The subcommittee will come to order. I ask unanimous consent the chair can declare a recess at any time. Without objection so ordered. I want to remind members of key regulations on rules and then members must also continue to use the video function and then to experience connectivity issues or other technical problems. And then let us know as soon as possible so you can receive assistance. And you can call the committees for a technical assistance. Members may also not participate remotely any other proceeding occurring simultaneously. It is the responsibility of each member and mute your microphone prior to speaking. If i hear any inadvertent background noise lastly please mute your microphone. All standard rules apply. We will have a good faith effort to address the connectivity issues and participate fully members will have five minutes to ask questions to insert a document into the record, please have the staff email it. This hearing is also live streamed for the public to view and with that i will recognize myself for five minutes for opening statements. Good morning i want to welcome everyone with that response from covid19 as you can see both members and their witnesses for us to safely conduct the hearing i hope everyones family and loved ones are safe. Before we get started this is my first opportunity to introduce our guest there cannot be a more tougher on a tougher time. Okay. I think we have it muted. I wish mr. Flynn well. Economicallyan those that have been hardhit i understand there are serious financial issues. We will hear specifically about this directly from mr. Flynn. Ive always been a strong advocate for and amtrak because its an Important Public Service a National Rail service. It is critical all of those associated with amtrak always keep in mind it is first and foremost a national Public Service. So in addition to be a staunch advocate for the men and women who work at amtrak especially in midst of the pandemic that has caused Economic Hardship for millions of americans and their families. That brings me to the issue that was recently announced. Congress recognize the financial difficulty it was experiencing because of the steep drop infina ridership with more than 1 billion of fate sharedp funding with the understanding part of the funds is for the furlough now they will furlough over 2000 employees on octobe october 1st is extremely disappointing. We understand technically we are about to begin a new fiscal yea year. But one of the biggest reservations i and other members have is for them to come to congress to request additional funding to help keep workers on payroll. Amtrak did not submit a supplementaryhe request until ten days after passage. Amtrak is just now submitting their amended request to congress 11 months before it expired to implement the furlough. Frustrations aside Congress Needs to act quickly to avoid these cuts. I first they are not saving that much money because they would be eligible for Unemployment Insurance second we try to cut service that what we tried under president clinton in 1994. On a bipartisan basis led by missouri republicans and mississippi republicans b they it rejected that restoring service to seven days a week because it hurts Rural Communities and undermines amtraks role and doesnt save that much money. Congresses view has not changed in the past 25 years. Finally we believe that whenever this pandemic is over amtrak should go back to the service it hadad before. We cannot just flip the switch thosey will lose workers because of these tpolicies. Ultimately the cuts are misguided through our National Rail service. Finally that while i strongly support that including the route from northeastern illinois and municipalities. Too often amtrak will take money from congress and then ignore themt directive. But especially when congruent amtrak needs much more from congress right now. With that i recognize the Ranking Member for his opening statement. Thank you mr. Chairman for holding this hearing. Thank you to our witnesses for beingg here today. It is amtraks response to the covid19 pandemic saving over 1 billion to t offset losses but since that time it has significantly cut routes and announce laying off 20 percent of the workforce which is almoste 4000 people by octobe october 1st, 2020. And took the funding request from 2 billion almost 5 billion and is receiving and requesting record amounts of funding while cutting services. They also recently requested the requirements to purchase permits in Foreign Countries when i asked for more specifics amtrak did not even give the most basic information including the cost and origin of equipment. Amtrak should not be spending taxpayer provided bailout money on foreignid goods wells shutting down jobs and services i look forward to hearing how they will respond to the crisis but also how to me the congressionally mandated requirements thank you again to all the witnesses for being here today i yield back. We now recognize the Ranking Member for a full statement. Sorry about that. Thank you for holding this hearing and the witnesses for attending. Obviously todays a great. Opportunity to review amtrak with the covid19 pandemic coming off its best year ever ask actually making a profit in 2020 wasas expected the first time in almost 50 years. But after the pandemic obviously ridership dropped by 95 percent revenues are down 82 percent compared to the 2019 levels. The ceo first appearance before the committee before taking over in april and i welcome mr. Flynn after so many years working in various role in the private sector and to experience high level positions in the Aviation Industry and also working on the railroad and many members of the committee on bothtr sides work with bill and i have always found him to be both effective and forthright. That will be the same for amtrak and his leadership i look forward to him with his update on the covid19 response and also to hear about his future plans for amtrak including recovery from the pandemic to restore ridership and the congressional mandate so with thatng thank you and i look forward to the discussion i yield back. Thank you. We now welcome the witnesses on the panel mr. William flynn president of amtrak, the Transportation Communications union and amy griffith president of local 1460 and president and chief executive officer of the rail association. We look forward to your testimony. The false statements are included in the record. You can limit summer our of your oral testimony 25 minutes and with that you may proceed for five minutes. Good morning chairman and the Ranking Member and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the kind will command the opportunity to address the committee. Im recently appointed president and ceo and i am here to discuss our companys response to covid19. I have to start my remarks by thinking of dedicated employees who have more than risen to the pandemic challenge. The highest priority will always be the safety of our customers and employees and im truly proud of the teams h efforts. Amtrak has been an early leader to Institute Social distancing and employee protection mask requirements and now testing for all employees on the as requested basis we also part nearing with the leading university to look at airflow and ventilation and to strengthen protocols thank you for the invested america act and if enacted be have the funding we require to modernize the system to add more trains and routes across the nationd and received the th hosty treatment from railroads that your constituents deserve simply put it is the game changer we always hope for. Amtrak did deliver record performance fiscal year 2019 and 20 was set to be another record year. But as the pandemic started in march ridership plummeted by 95 percent. In february we carried more than 80000 daily passengers in april there was less than 4000. Thanks to the c. A. R. E. S. Act we managed to survive these difficult times but unfortunately our ridership and revenue is still down more than 80 percent. We recently updated our forecast fiscal year 21 we now anticipate getting 49 billion in funding to operate and invest in our network, support partners, and address various congressional concerns such as avoiding employee furloughs and to maintain service. Given the current uncertainty of supplemental funding at the appropriations levels we must be prudent to prepare for the situation at hand. Therefore we are implementing our plans to adjust our Service Beginning in october. As difficult as these actions are to take these costsaving measuresse measures and we anticipate going through 250 million each month at this rate we would be forced to take drastic measures with longlasting impact on the company, employees and network. As you know we already reduced service in the northeast corridor how we plan to extend temporary frequency adjustments to most longdistance trains. Let me be clear these adjustments are temporary. There is no secret plan or a hidden agenda as suggested many districts have Long Distance service i have heards yourti concerns loud and clear i am 100 percent committed to a longdistancer network and the futurere we continue to make investments that demonstrate this commitment today and i purchasedd two the service line. Until we must make adjustments as we cannot continue to fund a workforce too large for the number of passengers we areot serving. Many states have told us they can unable work with amtrak unless we reduce our cost to align with ridership. Having grown up in a Railroad Family i know how hard that can be a were working hard to minimize impacts to employees. Earlier this year we implemented several cost saving measures but with the lack of writers and uncertain funding plan to reduce the c s workforce by 2050 with management positions we will do everything in our power to return employees to work as soon as possible and then we will provide extended Health Care Coverage during this period. Innercity Passenger Rail is one of the safest and most safest and sustainable forms of transportation. Amtrak stands ready to grow and serve america in large cities and Rural Communities providing thousands of good living wage jobs for skilled employees in the process. Know that im committed to working through this crisis with you and other stakeholders to manage these challenges thank you for your time and support and i look forward to your questions. Thank you mr. Flynn. Now we will move on to mr. Mattea i hope i pronounced your name correctly. Thank you chairman you did. And thank you to the Ranking Member on the impact of covid19. With approximately 1600 workers i am here on behalf of amtrak to protect workers to reauthorize the expansion and they continue to put food on the table and with the plans drying up amtrak is at the edge of a fiscal cliff of severe Workforce Service reductions the house of representatives passed that had 10 billion of operating Emergency Response and the requirement to maintain the workforce on behalf of amtrak workers to pass the house bill and with the transportation sector. Last week they finally froze the supplemental request and with those longdistance frequencies. Unfortunately we also began amtrak receives no supplemental funding it will be catastrophic. That would be 60 percent of the workforce. And at great risk to themselves and their families. Some have died. You can understand why they are so scared for their future. While many of had the luxury of working from home we try to keep the economy moving. And those that are losing for o. Unfortunately in the furlough expansion experience insurance is already expired. We need to pull assistance under immense pressure. President trumps over Unemployment Insurance attempts to provide 300 our standard for Unemployment Insurance. So to make it worse with Unemployment Insurance and where it is needed so this means not only will they not receive the extended benefits but it will be reduced by 6 percent. But this house of representatives the heroes act included the expansion as well as moving from sequestration. And with that economic collapse and those are left to wither on the vine. Thank you for your opportunity to testify. Thank you. Ms. Griffin and you may proceed. On behalf of the transport Workers Union of america to discuss the damaging impact has had on the front line workers representing over 150,000 Members Airlines and transit systems