Full Text of SR0209 94th General Assembly
SR0209 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| WHEREAS, Amtrak is a major Illinois employer with more than | 21 |
| 2000 employees earning in the aggregate more than $83 million | 22 |
| in FY 2004; and
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| 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
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| 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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| 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
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| WHEREAS, The total Illinois Amtrak ridership in FY 2004 was | 6 |
| over 3,000,000, breaking all previous records and rising | 7 |
| rapidly; and
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| 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
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| 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
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| WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has provided financial | 25 |
| support for a number of years to maintain Amtrak service to its | 26 |
| citizens and has continued its strong support for in-state | 27 |
| passenger rail service by budgeting $12.4 million in the | 28 |
| current State Fiscal Year 2005 to continue existing levels of | 29 |
| service; and | 30 |
| WHEREAS, The State of Illinois currently receives far fewer |
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| spending dollars from the federal government than our taxpayers | 2 |
| send to Washington, making Illinois a donor state; and
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| WHEREAS, Amtrak is one of the relatively few federal | 4 |
| programs that disproportionately benefits Illinois, making | 5 |
| Amtrak a great investment for the State of Illinois; therefore, | 6 |
| be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL | 8 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call on the United | 9 |
| States Congress to invest, not divest, in a national passenger | 10 |
| rail system with Chicago's Union Station as a major hub; and be | 11 |
| it further
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| RESOLVED, That we call on the Illinois congressional | 13 |
| delegation to lead the effort in a bipartisan manner to protect | 14 |
| Illinois' unequivocal interest in strong, fully-funded | 15 |
| passenger rail service; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we call upon the Department of | 17 |
| Transportation to report to the General Assembly by November 1, | 18 |
| 2005, on the implications to State support for continued | 19 |
| passenger rail service within Illinois should federal | 20 |
| operating support for Amtrak ultimately be eliminated or | 21 |
| significantly reduced in the federal budget; and be it further | 22 |
| RESOLVED, That copies of this preamble and resolution be | 23 |
| sent to each member of the Illinois congressional delegation | 24 |
| and to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation.
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