WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, a bipartisan resolution, led by Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA), honoring Amtrak’s 50 years of serving American communities, unanimously passed the United States Senate.

“For fifty years, Amtrak lines have been a lifeblood of travel in the United States,” Chair Cantwell said. “In my home state of Washington, Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, and Cascades lines provide over 1 million trips across the state each year. We must continue to invest in our celebrated passenger rail system because Amtrak lines like these link people to economic opportunities, tourism destinations, and other communities around our state and across the country.”

Chair Cantwell has been an outspoken advocate for passenger rail and Amtrak. During the pandemic, Cantwell championed $3.7 billion in COVID relief for Amtrak, including $1.7 billion in the American Rescue Plan which restored over 2,000 Amtrak jobs across the country and prevented additional furloughs. Chair Cantwell’s provision requires Amtrak to restore daily long-distance service. She also recently reintroduced legislation to ensure transportation worker safety amidst the public health crisis.?  

The full text of the bipartisan resolution from Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS), Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) can be found HERE.

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