and other industries. Mb and other critical frontline workers have suffered greatly from the virus and the economic fallout. More than 90 percent of members including all at amtrak our frontline transportation workers who have been deemed essential. Nearly 10 percent of our members have tested positive for have been quarantined from the virus. To discount from the emotional and mental tools the on the told the virus has taken on me in the colleagues. And to provide essential services across the country i greatly appreciate to share both my own experience this is anen issue that is all too familiar Onboard Service president of transport Workers Union most importantly i feel it is my duty to serve under these dire circumstances amtrak workers rely on each other more but at the beginning ofof the crisis when they could not find masker sanitizer with access to protective equipment is no longer an issue and with that frontline workforce while working my regular position i was notified by my supervisor that a contact had been exposed to an employees who tested positive. Despite that significantly increased chance of spreading the virus, the Railroad Still expected me to work the rest of my schedule days without seeking s testing. I elevated my concerns and then to expose hundreds of passengers needlessly and then taken out of service at the end of the route to park on the next dayge i was not remove service. Afterrv again elevating the situation to my union i was finally taken offline and told to quarantine for 14 days. My experience is typical of the approach amtrak is taken toward the workforce with the spread of covid19 as a result of the coronavirus they have chosen to leave these positions o vacant making it harder to sanitize properly the workforce is working hard thevery day with unnecessary handicaps to keep the traveling public safe. That is why it is disheartening amtrak will for low 20 percent beginning in october. Per management as many 10000 workers could be impacted. And with that current pandemic and economic recovery and with immediate action from congress. Amtrak management these are not necessary in any case. Just at the front set of frontline workers in pandemic pay cuts return to full pay. And then to remain significantly reduced hours for the foreseeable future. We urge amtrak to reverse course to prioritize rankandfile and frontline workers that interact directly with writers rather than themselves. If they could come together to provide four. 5 billion in support for the railroad. This doesnt just keep thousands employed but safe and healthy rail travel. I look forward to any questions you may have. You may now proceed. Av thank you chairman and Ranking Member for all the subcommittee for your leadership on Passenger Rail. We are the Largest Group speaking for 40 million americans for commuters we know amtrak is making tough choices and has plans take shape with great essential service cutting 12 out of 15 longdistance routes only hree times a week. It would have staggering damage in the heartland. With minuscule savings. We appreciate what they laid out we are also glad to see how the appropriators responded including s 10 billion over fiscal year one but this is the right answer for the longterm. And with that supplemental request with nationwide Daily Service. And then to have a catastrophic flow and that those commuter trains as well to have essential Daily Service with that hardship for those of communities 62 Million People live in flyover country. And a quarter of seniors over 65. There was always an outside roll even more true today and passengers with Health Problems to make socially distance trips onn amtrak. And annie ridership was down 90 percent but longdistance routes were 50 percent now today it makes up 45 percent of amtrak revenue versus 21 percent a year ago to the largest single share since march. That could change on octobe octt if congress cant act. And in 2018 we developed the rail Service Benefits model and we use it to look at the plan and we found those 12 routes contribute from four. 8 billion from those served every single year i can also report cutting Daily Service could drop two. 3 billiondollar bond on flyover country whilett only saving 213 million that if the plan of nine months stretches over a full year thank you. And those of we head especially hard of the 67 cities and states from sacramento and san antonio touching nearly every corner of the country. From eight states from illinois to washington new orleans between louisiana produces 134 million of economic benefits. It can wipe out as much is 88 million and simply put to drastically reduce with only three days a week making connectionsre difficult or impossible with three. 1 billion from the heartland it seems to be bad public policy. Amtrak tried this in 1994 and then they skip the right for the same reason. And less maintenance and to earn badly needed revenue . Congress should not stand by with those hundreds of hardworking towns and at the very least preserve being Daily Service will stave off disaster from flyover country. Thank you. Each member is recognized for five minutes. And mentioning in her testimony that the amtrak town hall on july 29th that the 401 k match and the pay cut that would be utterly november. And those cutting vital Train Service. It was accurate during that town hall meeting and to reduce expenses and refer to that in my remarks cutting the 401 k matc match. The program put in place years earlier when we eliminated the defined benefit pension plan in exchange for eliminating what used to be a very attractive pension plan but the lower cost 401 k match. And that was appropriate actioncu to take it wasnt immediate takehome pay but we clear but ofd course there were no cuts of any benefits at thatat time. And so considering the equities of his situation to make sense to restore the 401 k match and i elected to take no compensation when i joined the company at the beginning offfo april in view of the economic crisis the company is suffering. And compare those two other management teams and Transportation Industries have taken, i believe those cats were larger and deeper in terms of how far down the management ranks they went. B i do appreciate that. Should this be restored to management while the furlough frontline workers . My view is we are restoring a basic level of pay w considering all the equities to ensure that we retain a Smaller Group ofof management people. That will not be looked on well but lets move on. And then will he commit to resend the furlough and the cuts and with that four. 9 million instructs us to resend the furlough and the service cuts, we will do that. If congress does not provide any additional losupplemental funding in the covid relief bil bill, what other cuts can we expect quick. Excuse me mr. Chairman. Is that provided 2 billion and nothing else . Lets say the 2 billion was provided. We would be in a very very difficult position the cash burn isas about 250 million per month right now. And we would have to make very dramatic reductions across the country to stave off bankruptcy i would argue in the longterm. Certainly very significant challenges on behalf of our customers with our employees in the nearterm. Just substantial reduction with the elimination of other services if thats the cash burn they have with no supplemental funding. And to provide the funding we want to know wha
Without objection so ordered. This is a hybrid hearing i want to remind members of key regulations from the House Committee on rules to ensure that the hearing goes mooths smoothly. Members must be visible on screen for the purposes of identification when joining this hearing. Members must also continue to use the video function on todays Software Platform cisco web x for the remainder of the time attending this hearing unless experiencing connectivity issues or other technical problems. If a member is experiencing any connectivity issues or problems, please inform the Committee Staff as soon as possible so you can receive assistance. A chat function is available for members on the web x platform for this purpose and members can also call the committees main phone line at 2022254472 for Technical Assistance by phone. Members may also not participate remotely in any other proceeding that may be occurring simultaneously. It is the responsibility of each member seeking recognition to unmute their microphone prior to speaking to avoid any inadvertent background noise i request every member keep their microphone muted when not seeking recognition to speak. Should i hear any background noise i request that member mute their microphone. Finally, despite this being a hybrid hearing, all the standard rules of decorum apply. As the chair of todays hearings ill make a good faith effort to provide every member experiencing issues to participate fully in the proceedings. Members will have five minutes to ask questions. To insert a document into the record, please have your staff email it to the clerk. This hearing also is being live streamed for the public to view. And with that, i will now recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement. Good morning. I want to welcome everyone to todays subcommittee hearing on amtraks response to covid19. As you can see were doing a hybrid hearing today with both members and our witnesses remote to safely conduct this hearing. I want to wish everyone participating or watching this hearing my best during these tough times and i hope everyones family and loved ones are safe. Before we get started, this is my first opportunity to publicly congratulate William Flynn who became amtraks ceo less than five months ago. There could not be a much tougher time to Begin Service full and healthy, the world is yours. How old are you all, 31, 32 . All right. Rules. Okay. I think we got that correctd and the mute there. I wishing mr. Flynn well. Covid has wreaked havoc on the health and economic welfare of americans just as it has done across the globe. Economically the travel industry has been especially hard hit. I understand amtrak faces a serious Financial Issues and other strains on its operation. Well hear specifically about this directly from mr. Flynn. Ive always been a strong advocate from amtrak because it provides an important public service, the rail service. It is critical that all of us, especially everyone at amtrak, always keep in mind that it is first and foremost a National Public service. Though this does not mean that it should not be run well. In addition, as everyone watching knows ive been a staunch advocate for the men and women who work at amtrak. It is essential that especially in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic thats caused economic hardships for millions of americans and their families. That brings me to the issue of furloughs recently announced by amtrak. Congress recognized the financial difficulty amtrak had been experiencing because of a steep drop in ridership and provided over 1 billion in cares act funding for amtrak, with the understanding that part of the funds would be used to prevent furloughs. So amtraks announcement they will furlough over 2,000 employees october 1st is extremely disappointing. I understand that technically were about to begin a new fiscal year, but one of the biggest frustrations that i and others have had amtrak has had months to come to congress to help keep workers on payroll. The principle reason amtrak didnt get money in the heros act passed by the house was that amtrak didnt submit a supplemental request until ten days after passage. To make matters worse, amtrak is just now submitting their amend fy 21 request one month before the current fiscal year expires and amtrak plans to implement these furloughs. I believe that Congress Needs to act quickly to prevent furloughs and avoid Long Distance service cuts. The furloughs wont save the federal government that much money because a workers furlough will be eligible for Unemployment Insurance funded through taxes paid by workers and their employers, in this case amtrak. Second, we tried cutting Long Distance Service Three days a week prior under president clinton in 1994. Congress on a bipartisan basis led by Missouri Republican Mississippi Republican senator lott eventually rejected those cuts and restored Long Distance service to seven days a week because cutting Long Distance service economically