Bill Shuster

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. How much time do I have remaining?

Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania. His amendment would ensure that veteran-owned small businesses be considered when they are looking who has historically participated in Federal funds in all projects, so I strongly support the hiring of veterans. I appreciate Mr. Fitzpatrick for offering this bill, and, once again, it will strengthen the bill, so I support it.

Mr. SHUSTER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, this amendment does clarify that socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses can compete for contracts in the bills dealing with the redevelopment of stations. A lot of these stations are in downtown areas that are very desirable for development, and so we want to encourage that. This amendment, I believe, strengthens the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman from California for offering this amendment. While grade crossing incidents have dropped 40 percent since 2000, the tragic events in Ms. Brownley's district last week remind us how important it is to be aware of grade crossings. This amendment requiring States to develop and implement plans to improve safety at grade crossings within their borders, I think, adds strength to the bill. I would also note there are similar grade crossing reporting requirements in the Federal highway program, and we should work with the Senate during conference to reauthorize the surface transportation programs, ensuring that there is consistency among the requirements at those grade crossings. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Denham). He is one of the principal authors of this piece of legislation, the gentleman who did yeoman's work on this bill and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, it is now my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello), the newest member of the T&I Committee.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Hardy).

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by thanking Chairman Denham and Ranking Members DeFazio and Capuano, who have all worked well on this bill together. I also would like to thank Ms. Brown who, in the last Congress, when this bill started on its path, to thank her for her great work. Ms. Brown is from the State of Florida. Since I became chairman of the Railroad Subcommittee in the 112th Congress and since I have become chairman of the full committee, this has been one of my top priorities: to pass a bipartisan passenger rail bill that reforms Amtrak. I am so happy to be here on the floor today with the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015. The previous passenger rail bill passed in 2008 and resulted in some real improvements to Amtrak, which we are seeing today. Ridership is up 14 percent; revenue is up 37 percent; and, in the Northeast corridor, the profits are up an amazing 250 percent. The last bill created the Northeast Corridor Commission, which has helped the States, Amtrak, and DOT finally work together on planning the future of the corridor; however, more work needs to be done to help Amtrak maximize its strengths and tackle some of its longstanding challenges. That is why we introduced the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015. I know some of my colleagues are skeptical about Amtrak and passenger rail in general. Because of its current structure, Amtrak's finances have not been transparent to either Congress or to consumers. The profits on the Northeast corridor have subsidized money-losing routes, masking the true cost of these services. This bill makes significant reforms to eliminate those issues. In particular, we focus on the Northeast corridor in this bill, which truly is a nationally significant transportation corridor. With 18 percent of our population and 20 percent of our GDP produced in the Northeast corridor on 3 percent of our land mass, it is the most densely populated area of the United States and one of the most densely populated in the world, so passenger rail is needed. By separating Amtrak into business lines, the Northeast corridor profits stay in the corridor, allowing for more investment there. Setting the other business lines apart allows the corporation to make better-informed business decisions about those lines' operations. This will help make Amtrak's operations much more transparent for both the States and the Congress. By focusing our resources on the Northeast corridor and existing corridors where passenger rail makes sense, we will help to improve passenger rail without breaking the bank. Finally, we also provide environmental review streamlining reforms for rail projects, something that is important to not only passenger rail, but it also will include freight rail in these environmental reviews, which will help them to be able to expand their rail network to help America move its freight more effectively and efficiently. It is something we are already doing in highway and transit and water infrastructure projects. This will help make our limited Federal dollars go further because we all know time is money when dealing with infrastructure projects. I know on both sides of the aisle--my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to do more and have more money invested, which I understand, and there needs to be more investment. My colleagues on my side of the aisle think we may be spending too much money. These reforms are going to move Amtrak in a positive direction. It is not going to solve all of our problems today, but I think it substantially moves the ball down the field to get to a point where someday maybe Amtrak can stand on its own two feet. This debate has been raging in this assembly for the last 40 or so years. My colleagues on the other side point out that no passenger rail operates without subsidies. They are correct. Also, there is only one freight rail system in the world that doesn't get subsidies, and that is in the United States of America, our freight rail system. I think we can move Amtrak in that direction. My colleagues on my side of the aisle argue, Amtrak has been a failure, let's get rid of it. I don't think that is the answer either because, as I mentioned earlier, there are places in this country that desperately need to have an expanded passenger rail service. When the United States is moving towards 400 million people, we are going to need that passenger rail service in various parts of this country. We need to make sure that we are building today a better Amtrak to serve the future of the American people and of a people that is growing. This is a bipartisan bill, so neither side got everything that it wants, but it is a good strong reform bill that I firmly believe will significantly improve Amtrak. I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I look forward to working with the Senate to take it to the President's desk. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 749.