Lawmakers to launch passenger rail caucus

Seeking to defend President Obama’s high-speed rail initiative from conservative criticisms, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and several House members plan to announce the creation of a bicameral rail caucus.

Dubbed the “Congressional Bicameral High-Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail Caucus,” the group is to consist of Democrats from states that were included in Obama’s vision to create a nationwide network of railways that rivals the interstate highway system.

Lautenberg and Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), John Oliver (D-Mass.), Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), David Price (D-N.C.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.) will jointly chair the caucus, which will be unveiled at a press conference Tuesday at Union Station. 

Amtrak vice president for high-speed rail Al Engel, North Carolina Transportation Secretary Gene Conti and Little Rock, Ark., Mayor Patrick Henry Hays will also attend. 

“High-speed rail is a major initiative of the Obama Administration with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Vice President Joe Biden as two of its most vocal cheerleaders,” the nascent caucus said in a statement Monday. “Despite the clear economic advantages to enhanced passenger rail transportation, funding for this vital investment is under attack from Republican slash and burn funding strategies.

“The founding co-chairs will join together to explain the clear economic benefits of high-speed rail and the value of these investments to their benefits of high-speed rail and the value of these investments to their respective corridors and to America’s well being,” the statement concluded.