hurts rural communities, undermines amtraks role and actually doesnt save that much money. Congress view has not changed in the past 25 years. Finally we should reject those cuts because most of us on this committee believes whenever this pandemic is over amtrak should go back to the service it had before this pandemic. We cannot just flip the switch so to speak if amtrak is going to lose valuable workers, know how and riders because of these cuts. Ultimately the furloughs and Long Distance service cuts are misguided and we get our National Rail service. Its important we hear from amtrak ceo William Flynn today on his longterm vision for amtrak and why amtrak is making these cuts. Finally i feel it necessary to remind amtrak that while i strongly support our nations railroad, amtrak must heed and not ignore congress desire that works well with others including commuter railroads like metra in illinois and states and local municipalities. Too often it feels like amtrak has had to take money from congress and ignore congress directives. That is not helpful. Especially when amtrak needs much more from congress right now. With that, i recognize Ranking Member crawed f member crawed for for his opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. I want to thank our witnesses for hearing. Also want to thank our witnesses for being here today. Our hearing today is to review amtraks response to the covid19 pandemic. In march Congress Gave amtrak since that time amtrak has significantly cut its routes and announced its laying off 20 of its work force, thats almost 4,000 people by october 1st, 2020. Amtrak has also more than doubled its fiscal year 2020 request from just over 2 billion to almost 5 billion. Im troubled amtrak is receiving and requesting record amounts of funding while cutting thousands of jobs. When i asked for more specifics amtrak could not provide even the basic information. Amtrak should not be spending its money on foreign goods while cutting american jobs and services. I welcome the amtrak ceo bill flynn and look forward to hearing how he responds to the covid19 crisis and also his plans for meeting amtraks congressionally mandated requirement of making a profit. Thank you again to all our witnesses for being here today, and i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Crawford, chair odonnell will recognize the Ranking Member for an opening statement. Sorry, about that, mr. Chairman. I was muted. Okay, go ahmed. I want to thank you for holding this hearing and thank all the witnesses for attending. Obviously todays hearing is great opportunity to review amtrak has handled the covid19 pandemic. Prior to crisis amtrak was coming off its best year ever. In 2020 amtrak was expected to make a profit for the first time in almost 50 years. But after the pandemic amtrak obviously reported that its ridership dropped by 95 and its revenues were down 82 compared to 2019 levels. Today also amtraks ceo bill flynns first apeerps as you pointed out before the committee. His experience includes high level positions in obviously the Aviation Industry and Maritime Industries and also working in class one fright railroad. And i know many members of the committee on both sides are work would bill as hes served in various roles. And ive always found him to be forthright in many of his past positions, and i expect thats going to be the same case for amtrak and his leadership at amtrak. I look forward to hearing from there flynn on his update when it comes to amtraks covid19 response. And im also interested in hearing about his future plans for amtrak including recovery for the pandemic and restoring ridership and meeting the congressional mandate for profits. So with that, again, thanks to all the witness and i look forward to the discussion. I would now like to welcome the witnesses on our panel. The president of amtrak, the National President communications union. Ms. Amy griffon, president of local 1460, and mr. Jim matthews, president chief executive officer of the Rail Passenger association. I look forward to your testimony. This written testimony will be made part of the record and request you limit your oral testimony to 5 minutes. And with that, mr. Flynn, you may proceed for five minutes. Good morning, chairman, Ranking Member gray, Ranking Member crawford and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the kind welcome and the opportunity here to address the committee. As you know im bill flynn, amtraks recently appointed president and ceo. And im here to discuss our companys response to covid19. But i have to start my remarks by thanking our dedicated employees who have more than risen to the pandemic challenge. Our highest priority is always going to be the safety of our customers and the safety of our employees. And am truly proud of the efforts. Were also partnering a leading university to study airflow and ventilation in our rail cars and working with others to strengthen our disfecting protocols. I want to thank you you for the invest in america act, and if enacted wed finally have the funding we require to modernize our system, add more trains and new routes across our nation and receive the priority treatment from our host railroads that your constituents deserve. Simply put its the game changer weve always hoped for. Amtrak did deliver record performance in fiscal year 19 and fiscal year 20 was set to be another record year. But our ridership plummeted by 97 . In february we carried more than 80,000 daily passengers. But in april there were less than 4,000 passengers with correspondenting impacts on our revenues. Thank tuesday the cares act weve managed to survive these difficult times for fy20, but unfortunately our ridership and revenue are still down more than 80 . We recently updated our forecast for fiscal year 21, and we now anticipate get needing up to 4. 9 billion in funding to operate and invest in our network, support our partners and address various congressional concern such as avoiding employee furloughs and maintaining day Long Distance service. Given the uncertainty of covid19 supplemental funding or fy21 appropriations levels we must be prudent and prepare for the situation at hand while hoping for it the best. We are implementing our plans to adjust our service and work force levels beginning in october. As difficult as these actions are if we do not take such cost saving measures and fail to receive supplemental funding we anticipate burning nearly 250 million each month. At this rate of loss we would be forced to traik drastic measures with long lasting impacts on the company, on our employees and on our network. As you know we have already reduced service on both the northeast corridor and state supported routes. And we now plan to extend temporarily frequency adjustments to most of our Long Distance trains. But let me be clear these adjustments are temporary. There is no secret plan or hidden agenda as critics may suggest. Ive heard your concerns loud and clear. And please know im 100 committed to our Long Distance network and to its future. By way of example we continue to make investments that demonstrate this commitment today, and i can point to our purchase of 75 Diesel Locomotives for this service line. We must make difficult work force adjustments as we cannot continue to indempt fund a work force too large for the number of passengers were serving. Many states have told us they will be unable to partner with amtrak unless we reduce our cost to better align with ridership. Having grown up in a rail labor family i know how hard furloughs can be, and were working hard to minimize impacts to our employees. Earlier this year we implemented several cost saving measures, but given the continued lack of riders and uncertain funding we plan to reduce our work force by approximately 2,050 agreement and management positions. Going forward we will do everything in our power to return furloughed employees to work as soon as possible, and we are going beyond our contractual requirements to provide extended Health Care Coverage during this period. Inner city Passenger Rail remains one of the safetiest, most efficient and most sustainable forms of transportation. Once the pandemic passes amtrak stands ready to grow and serve more of america in large cities and in rural communities. Thereby providing thousands of good living wage jobs for skilled employees in the process. Please know that i am committed to working flow this crisis with you and with other stakeholders to manage these nearterm challenges while safeguarding amtraks future. Thank you for your time and support, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Flynn. We will now move onto mr. I hope i pronounced that correctly this time. Thank you, mr. Chairman and i want to thank you for allowing me to speak today on the impact of covid19 on the amtrak work force. Im the National President of the Transportation Communications unit. Tcu is the largest unit on amtrak representing approximately 6,800 workers in the clerical im here on behalf of amtrak workers to urge congress and President Trump act now and preserve our railroad, protect amtrak workers from getting furloughed and reauthorize the extension and expansion of party wide benefits so that thousands of railroaders continue to put food on the table. Today the immediate future of amtraks work force is large and uncertain. With the additional funds from the cares act drying up the overall ridership has been severely reduced compared to last year. Cam track now stands at the edge of a fiscal cliff. This house of representatives passed their fy21 bill which included 10 billion in operating capitol, the Emergency Response grants for amtrak and requirements to maintain the work force and route frequencies. On behalf of amtrak workers i call on the senate to pass the house bill for President Trump to sign it today. The covid crisis has been a nightmare for all of us, particularly for the transportation sector. Thats why tcu has now spoken about the size of amtrak. Last week amtrak finally increased their fy 21 supplemental request to 2. 9 billion which includes maintaining the work force in Long Distance frequencies. Unfortunately they also began issuing furlough notices in the Event Congress doesnt provide adequate funding. Just to be clear amtrak receives no supplementing funding on october 1st the damage will be catastrophic. According to Amtrak Service cuts would be severe. And furloughs would amount to approximately 60 of the work force. These are the same front Line Transportation workers that have been coming in to workday after day during the pandemic at great risk to themselves and their families. Many have contracted the virus. Some have died. You can understand my frustration why amtrak workers are so scared for their future. While Many Americans have had a luxury working from home these amtrak workers have putting their lives on the line to keep our fragile economy moving. Our people have sacrificed and now theyre faced with losing their jobs october 1st. These people need action and need it now. Unfortunately, amtrak workers are indeed furloughed. The cares act, expansion of railroad insurance has already expired. At least thousands of railroaders will be immediately thrown into a system thats already under immense pressure. President trumps memo addressing Unemployment Insurance attempts to provide a 300 expanded benefit of regular state based Unemployment Insurance. Unfortunately President Trumps bill does nothing for railroaders. It doesnt even mention Railroad Unemployment issues. And to make matters worse unlike any other Unemployment Insurance program in the country Railroad Unemployment is unique since it is the only one this means not only will furloughed railroaders not receive the expanded benefits but the regular checks will be reduced by 6 . This is unfair and congress should fix this today. Fortunately, this house of representatives has once again already paved the way. The heroes act included both an extension and expansion of ruy as well as removing it from sequesttration. On both auy and amtrak funding we urge the senate to act now to prevent the kind of economic collapse that would occur if our transportation modes and workers are left to wither on the vine. I thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you. Next well have ms. Griffon. Ms. Griffon, you may proceed. Chairman lipinski, Ranking Member crawford and members of the committee, on behalf of the members of the transport Workers Union of america thank you for holding this important hearing to discuss the damaging impacts covid19 has had on amtrak Front Line Workers as well as the railroads response. The twu represents over 150,000 members at railroads, airlines, transit systems and other industries. Tw members like other critical Front Line Workers across the country have suffered greatly from this virus and the economic fall out. More than 90 of tw members including all of our members at amtrak are front Line Transportation workers who have been deemed essential during this pandemic. Only 10 of tw members have tested positive or been quarantined from the virus. However, these numbers do not account for additional emotional and mental toll the virus has taken on me and my colleagues. Despite the serious challenges tw members have continued to provide essential services across the country. