Union to GOP: 'Stop the Assault on Amtrak'

The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) is calling for Republicans to stop holding hearings criticizing Amtrak.

Republicans in the House have promised to hold at least three more hearings about Amtrak in a campaign the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has reportedly called a "holy jihad" against wasteful spending by the national passenger rail service.

But AFL-CIO TTD President Ed Wytkind said Monday that it was Republicans in the House who were the ones being wasteful.

"Rep. John Mica (R-FL) continued his 'holy jihad' against Amtrak, its 30 million riders and thousands of employees last week by holding his 10th hearing in the 112th Congress demonizing Amtrak," Wytkind wrote in a blog post on the union's website.

"The last three by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee focused on what Mica thinks is wasteful Amtrak spending," he said. "Speaking of waste, let me point out that the committee has spent more than 20 hours in hearings — paid for by taxpayers — to make this case. ... Enough already — we’ve seen this movie and each sequel is worse than the previous one."

In a hearing last week about the approximately $1 billion in subsidies Amtrak has received annually from the federal government since it was created to replace a network of independent railways in 1971, Mica said he was "very committed to reforming passenger rail service.

"Taxpayers have been footing the bill for Amtrak’s gravy train for over forty years, and all they’ve gotten in return for their $40 billion investment is an inefficient, costly, Soviet-style passenger rail system," Mica said in a statement after the meeting.

Wytkind said Monday that the campaign against Amtrak goes beyond Mica.

"Remember, the head of the Republican Party today, Gov. Mitt Romney, is no supporter of modernizing our transportation system," Wytkind wrote.

"Gov. Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, have advocated on numerous occasions ending public funding for Amtrak. They even support raising the retirement age for workers under the Railroad Retirement system," Wytkind continued. "Across the board, they want to cut vital transportation infrastructure investments — and the jobs they create — because they deem tax cuts for billionaires to be a better use of government resources."

The AFL-CIO has endorsed President Obama in his bid for reelection.