HB 26-09: Expansion of High Speed Rail and Mass Transit Act (Tabled)

[Joseph Cao]

AN ACT
To improve transport and connectivity across our nation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Atlasia in Congress assembled,

Section I. Title

i. The long title of this bill shall be the "Expansion of High Speed Rail and Mass Transit Act." It may be cited as the "High Speed Rail Act."

Section II. Definitions
i. High speed rail is defined as a railroad capable of supporting trains in excess of 120 mph.

Section III. Construction of High Speed Rail Arteries
i. A high speed railway shall be constructed from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA. The railway must include access stations in Los Angeles, CA, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.
     a. The Department of Transportation should negotiate possible connections through Canada and Mexico.
ii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Miami, FL to Boston, MA. The railway must include access stations in Charlotte, NC, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY.

Section IV. Creation of National Rail Authority
i. The National Rail Authority is hereby established under the Department of Transportation and tasked with the responsibility of overseeing construction, rail route development, and consumer-end transit program implementation.
ii. The National Rail Authority shall consist of members appointed by the President of Atlasia.
iii. Modifications to the seaboard routes and placement of cross-country rail routes shall be the responsibility of the National Rail Authority.
iv. Congress shall retain the ability to legislate new routes or override the decisions of the National Rail Authority if necessary.

Section V. Appropriations
i. $80 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of the seaboard routes.
ii. $250 million shall be appropriated for surveying and planning of cross-country rail routes.
iii. $3 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities.
iv. $150 billion shall be released for construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of cross country routes pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.
v. $8 billion shall be released for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.

Sponsor: SevenEleven
House Designation: HB 26-09

72 hours to debate.

[Joseph Cao]

I mean, yes, theoretically the more train routes the better, but we do have a limited budget to work with. The initial proposal with West and East Coast lines seems like a good place to start. I trust the National Rail Authority to give their best determination of where else high speed rail lines are most needed.

Besides, it's about sixty miles from Bloomington to Springfield and is it really efficient for HSR stations to be in such close proximity to each other?

[Joseph Cao]

I'm not seeing any reason why a high speed train should stop in Bloomington of all places.

The Illinois pork barrel strikes again!

[Joseph Cao]

In view of the amendment being declared unfriendly, I'll give the Representative an additional 24 hours to advocate for the amendment. If we still don't have a response by then a vote will be opened on it.

[Joseph Cao]

Representatives, a vote is now open on the following amendment:

AN ACT
To improve transport and connectivity across our nation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Atlasia in Congress assembled,

Section I. Title

i. The long title of this bill shall be the "Expansion of High Speed Rail and Mass Transit Act." It may be cited as the "High Speed Rail Act."

Section II. Definitions
i. High speed rail is defined as a railroad capable of supporting trains in excess of 120 mph.

Section III. Construction of High Speed Rail Arteries
i. A high speed railway shall be constructed from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA. The railway must include access stations in Los Angeles, CA, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.
     a. The Department of Transportation should negotiate possible connections through Canada and Mexico.
ii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Miami, FL to Boston, MA. The railway must include access stations in Charlotte, NC, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY.
iii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Chicago, IL to St. Louis, MO. The railway must include access stations in Bloomington, IL and Springfield, IL.

Section IV. Creation of National Rail Authority
i. The National Rail Authority is hereby established under the Department of Transportation and tasked with the responsibility of overseeing construction, rail route development, and consumer-end transit program implementation.
ii. The National Rail Authority shall consist of members appointed by the President of Atlasia.
iii. Modifications to the seaboard routes and placement of cross-country rail routes shall be the responsibility of the National Rail Authority.
iv. Congress shall retain the ability to legislate new routes or override the decisions of the National Rail Authority if necessary.

Section V. Appropriations
i. $80 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of the seaboard routes.
ii. $250 million shall be appropriated for surveying and planning of cross-country rail routes.
iii. $3 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities.
iv. $150 billion shall be released for construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of cross country routes pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.
v. $8 billion shall be released for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.

72 hours to vote. Please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Joseph Cao]

NAY!

[Joseph Cao]

Amendment vote has ended.

By a vote of 5-3-0-1, this amendment passes.

Debate resumes. Any pending amendments may now be introduced.

[Joseph Cao]

I appreciate Representative Jackson's concern for rural development, and I have no particular objection to letting Jackson, TN have a HSR stop if they wish. However, and this is my main point of contention with your proposal, the point of this bill is to build a HSR line which simply cannot afford to stop at all of your proposed stations (many of which are less than a hundred miles apart) without defeating the entire purpose of high-speed rail – to get trains across the country quickly and efficiently, which necessitates enough distance between stations to achieve such speeds. Non-HSR rail lines exist and can be extended if necessary to achieve your goal of bringing feasible means of transport to rural areas. Those do not come within the purview of this bill, though.

As far as Jessica's amendment goes, I am not inherently opposed to the idea of a Southern HSR line. In fact, my impression (correct me if I'm wrong) is that the most cost-efficient route through the Interior West would probably go through Texas and Arizona anyway. But being the most cost-efficient of a series of inefficient options does not necessarily make the entirety of your amendment the most efficient option among the range of HSR line options. Oregon Blue Dog's concerns are justified here.

[Joseph Cao]

I will note for Representative Jackson's benefit that amendments to amendments are not covered by House rules, and in my capacity as Speaker I shall be striking it from the queue. If the Representative wishes to reintroduce it as a proper amendment after we get through Jessica's amendment, they are welcome to do so.