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share both my own experience and experience of amtrak workers during the covid19 crisis. This is an issue in which our union is unfortunately all too familiar. As a lead service attendant Onboard Service for 32 years, president of transport Workers Union local 1460, and most importantly as an american i feel it is my duty to serve under these dire circumstances. Amtrak workers have persevered through this crisis by relying on each other more than the railroad. At the beginning of the crisis when amtrak claimed it could not find masks or sanitizer for our members the twu secured proper ppe and distributed it to the Front Line Work force. Today while access to protective equipment supplies is no longer an issue weve been forced to trade best practices between ourselves and the companys policies with the Front Line Work force with much more risk of exposure. This past july while working my regular position as lead service attendant on the d. C. To boston amtrak route i was notified by my supervisor that contact and being exposed to an employee who tested positive for covid19. Despite the significantly increased chance of spreading the virus, the Railroad Still expected me to work the rest of my scheduled days without seeking testing. Fearing the possibility of infecting passengers and coworkers on my train i elevated concerns ultimately told i would work the trip back from boston to d. C. Potentially exposing hundr
Here on cspan3, well take you live now to a hearing on amtraks response to the coronavirus pandemic. This hearing is already in process. While possibly only saving amtrak 213 million. Overall, the damage could top 3 billion if amtraks planned nine months of Degraded Service stretches another quarter to a full year. Ill finish. Thank you. The amtrak community was hit especially hard because several airlines say theyll drop service when the c. A. R. E. S. Act expires. Thats 67 cities facing air cutbacks. Nearly half, 31 of them, would all flew the same, sacramento, tampa, these routes touch nearly every corner of our country. On the empire builder on eight states from illinois to washington, those towns face a nearly 400 million blow. The north south city of new orleans between louisiana now produce nearly 134 million in economic benefits. It could wipe out as much as 88 million of that. Simply put, this drastically reduced utility of a nationwide Network Operating three days a week, making it impossible or difficult will gut the services and snatching as much as 3. 1 billion from our hardworking heartland during a historic recession for the sake of only 213 million in savings to amtrak seems to us to be bad public policy. It also ignores history. Amtrak tried this in 1994. It didnt work then. Its not going to work now. Passengers travel for the same reasons today as they did then. And theyll skip the ride for the very same reasons. In closing, we think that there is a better way. Cut some costs while preserving Daily Service by running fewer trains. Fewer coaches mean less maintenance, but continued service means continued opportunity to earn revenue. The largest revenue contributor since march. Congress didnt let the federal Highway Administration close highways four days out of seven. Congress shouldnt stand by and impose these restrictions on hard working towns, towns in which many cases can afford it the least. Strong investment in amtrak could position our country for recovery at the least, preserving service will stave off disaster in flyover countries. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Mathews. Well now move on to members questions. Each member will be recognized for five minutes. And i will begin by recognizing myself for five minutes. Mr. Flynn, ms. Griffin mentioned in her testimony and i was made aware that amtrak town hall on july 29th that you attended, your team say that the 401 k match will return for Management Employees on october 1st and the pay cut for certain Management Employees that they took will be restored in early november. Can you confirm this information is accurate . If it is, do you think its appropriate to restore the 401 k matches and pay for Management Employees when youre furloughing over 2,000 employees and cutting vital Train Service . Thank you for your question, mr. Chairman. So yes, it is accurate that during that town hall meeting we discussed restoring the 401 k match. At the beginning of the pandemic, we took the initiative to reduce expenses and i referred to that in my remarks. And so we did cut the 401 k match for all Management Employees. The 401 k program that was put in place some years earlier when we eliminated the defined benefit pension plan, and in exchange for eliminating what was viewed to be a very attractive pension plan with a much lower cost 401 k match, we cut those expenses at the beginning of the pandemic. We thought that it was an appropriate action to take because while it would have impact to total compensation for our employees, it wasnt immediate takehome pay. We have heard loud and clear from our employees that taking that match away had Significant Impact to them. And i will point out, of course, there were no cuts to any agreement benefits at that time. So considering the equities of the situation, it made sense to us to restore the 401 k match at the beginning of october. On a voluntary basis, we well, for me, on a voluntary basis, i elected to take no compensation when i joined the company at the beginning of april 15th, in view of what the economic crisis that our economy was suffering. We took substantial cuts across our management ranks, and when i compare those cuts to reductions that other Management Teams and other Transportation Industries have taken, i believe those cuts were larger and deeper in terms of how far down the management ranks they went. Mr. Flynn, i do appreciate that. I appreciate that youre taking no compensation. The question is should this be restored to management while were furloughing frontline workers . My view is were restoring a basic level of pay considering all of the equities to insure that we also retain now a Smaller Group of management people as a result of furloughs so we can probable run the railroad. I think that thats not going to be looked on well just for the equity, but lets move on. If Congress Gives you the 4. 8 billion by october 1st, you indicated, will you commit on the record to rescinding the furloughs and rescinding the cuts to longer Distance Service . Ill commit that well do as directed by congress, and if that 4. 9 million instructs us to rescind the furloughs and rescind the service cuts, well do that. And if you do not if congress does not provide any additional supplemental funding in a covid relief bill or appropriations package, what other cuts can we expect for workers and service . Excuse me, mr. Chairman, is that providing the 2 billion and nothing else or providing nothing . Lets say if 2 billion was provided. We would be in a very, very difficult position as a company, mr. Chairman. As i mentioned in my testimony, our cash burn is about 250 million a month right now. And so we would have to make very dramatic reductions across the company in order to not to stave off bankruptcy, i would argue, in the long term. Certainly very, very significant challenges to run this company or operate this company on behalf of our customers. And with our employees in the near term. Substantial reductions in all services, and perhaps elimination of some services if thats the cash burn were having, and no supplemental funding. It would be good to see what those would be, just as were looking at the providing of funding. As i said, i support providing the funding, but we want to know what that would what additional cuts may be, and im running out of time here, so for the purpose of the record, are you willing to work with me to amicably resolve some local issues i have, including the Chicago Union station contract dispute between amtrak and metra in illinois request for a new amtrak stop on the lincoln service. So i just wanted to get you on the record, will you work with me to resolve these help to resolve these local issues . I certainly will, mr. Chairman. And as i mentioned, i did meet with metras ceo, and we talked about some very useful measures we can take and well continue to work to resolve our differences. Appreciate it. My time has expired. I will now recognize mr. Crawford for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Flynn, in your written testimony, you stated the leading cause of delays to our Long Distance trainicize the failure of some of our host railroads to comply with this longstanding legal obligation to provide amtrak trains with preference over their tracks. Can you clarify that remark . The data i have examined shows it accounts for a small amount of the delays, at least on the lines i examined . Thank you, Ranking Member crawford. I think we stand by our remarks. We publish every month in our statistics which are Available Online the number of minutes of delay that we experience on each of our host railroads. And have done that for quite a long period of time. We regularly and routinely find passenger trains are not given preference over Freight Railroads, and thats what our statistics in our experience reflect. And thats why in part we were encouraged in the invest act that theres language there that would provide us a private right of action to be able to enforce our statutory rights. I have been closely following the metrics and standards, rule making out of the fra, understanding the need for preserving amtrak ridership and providing amtrak riders with a safe and positive experience. It would make sense to revisit current schedules to account for actual run time. You could explain how your working with Freight Railroads on lengthening some of your schedules in light of the new fra metric. Were working with the fra to have the rule finally issued. That hasnt been issued yet. Were in regular routine correspondence with the fra about the schedules in place and how they could be adjusted. We have a team of people who are simply dedicated to the working relationship with our class 1 railroads and they speak with the class 1 railroads regularly and in some cases at least once a week, on the different schedules we may have. You could commit that amtrak is willing to lengthen schedules where it is appropriate . I dont im not sure i could answer that question. Im not sure what appropriate means. We have a schedule requirement of 80 on time arrival within 30 minutes. I dont know what appropriate means with the railroad a point of view. We need to dig into the details and a final rule on standards and metrics for me to be able to do that. Okay. All right. Thank you. I yield back, there chairman. Thank you. Chair will now recognize mr. Series for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. You know, a lot has been made of the use of enhanced cleaning procedures, advanced air filtration systems, and limit reservations, a lot of cleaning. What has been the feedback from Rail Passengers . In this process. Thank you for that question. The feedback has been very positive. Both in terms of our Customer Service satisfaction, i should say surveys, and focus groups that we have with our customers. We have regular focus groups virtually with our most frequent passengers. And i could say also anecdotally, i ride