Melançon Enterprises

CMCommunications 2002 Support Amtrak Markey

UPDATED 2002 February 7

“Support Amtrak” letters note to Representative Markey

On 2002 February 7 I sent through a specialized web form for members of the House of Representatives, as Markey had no e-mail address available, the following note.

Subject: URGENT: Do whatever needed to support AMTRAK

Dear Representative Edward Markey,

Preserve the "essential services" of AMTRAK.  Threaten a filibuster if necessary, and follow through on it, to secure whatever funding is needed to keep (and I hope if possible strengthen) our national passenger rail system.

The airlines received $15 billion for nothing, on top of the payments they receive for maintaining unprofitable routes.  Subsidies for highways and roads continue apace.  The support for trains over the past three decades comes to nothing in comparison.  You know the numbers, or can get them from Dukakis.

The pittance for trains is critical to our national security.  Without passenger transportation by railroad, we are dependent on automobiles and airplanes.  Automobiles are the leading cause of our reliance on foreign oil, an inherently insecure situation that also contributes to our military presence around the world, which is a motivator of terrorists, according to bin Laden.  Planes likewise require a wasteful amount of oil, and have been shown to be singularly useful in terrorist attacks.

There are so many issues where practical and moral considerations should make one hold firm to politically difficult positions.  But the senselessness of crippling passenger rail service, when politically it should be easier than ever to support it, is too much to bear.

Take a stand on this.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Melançon

melancon@student.umass.edu
33 Fisher Street
Natick, Massachusetts

I quickly followed it with this message:

Me again.  Forgot that representatives can't filibuster.

Please use whatever political power you have to keep AMTRAK and our national passenger railway system healthy.  Don't let this issue die; it is too stupid and senseless to lose what alternative, relatively energy-efficient, safe transportation we have.

Benjamin Melançon

melancon@student.umass.edu
33 Fisher Street
Natick, MA

“Support Amtrak” letters home
- Senator Kennedy e-mail
- Senator Kerry e-mail

Melançon Enterprises

CMCommunications 2002 Support Amtrak Markey

© 2002