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, even though I do not oppose the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition, although I do not oppose the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. I believe, once again, this study can have positive impact on us. I also commend the chairman, the former chairman of the committee, for his passion. He is absolutely right as far as getting these trains to run faster, to have less stops. We can create, I believe, in the long term, this express corridor. He is right that while the Europeans are moving at speeds twice that rate, we can do better in the United States, and I believe this study will help us move in that direction in the future. I thank the gentleman and support the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition, although I support the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to the amendment even though I do not oppose the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentlewoman from Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition. I certainly appreciate the gentleman's concern. He has been a true deficit hawk. One of the great challenges we face in America is reducing the deficit. There has been a longstanding debate in this Congress about passenger rail in this country. I, for one, believe it is necessary. I think that what we have in this bill--and I have watched for the past 40 years also some of these broken promises. I am committed to, and I think we committed in this bill to putting forth reforms, streamlining, empowering the States, which I think is a huge step in the right direction, giving States the ability to be at the table, to invest their dollars to force Amtrak to do things differently. So, again, throughout the bill, there are these reforms. I feel confident that, in the way the country is going, with population growth and with these corridors expanding, we have to have passenger rail to move people around some of the most densely populated corridors. So I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, the past couple of weeks have seen some startling accidents at grade crossings. Having an independent entity review the train horn rule would be a good start to helping ensure such accidents don't occur in the future. The train horn and quiet zone rule was one that took the Federal Railroad Administration almost 10 years to complete. It was finalized 10 years ago in 2005. So this would be a good time to revisit the effectiveness. Furthermore, with the rise in freight traffic on previously lower capacity routes, some communities are seeing more trains travel through their towns, which are used to lower traffic. Looking at crossings, the creation of quiet zones, and their costs will be a helpful tool for small communities across the country. I recommend support for the gentleman from Colorado's amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, this amendment will do nothing more than kill the bill. H.R. 749 is a bipartisan bill with heavy, heavy reforms that will improve and advance passenger rail in this country, including security. We have taken that into consideration. I agree that security is important, but we cover the cost of security activities in this bill. Both sides of the aisle have worked very hard over the past 2 years to craft a bill that I believe is exactly the kind of legislation that the American people want. It is a reform bill. It is commonsense reforms. There has never been an Amtrak bill with these kinds of reforms in it empowering the States. This bill empowers the States, those 19 States that have 21 supported Amtrak lines. They will have a seat at the table to make investments to improve passenger rail in those 19 States. It is going to give the commission on the Northeast corridor more say, more teeth to be able to force Amtrak to do things. It is going to keep the profits of the Northeast corridor in the Northeast corridor for that heavily congested area of the country that needs to have passenger rail and, along the way, learn the lessons of when we make those investments, how we can go out to the other corridors around this country that are going to need passenger rail. This bill is not perfect; Amtrak is not perfect. But I truly believe this bill sets Amtrak on the course to reform itself and to improve itself so in the future they can move towards going away from the subsidy by the Federal Government. That is my goal: to get an Amtrak that doesn't have any Federal subsidies. So these reforms were put in place. They are strong reforms. As I said, we have never had an Amtrak bill like this before, and it was done on a bipartisan basis. I think we can be proud of it. The Congress can be proud of this bill, and the American people can be proud that we are doing something. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this motion. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the efforts of the Sheetz family and their all-American story of business success. Once a small family operated dairy store in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the Sheetz brand has grown into one of the most well loved brands in the country, with 14,500 employees and 437 locations across six states. Their business has changed with the demands of the country, and they have brought us innovations like MTO sandwiches and touch screen ordering, which was first installed in Altoona back in 1993. Recently, the Sheetz family proudly opened their 500th store in Thomasville, North Carolina--over 400 miles away from where the business was first born 63 years ago in Central Pennsylvania. Originally called Sheetz Kwik Shopper, the company's success is a wonderful example of what makes this nation great. It all started when Bob Sheetz purchased one of his father's dairy stores. After hiring his brother, Steve, the pair's original business plan was to open one store a year by 1972. With 500 stores currently open across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and North Carolina, their plan was a resounding success. Five members of the Sheetz family serve on the company's executive committee including Bob's son as president, and Steve, as Chairman of the board. Despite all of their growth and expansion, it remains a family business to this day. That is why it is no surprise that the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and Team Pennsylvania Foundation have named Sheetz one of the best places to work in Pennsylvania for the last 13 consecutive years. I want to thank the Sheetz' family for their dedication to the community, and their friendly service to the thousands of families that visit their stores each day. I would also personally like to congratulate Sheetz on opening their 500th store. Their effort to turn the business into one of the fastest growing family operated convenience store chains in the world is remarkable, but is also no surprise to anyone who has met a member of the Sheetz family. With plans to open 1,000 total stores in the future, Sheetz is not slowing down. I am extremely proud to represent the Altoona area, and to be able to tell all of my colleagues on Capitol Hill that the 9th District is the birthplace of some of the best sandwiches in the country.