our trains between new york and d. C. Quite regularly. I have yet to speak with our on board staff and customers and we receive positive so youre meeting with passengers, members. Im certainly available always to meet with anyone representing our customers. And as i mentioned in my remarks and in my filed testimony, we continue to investigative what more we could do to enhance that environment. So they are certainly aware of your efforts . I believe they are. And we continually communicate all of the steps that were taken, all of the different actions that weve made different actions that weve not only taken in terms of cleaning and the cleaning protocol but weve enhanced our communications with our customers to give them more information about service, about the trains, for example, if you were to book a train today you could understand what that level of the booking is and you may find that you want to book another train which has fewer passengers on it. Those are the kind of enhancements we provide and we communicate it. And have you broken it down for state, for example, new jersey, how many people will lose their jobs if this were to go through . So, we talked about 1,950 furloughs that were going to announce. Theyre going to occur in october. And they are by craft and will depend on that it could well be that a person works in new york but resides in new jersey. So that is further work that we need to do. But we can certainly provide that. Because i represent the northern part of the state, which is already congested and a lot of people work on amtrak. So im just wondering what the impact is going to be in that area of people being furloughed . Yeah, i want to get back to you with the accurate information. But i do understand that the number of employees who will be furloughed who identify themselves as new jersey residents is a relatively small number. And i mean, something less than 25. For new jersey . Yes, sir. So i assume that these all right. But what we will is that the reason because of the lease cargo the reason, is it because it is the northeast corridor and it is very active in that area . Yes. But well be happy provide the Committee Staff with the numbers by state. So all of the members can have that information. Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Chair will now recognize mr. Gray for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, i appreciate it. And my question is for mr. Flynn. And that given your very optimistic, given your back ground in the private sector that youll be able to meet that mandate for profitability and being successful and i know it is obviously not an ideal situation to take over an unprofitable business in the middle of a pandemic. If that is not that makes it that much more, but you could give the committee your perspective on how you or your ideas on how you are going to be able to achieve that mandate and hopefully turn amtrak around and make it profitable . Thank you, Ranking Member grays. That is a great question. What we fundamentally believe, of course, is that were in a pandemic. Earlier in the year we might have thought that the shape of the recovery would look perhaps like a v. Or a u. , but thats not the case. What we believe, of course, is that the service we provide is essential, that there is real demand for our service and has we come out of that pandemic, there will be a combination of regaining prior customers as well as attracting new customers to our services. And were engaged in some of that now. At the end of fiscal year 19 as a company we had a dramatically reduced losses on adjusted operating income basis and well on track to have a first positive year in 2020. What that tells me is that our customers value the service that we provided and the results were such that the amount of earning we were generating in 19 and into 2020, meant that the supplemental grants that we could get from congress, we could use for Capital Investment and infrastructure that is desperately needed here. And i think that future is out there for amtrak. I think it is a few years away because we still dont know the shape of the recovery. And our intention is growth and in the corridor and from our states in our Long Distance net york and in particular on several metropolitan or many metropolitan corridors that exist on that network. So i was excited to have the opportunity to lead amtrak and when i accepted the position at the beginning of the year i had a belief of what the future could be and i still hold that belief. It is just further out in the future now than i might have thought of in early march. Thank you. Appreciate it. Again, thanks for your testimony and i yield back, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you. The chair will now recognize mr. Payne for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman for the opportunity to speak this day and welcome all of the witnesses. The c. A. R. E. S. Act and the payroll grants to airlines and their contractors so that airline employees would be kept on payroll and avoid furloughs. The term of that requirement is set to expire at the end of this month. Do you think that any c. A. R. E. S. Act extensions, any extension of the c. A. R. E. S. Act payroll grant provision should be extended to amtrak employees and that is to all of the witnesses . Mr. Flynn . Okay, thank you, sir. Wasnt sure if you wanted me to respond first. So we did receive just over a billion dollars in the c. A. R. E. S. Act. We have not furloughed any of our employees at this point in time. The furloughs that we have announced take effect in october. In our supplemental grant discussions and submissions we have identified the amount of supplemental funding that would be required for us to avoid furloughs and then retain the [ inaudible ]. Okay. Anyone else . Yes, mr. Congressman, we would definitely support extending the c. A. R. E. S. Act. In my testimony before, the c. A. R. E. S. Act funding and protections for received and Long Distance frequencies, i believe these numbers of amtrak so we could support that. And mr. Payne, would you like to add to that from the point of view of the Rail Passengers. Our passengers really do rely on those front line employees, particularly when you start looking at the number of disabled folks, elderly folks, people who need that extra hand. We really would very much hate to see anything happen to some of those front line folks. Our friends at tcu and twu, and not only on the trains but in the call centers, example now if youre looking at the strange connection pattern that were going to see of three times weekly service, and the drastic connections in chicago, planning a trip is going to become incredibly complicate the exercise and having Expert Employees on the other side of that phone line to make that connection clear to a passenger is also going to be very important. So whether youre looking at folks on trains or dealing with customers in remote ways, we could be very supportive of those folks to have that. Thank you. And mr. Flynn, i understand that covid19 has upended the Transportation Industry across the country and cost amtrak billions in lost revenue. And we know the plans to further go excuse me, those 2,000 employees approximately 10 of the workforce at the end of september. Now im sure the furloughs are your attempt to mitigate these revenue losses. Were here because amtrak has requested 4. 9 billion in additional funding from congress to deal with the revenue shortfall. Amtrak is a Public Entity and the profits should not be the priority. Passengers service must be priorities. What would happen if congress failed to provide the funding youre requesting . Thank you, congressman payne. First, i full agree with you that safety is our number one priority and safety informs everything that we do regardless of a level of funding, a level of funding affects the level of operations but never the level of safety. If we are not able to achieve supplemental funding as ive implied to the previous congressman in his question, that makes substantial Service Reductions across the company and also means we would have to adjust the workforce that we have. In addition, were also having to reduce our number of capital expenditure, whether that is [ inaudible ] and some of the other longer term Capital Projects such as our bridges and tunnels. And our Capital Program for reductions in employee and a reduction in [ inaudible ]. Very difficult choices that we have to make. Okay. Well, thank you and my time is up and i yield back mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Payne. I want to remind everyone to make sure you mute when you are not speaking and hopefully mr. Flynn, also the connection seemed to be going down and hopefully it will get back to the way it was. The chair will now recognize mr. Perry for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman and ill address my questions to mr. Flynn as well. And in your written testimony, it states that amtrak was on track to generate passenger revenues exceeding operating expenses in fy 2020 for the First Time Ever prior to the covid19 outbreak. In other words, amtrak was going to turn a profit before covid19 devastated ridership and if true that would be welcome news to the taxpayers and i dont think i need to remind you that the american taxpayers provided amtrak with over 100 billion in subsidies over the nearly 50year history. And i heard you talk to the Ranking Member about the same claim, if i could use that term. Im just wondering, could you explain, then, why amtrak counts state funded operations subsidies as passenger revenue but did not count federal subsidies in the same manner. But it seems to me that im not familiar with this accounting standard whereby you put things out and leave certain things in. And also explain why amtrak does not include depreciation costs for unaudited monthly performance report but includes the costs in total expenses for amtraks audited Fi
Nations rail Service Needs 4 billion to stay afloat for fiscal year 2021. He made the comments in testimony before the house transportation subcommittee on railroads. The subcommittee will come to order. I ask unanimous consent that the chair declare a recess at any time during todays hearing. Without objection so ordered. I also ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at todays hearing and ask questions. Without objection so ordered. This is a hybrid hearing. I want to remind members of key regulations from the House Committee on rules to ensure that the hearing goes smoothly. Members must be visible on screen for the purposes of identification when joining this hearing. Members must also continue to use the video function on todays Software Platform cisco webx for the remainder of the time they are attending this hearing, unless experiencing connectivity issues or other technical problems. If a member is experiencing any connectivity issues or problems, please inform the Committee Staff as soon as possible so you can receive assistance. Problems. If a member is experiencing any connectivity issues or problems, please inform the Committee Staff as soon as possible so you can receive assistance. A chat function is available for members on the web x platform for this purpose and members can also call the committees main phone line at 2022254472 for Technical Assistance by phone. Members may also not participate remotely in any other proceeding that may be occurring simultaneously. It is the responsibility of each member seeking recognition to unmute their microphone prior to speaking to avoid any inadvertent background noise i request every member keep their microphone muted when not seeking recognition to speak. Should i hear any background noise i request that member mute their microphone. Finally, despite this being a hybrid hearing, all the standard rules of decorum apply. As the chair of todays hearings ill make a good faith effort to provide every member experiencing issues to participate fully in the proceedings. Members will have five minutes to ask questions. To insert a document into the record, please have your staff email it to the clerk. This hearing also is being live streamed for the public to view. And with that, i will now recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement. Good morning. I want to welcome everyone to todays subcommittee hearing on amtraks response to covid19. As