UE Convention Resolutions
Promote High Speed Rail
Our government is desperately trying to spend our stimulus money. What better place to invest than in America's rail system?
America's rail system is underfunded and ignored compared to other nations. The roots of the decline of American rail date to the period after World War II, when the government chose to focus for purported reasons of national security on building the interstate highway system. Over the following decades passenger rail declined dramatically due to lack of investment in infrastructure, with many commuter lines across America paved over or pulled up for scrap. The U.S. is now the world's most automobile-dependent nation. There are roughly three cars, trucks, or SUVs for every four Americans. In contrast, the U.S. ranks 19th worldwide in rail miles per person – with most of our remaining rail network used for freight rather than passengers. The highway system is more expensive to maintain, leads to far more pollution, and binds us to oil dependency.
We need to expand our rail system so it can become a feasible transportation option for most working Americans. The stimulus plan has a good first step – funding $8 billion for high-speed rail. On July 24, 2009, the House approved an increase of $4 billion to funding for the program, although the Senate version only added an additional $1.2 billion. Whatever the final appropriation, this is only a drop in the bucket. More than 40 states have already submitted requests for $100 billion in rail project funding under the stimulus bill, and the plan did not offer any additional funding to Amtrak. Obama has called this money a "down payment" on the creation of a new high-speed rail network, similar in scope to the U.S. interstate highway system, which will finally allow rail to be competitive with automobiles through all of the nation's major metropolitan areas. One of several plans now before Congress would expand high-speed rail funding to $50 billion over the next five years.
Simply funding new rail lines and infrastructure is not enough. We must also make sure the jobs created from federal funding go to people who work in the U.S. The American companies who are bidding on the stimulus-funded projects must be carefully watched. Most have either foreign manufacturing facilities or joint-venture arrangements that enable them to bid as "U.S." firms, but who have the ability to import the final products so as to maximize their profits. Foreign leaders are already jockeying for their own preferred companies to get a slice of the rail set aside in the stimulus. There are preferential, "buy American" provisions, but officials can waive these if they delay the project or increase costs by more than 25 percent. And, it must be recognized that most foreign rail equipment companies only exist due to the rail subsidy policies of their own governments. Complaints about "protectionism" are therefore bogus. More teeth, less loopholes, and a close study of current and future appropriations will be needed to ensure that the maximum number of U.S. workers are eventually employed, which was the stated intent of the stimulus legislation.
Our children and grandchildren deserve to have clean air to breathe, and to be able to live a normal life in a healthy environment. This is why we must support a high-speed rail system for our nation.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 71st UE CONVENTION:
- Calls on Congress to:
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Pass legislation that includes adequate funding to improve and expand our national rail system, and imposes an equipment standardization mandate on manufacturers;
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Subsidize light rail;
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Fund the study and implementation of Maglev trains;
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Fund the improvement of existing rail lines to handle 120 mph trains in the future;
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Legislate better air quality standards, thereby increasing the incentive for Americans to switch to mass transit;
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Ensure the labor that goes into improving our nation's rail system comes from within the U.S. and not from offshore manufacturers;
- Place emphasis on construction of quicker rail connections in densely-populated areas, thereby increasing ridership of mass transit systems;
- Urges locals to educate our elected officials and our communities on the economic and environmental benefits of mass transit and an improved rail system;
- Calls on employers, including General Electric and Wabtec, to actively pursue new transit, rail, and high-speed, rail-related products that could be profitably built by members.