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92_HJ0071
LRB9216706LBpr
1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The National Governors Association has adopted a
3 transportation policy that calls for Congress to fully fund
4 the nation's intercity passenger rail system and to also
5 develop federal high-speed and regional rail policies and
6 programs; and
7 WHEREAS, The National Council of State Governments has
8 adopted a resolution calling on the U.S. government to fund a
9 national intercity passenger rail network and infrastructure
10 including connecting long-distant trains with high-speed rail
11 corridors; and
12 WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors has
13 strongly urged President Bush and Congress to develop a
14 national rail policy that directs greater and sustained
15 investment in intercity passenger rail and a stronger federal
16 commitment to the nations' intercity rail network as part of
17 a balanced, multi-modal, shock-resistant, and secure
18 transportation system; and
19 WHEREAS, The Illinois Municipal League at it's 85th
20 Annual Conference adopted a resolution encouraging the
21 federal government's continued support of passenger rail and
22 recognizing its importance to communities such as Quincy,
23 Macomb, Galesburg, Kewanee, Princeton, Joliet, Dwight,
24 Pontiac, Bloomington, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville,
25 Alton, Homewood, Kankakee, Gilman, Rantoul, Champaign,
26 Mattoon, Effingham, Centralia, DuQuoin, Carbondale, and
27 others in Illinois; and
28 WHEREAS, Several Councils of Government in Illinois,
29 including Lake County Municipal League, Northwest Municipal
30 Conference, DuPage Mayors and Managers Association, South
31 Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, and others have all
32 endorsed federal funding for the development and construction
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1 of a high-speed passenger rail network; and
2 WHEREAS, The business and labor community, including the
3 Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Chicago Federation of Labor,
4 Business Leaders for Transportation, the United
5 Transportation Union, Chicago Metropolis 2020, the
6 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Crain's Chicago
7 Business, Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, and numerous other
8 Business and Labor organizations throughout the nation,
9 Midwest, and Illinois support federal funding for high-speed
10 and intercity passenger rail; and
11 WHEREAS, Several national, regional, and local planning
12 organizations and citizens' groups including the National
13 Association of Railroad Passengers, National Corridors
14 Initiative, Railway Progress Institute, Business and
15 Professional People in the Public Interest, Sierra Club,
16 Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, Midwest High
17 Speed Rail Coalition, Environmental Law & Policy Center of
18 the Midwest, Metropolitan Planning Council, Center for
19 Neighborhood Technology, Chicagoland Transportation & Air
20 Quality Commission, and others throughout the nation,
21 Midwest, and Illinois echo similar support for federal
22 funding for high-speed and intercity passenger rail; and
23 WHEREAS, The current federal formula for transportation
24 funding is heavily skewed towards highways and airports with
25 less than 1% directed at rail passenger service, creating
26 highway and airport congestion and perpetuating an unbalanced
27 transportation system that is vulnerable to emergencies, high
28 traffic volumes, and temporary disruptions; and
29 WHEREAS, Intercity passenger rail currently serves over
30 500 communities across the country, provides energy-efficient
31 mobility, uses 38% less energy per passenger mile than travel
32 by commercial airlines, can reduce congestion which currently
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1 costs the U.S. economy $100 billion annually, and can further
2 reduce U.S. dependence on imported foreign oil; therefore be
3 it
4 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
6 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge the President and
7 Congress of the United States to commit to a transportation
8 policy that:
9 1. preserves a national intercity passenger system that
10 maintains coast-to-coast interconnectivity and serves as a
11 skeletal framework for high-speed rail corridors;
12 2. provides a source of predictable, reliable, and
13 sustainable funding for national intercity passenger rail and
14 the construction and operation of high- speed passenger rail
15 corridors; and
16 3. charges the U.S. Department of Transportation or its
17 designated agency to administer and manage federal passenger
18 rail funding and oversight functions and work in partnership
19 with the States' Departments of Transportation; and be it
20 further
21 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the
22 President of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of
23 Transportation, the Federal Railroad Administrator, the
24 President of Amtrak, the Chair and Ranking Member of the U.S.
25 Senate Commerce, the Science and Transportation Committee,
26 the Chair and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee
27 on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine, the Chair and
28 Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee,
29 the Chair and Ranking Member of the U.S. Appropriations
30 Subcommittee on Transportation, the Chair and Ranking Member
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1 of the U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee,
2 the Chair and Ranking Member of the U.S. House Subcommittee
3 on Railroads, the Chair and Ranking Member of the U.S. House
4 Appropriations Committee, the Chair and Ranking Member of the
5 U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and
6 the members of the U.S. Illinois Congressional delegation.