you can see were doing a hybrid hearing today with both members and our witnesses remote to safely conduct this hearing. I want to wish everyone participating or watching this hearing my best during these tough times and i hope everyones family and loved ones are safe. Before we get started, this is my first opportunity to publicly congratulate William Flynn who became amtraks ceo less than five months ago. There could not be a much tougher time to Begin Service full and healthy, the world is yours. How old are you all, 31, 32 . All right. Rules. Okay. I think we got that correctd and the mute there. I wishing mr. Flynn well. Covid has wreaked havoc on the health and economic welfare of americans just as it has done across the globe. Economically the travel industry has been especially hard hit. I understand amtrak faces a serious Financial Issues and other strains on its operation. Well hear specifically about this directly from mr. Flynn. Ive always been a strong advocate from amtrak because it provides an important public service, the rail service. It is critical that all of us, especially everyone at amtrak, always keep in mind that it is first and foremost a National Public service. Though this does not mean that it should not be run well. In addition, as everyone watching knows ive been a staunch advocate for the men and women who work at amtrak. It is essential that especially in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic thats caused economic hardships for millions of americans and their families. That brings me to the issue of furloughs recently announced by amtrak. Congress recognized the financial difficulty amtrak had been experiencing because of a steep drop in ridership and provided over 1 billion in cares act funding for amtrak, with the understanding that part of the funds would be used to prevent furloughs. So amtraks announcement they will furlough over 2,000 employees october 1st is extremely disappointing. I understand that technically were about to begin a new fiscal year, but one of the biggest frustrations that i and others have had amtrak has had months to come to congress to help keep workers on payroll. The principle reason amtrak didnt get money in the heros act passed by the house was that amtrak didnt submit a supplemental request until ten days after passage. To make matters worse, amtrak is just now submitting their amend fy 21 request one month before the current fiscal year expires and amtrak plans to implement these furloughs. I believe that Congress Needs to act quickly to prevent furloughs and avoid Long Distance service cuts. The furloughs wont save the federal government that much money because a workers furlough will be eligible for Unemployment Insurance funded through taxes paid by workers and their employers, in this case amtrak. Second, we tried cutting Long Distance Service Three days a week prior under president clinton in 1994. Congress on a bipartisan basis led by Missouri Republican Mississippi Republican senator lott eventually rejected those cuts and restored Long Distance service to seven days a week because cutting Long Distance service economically hurts rural communities, undermines amtraks role and actually doesnt save that much money. Congress view has not changed in the past 25 years. Finally we should reject those cuts because most of us on this committee believes whenever this pandemic is over amtrak should go back to the service it had before this pandemic. We cannot just flip the switch so to speak if amtrak is going to lose valuable workers, know how and riders because of these cuts. Ultimately the furloughs and Long Distance service cuts are misguided and we get our National Rail service. Its important we hear from amtrak ceo William Flynn today on his longterm vision for amtrak and why amtrak is making these cuts. Finally i feel it necessary to remind amtrak that while i strongly support our nations railroad, amtrak must heed and not ignore congress desire that works well with others including commuter railroads like metra in illinois and states and local municipalities. Too often it feels like amtrak has had to take money from congress and ignore congress directives. That is not helpful. Especially when amtrak needs much more from congress right now. With that, i recognize Ranking Member crawed f member crawed for for his opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. I want to thank our witnesses for hearing. Also want to thank our witnesses for being here today. Our hearing today is to review amtraks response to the covid19 pandemic. In march Congress Gave amtrak since that time amtrak has significantly cut its routes and announced its laying off 20 of its work force, thats almost 4,000 people by october 1st, 2020. Amtrak has also more than doubled its fiscal year 2020 request from just over 2 billion to almost 5 billion. Im troubled amtrak is receiving and requesting record amounts of funding while cutting thousands of jobs. When i asked for more specifics amtrak could not provide even the basic information. Amtrak should not be spending its money on foreign goods while cutting american jobs and services. I welcome the amtrak ceo bill flynn and look forward to hearing how he responds to the covid19 crisis and also his plans for meeting amtraks congressionally mandated requirement of making a profit. Thank you again to all our witnesses for being here today, and i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Crawford, chair odonnell will recognize the Ranking Member for an opening statement. Sorry, about that, mr. Chairman. I was muted. Okay, go ahmed. I want to thank you for holding this hearing and thank all the witnesses for attending. Obviously todays hearing is great opportunity to review amtrak has handled the covid19 pandemic. Prior to crisis amtrak was coming off its best year ever. In 2020 amtrak was expected to make a profit for the first time in almost 50 years. But after the pandemic amtrak obviously reported that its ridership dropped by 95 and its revenues were down 82 compared to 2019 levels. Today also amtraks ceo bill flynns first apeerps as you pointed out before the committee. His experience includes high level positions in obviously the Aviation Industry and Maritime Industries and also working in class one fright railroad. And i know many members of the committee on both sides are work would bill as hes served in various roles. And ive always found him to be forthright in many of his past positions, and i expect thats going to be the same case for amtrak and his leadership at amtrak. I look forward to hearing from there flynn on his update when it comes to amtraks covid19 response. And im also interested in hearing about his future plans for amtrak including recovery for the pandemic and restoring ridership and meeting the congressional mandate for profits. So with that, again, thanks to all the witness and i look forward to the discussion. I would now like to welcome the witnesses on our panel. The president of amtrak, the National President communications union. Ms. Amy griffon, president of local 1460, and mr. Jim matthews, president chief executive officer of the Rail Passenger association. I look forward to your testimony. This written testimony will be made part of the record and request you limit your oral testimony to 5 minutes. And with that, mr. Flynn, you may proceed for five minutes. Good morning, chairman, Ranking Member gray, Ranking Member crawford and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the kind welcome and the opportunity here to address the committee. As you know im bill flynn, amtraks recently appointed president and ceo. And im here to discuss our companys response to covid19. But i have to start my remarks by thanking our dedicated employees who have more than risen to the pandemic challenge. Our highest priority is always going to be the safety of our customers and the safety of our employees. And am truly proud of the efforts. Were also partnering a leading university to study airflow and ventilation in our rail cars and working with others to strengthen our disfecting protocols. I want to thank you you for the invest in america act, and if enacted wed finally have the funding we require to modernize our system, add more trains and new routes across our nation and receive the priority treatment from our host railroads that your constituents deserve. Simply put its the game changer weve always hoped for. Amtrak did deliver record performance in fiscal year 19 and fiscal year 20 was set to be another record year. But our ridership plummeted by 97 . In february we carried more than 80,000 daily passengers. But in april there were less than 4,000 passengers with correspondenting impacts on our revenues. Thank tuesday the cares act weve managed to survive these difficult times for fy20, but unfortunately our ridership and revenue are still down more than 80 . We recently updated our forecast for fiscal year 21, and we now anticipate get needing up to 4. 9 billion in funding to operate and invest in our network, support our partners and address various congressional concern such as avoiding employee furloughs and maintaining day Long Distance service. Given the uncertainty of covid19 supplemental funding or fy21 appropriations levels we must be prudent and prepare for the situation at hand while hoping for it the best. We are implementing our plans to adjust our service and work force levels beginning in october. As difficult as these actions are if we do not take such cost saving measures and fail to receive supplemental funding we anticipate burning nearly 250 million each month. At this rate of loss we would be forced to traik drastic measures with long lasting impacts on the company, on our employees and on our network. As you know we have already reduced service on both the northeast corridor and state supported routes. And we now plan to extend temporarily frequency adjustments to most of our Long Distance trains. But let me be clear these adjustments are temporary. There is no secret plan or hidden agenda as critics may suggest. Ive heard your concerns loud and clear. And please know im 100 committed to our Long Distance network and to its future. By way of example we continue to make investments that demonstrate this commitment today, and i can point to our purchase of 75 Diesel Locomotives for this service line. We must make difficult work force adjustments as we cannot continue to indempt fund a work force too large for the number of passengers were serving. Many states have told us they will be unable to partner with amtrak unless we reduce our cost to better align with ridership. Having grown up in a rail labor family i know how hard furloughs can be, and were working hard to minimize impacts to our employees. Earlier this year we implemented several cost saving measures, but given the continued lack of riders and uncertain funding we plan to reduce our work force by approximately 2,050 agreement and management positions. Going forward we will do everything in our power to return furloughed employees to work as soon as possible, and we are going beyond our contractual requirements to provide extended Health Care Coverage during this period. Inner city Passenger Rail remains one of the safetiest, most efficient and most sustainable forms of transportation. Once the pandemic passes amtrak stands ready to grow and serve more of america in large cities and in rural communities. Thereby providing thousands of good living wage jobs for skilled employees in the process. Please know that i am committed to working flow this crisis with you and with other stakeholders to manage these nearterm challenges while safeguarding amtraks future. Thank you for your time and support, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Flynn. We will now move onto mr. I hope i pronounced that correctly this time. Thank you, mr. Chairman and i want to thank you for allowing me to speak today on the impact of covid19 on the amtrak work force. Im the National President of the Transportation Communications unit. Tcu is the largest unit on amtrak representing approximately 6,800 workers in the clerical im here on behalf of amtrak workers to urge congress and President Trump act now and preserve our railroad, protect amtrak workers from getting furloughed and reauthorize the extension and expansion of party wide benefits so that thousands of railroaders continue to put food on the table. Today the immediate future of amtraks work force is large and uncertain. With the additional funds from the cares act drying up the overall ridership has been severely reduced compared to last year. Cam track now stands at the edge of a fiscal cliff. This house of representatives passed their fy21 bill which included 10 billion in operating capitol, the Emergency Response grants for amtrak and requirements to maintain the work force and route frequencies. On behalf of amtrak workers i call on the senate to pass the house bill for President Trump to sign it today. The covid crisis has been a nightmare for all of us, particularly for the transportation sector. Thats why tcu has now spoken about the size of amtrak. Last week amtrak finally increased their fy 21 supplemental request to 2. 