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Bishop Guilfoyle Marauder Football team, who capped off an undefeated season beating the Clariton Bears in the Division ``A'' State Championship. Led by Coach Wheeler, BG's offense plowed through their opponents, posting 715 points this season and while I don't hold it against them, it became obvious BG was destined for a championship when I watched them defeat my nephew Michael Shuster and the Camp Hill Lions 62-21. But the saying is: Defense wins championships. And in the final minutes of the PIAA State Championship, the Marauder defense dug in and held the goal-line, defending multiple Clairton red-zone scoring attempts, securing the Maurader's 1-point lead, 19-18 straight to the Title. And the character displayed by these young men gave all of us another reason to be proud to call Central Pennsylvania home. I would also like to give special recognition to the seniors for dedicating their time and efforts to a team sport that they love. Many of these seniors have played football together since 4th grade, and for some of them the State Championship will serve as their last game of football, albeit a good note to go out on: Berger, B. Chadbourn, McCloskey, Gormley, Kitt, Livoti, Luther, Miller, Price, and Wolf. And the rest of the team: Hagg, Yasulitis, Coyler, Leamer, Degol, S. Donoughe, Little, Kozak, Keating, Irwin, Frederick, Runk, Green, Brumbaugh, Yahner, Callahan, Trexler, E. Chadbourn, Luther, Donnelly, Trybus, Freidenberger, Conrad, Ramsey, Ferrell, Leamer, P. Donoughe, Labroila, Georgiana, Pleva, Wills, Yasulitis, Berish, and Patterson. And I would be remiss if I did not mention the Marauder's honorary captain, who truly exemplifies the spirit of Bishop Guilfoyle Football--Jorden McClure. Congratulations to Coach Wheeler, and all of Bishop Guilfoyle for bringing home the State Championship.

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. Madam Speaker, it is now my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Once again, I ask my colleagues to support this bill, this pipeline, that is said to have been the most studied and will be the safest pipeline. It will help out one of our great allies, and it will help us keep energy costs down in this country. It will create over 40,000 infrastructure jobs. Yes, they are temporary, but as we all know, those jobs will go to helping the families of the construction workers. They will move on to other jobs, and these will also be a spinoff to other jobs to help keep this pipeline viable for years to come. Let me finish with a final quote from a well-known American--an American respected by the other side of the aisle, an American trusted by the other side of the aisle, an American listened to by the other side of the aisle. He says: The pipeline increases the diversity of available supplies among the United States' worldwide crude oil sources in a time of considerable political tension in other major oil producing countries and regions; it shortens the transportation pathway for crude oil supplies; and it increases crude oil supplies from a major non-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries producer. Canada is a stable and reliable ally and trading partner of the United States with which we have free trade agreements which augment the security of this energy supply. The approval of the permit sends a positive economic signal, in a difficult economic period, about the future reliability and availability of a portion of the United States' energy imports, and in the immediate term, this shovel-ready project will provide construction jobs for workers in the United States. That American, ladies and gentlemen, is President Barack Obama. He said that in 2009, but he was talking about the Enbridge Alberta Clipper. I don't know what has changed, but this quote could go right towards this pipeline. It does all of the same things, and it has all of the positive impact that that pipeline has. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, to send it to the President, and to ask the President to reconsider his veto threat. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. SHUSTER. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.