In the meantime, in consideration of the hostile feedback from the bill's sponsor, a vote is now open on the following amendment:

AN ACT
To improve transport and connectivity across our nation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Atlasia in Congress assembled,

Section I. Title

i. The long title of this bill shall be the "Expansion of High Speed Rail and Mass Transit Act." It may be cited as the "High Speed Rail Act."

Section II. Definitions
i. High speed rail is defined as a railroad capable of supporting trains in excess of 120 mph.

Section III. Construction of High Speed Rail Arteries
i. A high speed railway shall be constructed from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA. The railway must include access stations in Los Angeles, CA, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.
     a. The Department of Transportation should negotiate possible connections through Canada and Mexico.
ii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Miami, FL to Boston, MA. The railway must include access stations in Charlotte, NC, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY.
iii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Chicago, IL to St. Louis, MO. The railway must include access stations in Bloomington, IL and Springfield, IL.
iv. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Virginia Beach, VA to Phoenix, AZ. The railway must include access to stations in Richmond, VA, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and El Paso, TX.

Section IV. Creation of National Rail Authority
i. The National Rail Authority is hereby established under the Department of Transportation and tasked with the responsibility of overseeing construction, rail route development, and consumer-end transit program implementation.
ii. The National Rail Authority shall consist of members appointed by the President of Atlasia.
iii. Modifications to the seaboard routes and placement of cross-country rail routes shall be the responsibility of the National Rail Authority.
iv. Congress shall retain the ability to legislate new routes or override the decisions of the National Rail Authority if necessary.

Section V. Appropriations
i. $80 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of the seaboard routes.
ii. $250 million shall be appropriated for surveying and planning of cross-country rail routes.
iii. $3 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities.
iv. $150 billion shall be released for construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of cross country routes pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.
v. $8 billion shall be released for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.

72 hours to vote. Representatives, please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Joseph Cao]

NAY!

[Joseph Cao]

Amendment vote has ended.

By a vote of 5-3-0-1, this amendment passes.

Debate resumes.

[Joseph Cao]

I am aware that the bill's sponsor has been… rather vocally hostile to this amendment, but for the sake of clarity I'll ask Sev to lay out again why this amendment is a bad idea.

[Joseph Cao]

Jessica's amendment will be considered after Rep. Jackson's.

A vote is now open on Jackson's amendment:

AN ACT
To improve transport and connectivity across our nation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of Atlasia in Congress assembled,

Section I. Title

i. The long title of this bill shall be the "Expansion of High Speed Rail and Mass Transit Act." It may be cited as the "High Speed Rail Act."

Section II. Definitions
i. High speed rail is defined as a railroad capable of supporting trains in excess of 120 mph.

Section III. Construction of High Speed Rail Arteries
i. A high speed railway shall be constructed from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA. The railway must include access stations in Los Angeles, CA, San Jose, CA, and Portland, OR.
     a. The Department of Transportation should negotiate possible connections through Canada and Mexico.
ii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Miami, FL to Boston, MA. The railway must include access stations in Charlotte, NC, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY.
iii. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Chicago, IL to St. Louis, MO. The railway must include access stations in Bloomington, IL and Springfield, IL.
iv. A high speed railway shall be constructed from Virginia Beach, VA to Phoenix, AZ. The railway must include access to stations in Richmond, VA, Staunton, VA, Roanoke, VA, Knoxville, TN, Nashville, TN, Jackson, TN, Memphis, TN, Little Rock, AR, Texarkana, AR, Shreveport, LA, Nacogdoches, TX, Houston, TX, Austin, TX, and El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, and Tucson, AZ.

Section IV. Creation of National Rail Authority
i. The National Rail Authority is hereby established under the Department of Transportation and tasked with the responsibility of overseeing construction, rail route development, and consumer-end transit program implementation.
ii. The National Rail Authority shall consist of members appointed by the President of Atlasia.
iii. Modifications to the seaboard routes and placement of cross-country rail routes shall be the responsibility of the National Rail Authority.
iv. Congress shall retain the ability to legislate new routes or override the decisions of the National Rail Authority if necessary.

Section V. Appropriations
i. $80 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of the seaboard routes.
ii. $250 million shall be appropriated for surveying and planning of cross-country rail routes.
iii. $3 billion shall be appropriated for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities.
iv. $150 billion shall be released for construction of new rail and adaptation of old rail for the creation of cross country routes pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.
v. $8 billion shall be released for the construction of connecting routes to off-route cities pending a finalized route plan from the National Rail Authority.

Representatives, the question is on adoption of the amendment above.

Please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Joseph Cao]

NAY!

[Joseph Cao]

Vote closes. By a vote of 2-3-0-4, this amendment fails.

[Joseph Cao]

A vote is now open on Jessica's amendment.

72 hours to vote. Please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Joseph Cao]

Nay.

[Joseph Cao]

The voting period has ended. Amendment vote tied, 4-4.

Mr. Vice President?

[Joseph Cao]

OK, uh.

Sev's motion was made first. Motions to table require the support of at least two representatives, so I am giving 24 hours for anyone who wishes to do so to second the motion. If anyone does so, a vote will be opened on the motion, and Jessica's motion for a final vote will be acted on only if the tabling vote fails. Otherwise, consider the bill tabled.

[Joseph Cao]

A vote is now open for 72 hours on the motion to table this bill.

Representatives, please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Joseph Cao]

Aye FTR.

[Joseph Cao]

Vote has closed. By a vote of 3-2-1-3 (I voted too late), this bill is tabled.