9 billion which includes maintaining the work force in Long Distance frequencies. Unfortunately they also began issuing furlough notices in the Event Congress doesnt provide adequate funding. Just to be clear amtrak receives no supplementing funding on october 1st the damage will be catastrophic. According to Amtrak Service cuts would be severe. And furloughs would amount to approximately 60 of the work force. These are the same front Line Transportation workers that have been coming in to workday after day during the pandemic at great risk to themselves and their families. Many have contracted the virus. Some have died. You can understand my frustration why amtrak workers are so scared for their future. While Many Americans have had a luxury working from home these amtrak workers have putting their lives on the line to keep our fragile economy moving. Our people have sacrificed and now theyre faced with losing their jobs october 1st. These people need action and need it now. Unfortunately, amtrak workers are indeed furloughed. The cares act, expansion of railroad insurance has already expired. At least thousands of railroaders will be immediately thrown into a system thats already under immense pressure. President trumps memo addressing Unemployment Insurance attempts to provide a 300 expanded benefit of regular state based Unemployment Insurance. Unfortunately President Trumps bill does nothing for railroaders. It doesnt even mention Railroad Unemployment issues. And to make matters worse unlike any other Unemployment Insurance program in the country Railroad Unemployment is unique since it is the only one this means not only will furloughed railroaders not receive the expanded benefits but the regular checks will be reduced by 6 . This is unfair and congress should fix this today. Fortunately, this house of representatives has once again already paved the way. The heroes act included both an extension and expansion of ruy as well as removing it from sequesttration. On both auy and amtrak funding we urge the senate to act now to prevent the kind of economic collapse that would occur if our transportation modes and workers are left to wither on the vine. I thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you. Next well have ms. Griffon. Ms. Griffon, you may proceed. Chairman lipinski, Ranking Member crawford and members of the committee, on behalf of the members of the transport Workers Union of america thank you for holding this important hearing to discuss the damaging impacts covid19 has had on amtrak Front Line Workers as well as the railroads response. The twu represents over 150,000 members at railroads, airlines, transit systems and other industries. Tw members like other critical Front Line Workers across the country have suffered greatly from this virus and the economic fall out. More than 90 of tw members including all of our members at amtrak are front Line Transportation workers who have been deemed essential during this pandemic. Only 10 of tw members have tested positive or been quarantined from the virus. However, these numbers do not account for additional emotional and mental toll the virus has taken on me and my colleagues. Despite the serious challenges tw members have continued to provide essential services across the country. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share both my own experience and experience of amtrak workers during the covid19 crisis. This is an issue in which our union is unfortunately all too familiar. As a lead service attendant Onboard Service for 32 years, president of transport Workers Union local 1460, and most importantly as an american i feel it is my duty to serve under these dire circumstances. Amtrak workers have persevered through this crisis by relying on each other more than the railroad. At the beginning of the crisis when amtrak claimed it could not find masks or sanitizer for our members the twu secured proper ppe and distributed it to the Front Line Work force. Today while access to protective equipment supplies is no longer an issue weve been forced to trade best practices between ourselves and the companys policies with the Fron
Order. I ask unanimous consent that the chair declare a recess at any time during todays hearing. Without objection so ordered. I ask unanimous consent that [ inaudible ] the subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at todays hearing and ask questions. Without objection so ordered. This is a hybrid hearing i want to remind members of key regulations from the House Committee on rules to ensure that the hearing goes mooths smoothly. Members must be visible on screen for the purposes of identification when joining this hearing. Members must also continue to use the video function on todays Software Platform cisco web x for the remainder of the time attending this hearing unless experiencing connectivity issues or other technical problems. If a member is experiencing any connectivity issues or problems, please inform the Committee Staff as soon as possible so you can receive assistance. A chat function is available for members on the web x platform for this purpose and members can also call the committees main phone line at 2022254472 for Technical Assistance by phone. Members may also not participate remotely in any other proceeding that may be occurring simultaneously. It is the responsibility of each member seeking recognition to unmute their microphone prior to speaking to avoid any inadvertent background noise i request every member keep their microphone muted when not seeking recognition to speak. Should i hear any background noise i request that member mute their microphone. Finally, despite this being a hybrid hearing, all the standard rules of decorum apply. As the chair of todays hearings ill make a good faith effort to provide every member experiencing issues to participate fully in the proceedings. Members will have five minutes to ask questions. To insert a document into the record, please have your staff email it to the clerk. This hearing also is being live streamed for the public to view. And with that, i will now recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement. Good morning. I want to welcome everyone to todays subcommittee hearing on amtraks response to covid19. As you can see were doing a hybrid hearing today with both members and our witnesses remote to safely conduct this hearing. I want to wish everyone participating or watching this hearing my best during these tough times and i hope everyones family and loved ones are safe. Before we get started, this is my first opportunity to publicly congratulate William Flynn who became amtraks ceo less than five months ago. There could not be a much tougher time to Begin Service full and healthy, the world is yours. How old are you all, 31, 32 . All right. Rules. Okay. I think we got that correctd and the mute there. I wishing mr. Flynn well. Covid has wreaked havoc on the health and economic welfare of americans just as it has done across the globe. Economically the travel industry has been especially hard hit. I understand amtrak faces a serious Financial Issues and other strains on its operation. Well hear specifically about this directly from mr. Flynn. Ive always been a strong advocate from amtrak because it provides an important public service, the rail service. It is critical that all of us, especially everyone at amtrak, always keep in mind that it is first and foremost a National Public service. Though this does not mean that it should not be run well. In addition, as everyone watching knows ive been a staunch advocate for the men and women who work at amtrak. It is essential that especially in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic thats caused economic hardships for millions of americans and their families. That brings me to the issue of furloughs recently announced by amtrak. Congress recognized the financial difficulty amtrak had been experiencing because of a steep drop in ridership and provided over 1 billion in cares act funding for amtrak, with the understanding that part of the funds would be used to prevent furloughs. So amtraks announcement they will furlough over 2,000 employees october 1st is extremely disappointing. I understand that technically were about to begin a new fiscal year, but one of the biggest frustrations that i and others have had amtrak has had months to come to congress to help keep workers on payroll. The principle reason amtrak didnt get money in the heros act passed by the house was that amtrak didnt submit a supplemental request until ten days after passage. To make matters worse, amtrak is just now submitting their amend fy 21 request one month before the current fiscal year expires and amtrak plans to implement these furloughs. I believe that Congress Needs to act quickly to prevent furloughs and avoid Long Distance service cuts. The furloughs wont save the federal government that much money because a workers furlough will be eligible for Unemployment Insurance funded through taxes paid by workers and their employers, in this case amtrak. Second, we tried cutting Long Distance Service Three days a week prior under president clinton in 1994. Congress on a bipartisan basis led by Missouri Republican Mississippi Republican senator lott eventually rejected those cuts and restored Long Distance service to seven days a week because cutting Long Distance service economically hurts rural communities, undermines amtraks role and actually doesnt save that much money. Congress view has not changed in the past 25 years. Finally we should reject those cuts because most of us on this committee believes whenever this pandemic is over amtrak should go back to the service it had before this pandemic. We cannot just flip the switch so to speak if amtrak is going to lose valuable workers, know how and riders because of these cuts. Ultimately the furloughs and Long Distance service cuts are misguided and we get our National Rail service. Its important we hear from amtrak ceo William Flynn today on his longterm vision for amtrak and why amtrak is making these cuts. Finally i feel it necessary to remind amtrak that while i strongly support our nations railroad, amtrak must heed and not ignore congress desire that works well with others including commuter railroads like metra in illinois and states and local municipalities. Too often it feels like amtrak has had to take money from congress and ignore congress directives. That is not helpful. Especially when amtrak needs much more from congress right now. With that, i recognize Ranking Member crawed f member crawed for for his opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. I want to thank our witnesses for hearing. Also want to thank our witnesses for being here today. Our hearing today is to review amtraks response to the covid19 pandemic. In march Congress Gave amtrak since that time amtrak has significantly cut its routes and announced its laying off 20 of its work force, thats almost 4,000 people by october 1st, 2020. Amtrak has also more than doubled its fiscal year 2020 request from just over 2 billion to almost 5 billion. Im troubled amtrak is receiving and requesting record amounts of funding while cutting thousands of jobs. When i asked for more specifics amtrak could not provide even the basic information. Amtrak should not be spending its money on foreign goods while cutting american jobs and services. I welcome the amtrak ceo bill flynn and look forward to hearing how he responds to the covid19 crisis and also his plans for meeting amtraks congressionally mandated requirement