHEREAS, Amtrak is a major Illinois employer, with more
21 than 2000 employees earning in the aggregate more than $83
22 million in FY 2004; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Over 2.3 million riders traveled through
24 Chicago's Union Station on Amtrak in FY 2004, with more than
25 1.9 million riders from outside of Illinois arriving in
26 Chicago; and
 
27     WHEREAS, These 1.9 million out-of-state Amtrak riders
28 arriving into Union Station every year inject much-needed
29 tourism dollars into our State's economy; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, The opening of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
2 Library in April of 2005, four blocks from the Amtrak station,
3 will be another prime opportunity to bring tourism dollars into
4 Illinois; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The total Illinois Amtrak ridership in FY 2004 was
6 over 3,000,000, breaking all previous records and rising
7 rapidly; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Amtrak currently serves Illinois with 50 daily
9 trains, with daily long distance service from Chicago to
10 Oakland, Denver, Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Pittsburgh,
11 Washington D.C., Memphis, New Orleans, St. Paul, Seattle,
12 Portland, Buffalo, Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, St. Louis,
13 Dallas, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and New York
14 City; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Amtrak currently serves almost 30 communities in
16 Illinois (Alton, Bloomington-Normal, Carbondale, Carlinville,
17 Centralia, Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, Du Quoin, Dwight,
18 Effingham, Galesburg, Gilman, Glenview, Homewood, Joliet,
19 Kankakee, Kewanee, Lincoln, Macomb, Mattoon, Mendota,
20 Naperville, Plano, Pontiac, Princeton, Quincy, Rantoul,
21 Springfield, and Summit), all of which would be at major risk
22 of losing passenger rail service should the President's
23 proposal be implemented by the Congress; and
 
24     WHEREAS, The State of Illinois currently receives far fewer
25 spending dollars from the federal government than our taxpayers
26 send to Washington, making Illinois a donor state; and
 
27     WHEREAS, Amtrak is one of the relatively few federal
28 programs that disproportionately benefits Illinois, making
29 Amtrak a great investment for the State of Illinois; therefore,
30 be it
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
3 we call on the United States Congress to invest, not divest in
4 a national passenger rail system with Chicago's Union Station
5 as a major hub; and be it further
 
6     RESOLVED, That we call on the Illinois congressional
7 delegation to lead the effort in a bipartisan manner to protect
8 Illinois' unequivocal interest in strong, fully-funded
9 passenger rail service; and be it further
 
10     RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to each
11 member of the Illinois congressional delegation.