of making a profit. Thank you again to all our witnesses for being here today, and i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Crawford, chair odonnell will recognize the Ranking Member for an opening statement. Sorry, about that, mr. Chairman. I was muted. Okay, go ahmed. I want to thank you for holding this hearing and thank all the witnesses for attending. Obviously todays hearing is great opportunity to review amtrak has handled the covid19 pandemic. Prior to crisis amtrak was coming off its best year ever. In 2020 amtrak was expected to make a profit for the first time in almost 50 years. But after the pandemic amtrak obviously reported that its ridership dropped by 95 and its revenues were down 82 compared to 2019 levels. Today also amtraks ceo bill flynns first apeerps as you pointed out before the committee. His experience includes high level positions in obviously the Aviation Industry and Maritime Industries and also working in class one fright railroad. And i know many members of the committee on both sides are work would bill as hes served in various roles. And ive always found him to be forthright in many of his past positions, and i expect thats going to be the same case for amtrak and his leadership at amtrak. I look forward to hearing from there flynn on his update when it comes to amtraks covid19 response. And im also interested in hearing about his future plans for amtrak including recovery for the pandemic and restoring ridership and meeting the congressional mandate for profits. So with that, again, thanks to all the witness and i look forward to the discussion. I would now like to welcome the witnesses on our panel. The president of amtrak, the National President communications union. Ms. Amy griffon, president of local 1460, and mr. Jim matthews, president chief executive officer of the Rail Passenger association. I look forward to your testimony. This written testimony will be made part of the record and request you limit your oral testimony to 5 minutes. And with that, mr. Flynn, you may proceed for five minutes. Good morning, chairman, Ranking Member gray, Ranking Member crawford and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the kind welcome and the opportunity here to address the committee. As you know im bill flynn, amtraks recently appointed president and ceo. And im here to discuss our companys response to covid19. But i have to start my remarks by thanking our dedicated employees who have more than risen to the pandemic challenge. Our highest priority is always going to be the safety of our customers and the safety of our employees. And am truly proud of the efforts. Were also partnering a leading university to study airflow and ventilation in our rail cars and working with others to strengthen our disfecting protocols. I want to thank you you for the invest in america act, and if enacted wed finally have the funding we require to modernize our system, add more trains and new routes across our nation and receive the priority treatment from our host railroads that your constituents deserve. Simply put its the game changer weve always hoped for. Amtrak did deliver record performance in fiscal year 19 and fiscal year 20 was set to be another record year. But our ridership plummeted by 97 . In february we carried more than 80,000 daily passengers. But in april there were less than 4,000 passengers with correspondenting impacts on our revenues. Thank tuesday the cares act weve managed to survive these difficult times for fy20, but unfortunately our ridership and revenue are still down more than 80 . We recently updated our forecast for fiscal year 21, and we now anticipate get needing up to 4. 9 billion in funding to operate and invest in our network, support our partners and address various congressional concern such as avoiding employee furloughs and maintaining day Long Distance service. Given the uncertainty of covid19 supplemental funding or fy21 appropriations levels we must be prudent and prepare for the situation at hand while hoping for it the best. We are implementing our plans to adjust our service and work force levels beginning in october. As difficult as these actions are if we do not take such cost saving measures and fail to receive supplemental funding we anticipate burning nearly 250 million each month. At this rate of loss we would be forced to traik drastic measures with long lasting impacts on the company, on our employees and on our network. As you know we have already reduced service on both the northeast corridor and state supported routes. And we now plan to extend temporarily frequency adjustments to most of our Long Distance trains. But let me be clear these adjustments are temporary. There is no secret plan or hidden agenda as critics may suggest. Ive heard your concerns loud and clear. And please know im 100 committed to our Long Distance network and to its future. By way of example we continue to make investments that demonstrate this commitment today, and i can point to our purchase of 75 Diesel Locomotives for this service line. We must make difficult work force adjustments as we cannot continue to indempt fund a work force too large for the number of passengers were serving. Many states have told us they will be unable to partner with amtrak unless we reduce our cost to better align with ridership. Having grown up in a rail labor family i know how hard furloughs can be, and were working hard to minimize impacts to our employees. Earlier this year we implemented several cost saving measures, but given the continued lack of riders and uncertain funding we plan to reduce our work force by approximately 2,050 agreement and management positions. Going forward we will do everything in our power to return furloughed employees to work as soon as possible, and we are going beyond our contractual requirements to provide extended Health Care Coverage during this period. Inner city Passenger Rail remains one of the safetiest, most efficient and most sustainable forms of transportation. Once the pandemic passes amtrak stands ready to grow and serve more of america in large cities and in rural communities. Thereby providing thousands of good living wage jobs for skilled employees in the process. Please know that i am committed to working flow this crisis with you and with other stakeholders to manage these nearterm challenges while safeguarding amtraks future. Thank you for your time and support, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Flynn. We will now move onto mr. I hope i pronounced that correctly this time. Thank you, mr. Chairman and i want to thank you for allowing me to speak today on the impact of covid19 on the amtrak work force. Im the National President of the Transportation Communications unit. Tcu is the largest unit on amtrak representing approximately 6,800 workers in the clerical im here on behalf of amtrak workers to urge congress and President Trump act now and preserve our railroad, protect amtrak workers from getting furloughed and reauthorize the extension and expansion of party wide benefits so that thousands of railroaders continue to put food on the table. Today the immediate future of amtraks work force is large and uncertain. With the additional funds from the cares act drying up the overall ridership has been severely reduced compared to last year. Cam track now stands at the edge of a fiscal cliff. This house of representatives passed their fy21 bill which included 10 billion in operating capitol, the Emergency Response grants for amtrak and requirements to maintain the work force and route frequencies. On behalf of amtrak workers i call on the senate to pass the house bill for President Trump to sign it today. The covid crisis has been a nightmare for all of us, particularly for the transportation sector. Thats why tcu has now spoken about the size of amtrak. Last week amtrak finally increased their fy 21 supplemental request to 2. 9 billion which includes maintaining the work force in Long Distance frequencies. Unfortunately they also began issuing furlough notices in the Event Congress doesnt provide adequate funding. Just to be clear amtrak receives no supplementing funding on october 1st the damage will be catastrophic. According to Amtrak Service cuts would be severe. And furloughs would amount to approximately 60 of the work force. These are the same front Line Transportation workers that have been coming in to workday after day during the pandemic at great risk to themselves and their families. Many have contracted the virus. Some have died. You can understand my frustration why amtrak workers are so scared for their future. While Many Americans have had a luxury working from home these amtrak workers have putting their lives on the line to keep our fragile economy moving. Our people have sacrificed and now theyre faced with losing their jobs october 1st. These people need action and need it now. Unfortunately, amtrak workers are indeed furloughed. The cares act, expansion of railroad insurance has already expired. At least thousands of railroaders will be immediately thrown into a system thats already under immense pressure. President trumps memo addressing Unemployment Insurance attempts to provide a 300 expanded benefit of regular state based Unemployment Insurance. Unfortunately President Trumps bill does nothing for railroaders. It doesnt even mention Railroad Unemployment issues. And to make matters worse unlike any other Unemployment Insurance program in the country Railroad Unemployment is unique since it is the only one this means not only will furloughed railroaders not receive the expanded benefits but the regular checks will be reduced by 6 . This is unfair and congress should fix this today. Fortunately, this house of representatives has once again already paved the way. The heroes act included both an extension and expansion of ruy as well as removing it from sequesttration. On both auy and amtrak funding we urge the senate to act now to prevent the kind of economic collapse that would occur if our transportation modes and workers are left to wither on the vine. I thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you. Next well have ms. Griffon. Ms. Griffon, you may proceed. Chairman lipinski, Ranking Member crawford and members of the committee, on behalf of the members of the transport Workers Union of america thank you for holding this important hearing to discuss the damaging impacts covid19 has had on amtrak Front Line Workers as well as the railroads response. The twu represents over 150,000 members at railroads, airlines, transit systems and other industries. Tw members like other critical Front Line Workers across the country have suffered greatly from this virus and the economic fall out. More than 90 of tw members including all of our members at amtrak are front Line Transportation workers who have been deemed essential during this pandemic. Only 10 of tw members have tested positive or been quarantined from the virus. However, these numbers do not account for additional emotional and mental toll the virus has taken on me and my colleagues. Despite the serious challenges tw members have continued to provide essential services across the country. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share both my own experience and experience of amtrak workers during the covid19 crisis. This is an issue in which our union is unfortunately all too familiar. As a lead service attendant Onboard Service for 32 years, president of transport Workers Union local 1460, and most importantly as an american i feel it is my duty to serve under these dire circumstances. Amtrak workers have persevered through this crisis by relying on each other more than the railroad. At the beginning of the crisis when amtrak claimed it could not find masks or sanitizer for our members the twu secured proper ppe and distributed it to the Front Line Work force. Today while access to protective equipment supplies is no longer an issue weve been forced to trade best practices between ourselves and the companys policies with the Front Line Work force with much more risk of exposure. This past july while working my regular position as lead service attendant on the d. C. To boston amtrak route i was notified by my supervisor that contact and being exposed to an employee who tested positive for covid19. Despite the significantly increased chance of spreading the virus, the Railroa