This hearing will come to order. Thank you all for being here, good morning. Today the committee can means to discuss the status of the National Rail network in the country is 140,000 miles of freight rail in class one railroads over 600 freight railroads and thousands of Companies Using braille to ship products and raw materials, we also have an intercity passenger real service amtrak operating on 22000 miles of the same network including over 500 stations. Todays first panel of witnesses will feature mr. William flynn ceo of amtrak and the executive director of the Development Corporation in Montana Development association who will testify remotely. Todays second panel will include mr. Frank Vice PresidentGlobal Supply chain on behalf of of the council testifying remotely, mr. Randy, the president and ceo of the association, the chairman and National Council testifying remotely in the association of American Railroad and mr. Dennis pierce, president teamsters real conference testifying remotely. We appreciate everyone including our remote witnesses for accommodating us during this covid pandemic. In 1970 the real Passenger Service act was adopted to relieve our railroads on the common carrier to carry passengers. The statue created amtrak and provided real runs can be used by amtrak to offer intercity passenger real service, returns and compensation that are just reasonable to the railroads, today Amtrak Service includes the northeast, and statesuppore service, is interested in hearing about amtraks decision to cut certaiy service to three times per week, we also do an opportunity to hear more about the impacts of covid19 from passenger real network and amtraks operation, i hope mr. Flynn will provide his perspective on the story Passenger Rail service, this continues to be my top priority, and 2005 Amtrak Service along the gulf coast had to be halted after Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the rock, stop in 15 years, members of congress have worked ever since to restore the service and facilitate Economic Development for affected communities. In 2016 thousands of people came out and stopped along the gulf coast route during an inspection trip to examine the infrastructure and opportunities that intercity passenger real service can provide and we are working to reinstate from new orleans to mobile and i hope to make progress in the coming weeks. With five class railroads and any short lines. Our freight rail system is the key link between markets across the country and shipments of chemical wood and paper projects and agricultural commodities. I hope the second panel of witnesses will share their insight on how the pandemic has impacted operations, service and Overall Network fluency for the disputes between the carriers and shippers. I thank the witnesses for appearing today and we welcome their testimony on these important topics and thank them for their cooperation with the committee and the circumstance of having to reschedule the hearing for some two weeks ago to today. I turned to senator cantwell for her opening remarks. Thank you for holding this important hearing. I do appreciate it and have so much focus on the Airline Sector and whats happening with airlines and i feel like we should be giving ample attention to the importance to the economy so thank you for both panels today to discuss both passenger and freight. I want to join you and your prioritization to returning service to the gulf coast. I might not say the names just like you say them, new orleans and mobile. I believe we should have reestablished service as someone that sees the Service Benefits in the northwest i can tell you its part of an economy and we need to have it established. We have been challenged by the pandemic moving people in the goods is what keeps the economy drawn in the state of washington the importance of the infrastructure getting people and products to market, connecting urban and rural is critical. To keep food on the table and get medical come into the hospitals and First Responders april the firsit brought the fis to the loved ones whove been affected and continue to keep. Workers in the communities across the country including the home state will pay the price if we dont see this aid, tens of thousands and we talk about the transit and what i think about these forced cuts to the profitable routes. The 15 communities. Amtrak is the only means of the economic success in the communities and across the sta state. Mr. Tufts is going to testify from montana. I remember being in Glacier National park. Im a big outdoor person sitting there in the National Park hotel and all of a sudden here comes all these people and im like where are these people coming from. They just got off amtrak. If you dont have Amtrak Service, you are going to have a problem. We obviously are in a pandemic but we dont want to see just what the chair man is talking about. An incident that basically sets the course where the service is curtailed and then it takes 15 years to get reestablished. We dont want to see that so im anxious to hear what we are going to do. I would be increasing service to all of the National Parks because i think it is such a great concept to get so many people if you look at the european models that is what they are doing taking people to the Great Outdoors and all sorts of ways and americans certainly would appreciate that. More than 30 of the workforce in Washington State is already facing furloughs and thousands more employees would see their jobs threatened and local economies would lose billions if we dont get amtrak support to one of the bills. Its vital we get the aid afloat to have significantly increased the investment infrastructure. On the transportation all to ourselves, we need in my opinion to continue to invest heavily in the improvements and that will reduce the ingestion and freight and improve efficiencies. We need to do more on the safety front in addition to the positive control technology and culture means we and sure the trains and stations have appropriate staffing and the workforce isnt being cut just in the name of efficiencies. I want to make sure that the white house or anybody else is and blocking the cdc from implementing the measures that would help us create a stronger safety culture. My colleague from the georgia joined us on a Temperature Check as it relates to the Airline Sector and economies that greatly depend on transportation like florida or the Pacific Northwest. We want to build whatever infrastructure is needed on guidance from the cdc and others to improve the traveling publics safety during the covid pandemic and in the future. With that i look forward to hearing from our colleagues and again thank you for holding this hearing. And we look forward to asking the witnesses on both panels questions. Thank you. Thank you, senator cantwell. There is bipartisan enthusiasm in montana. Senator tester is queued up to say a word or two remotely. Senator tester, are you there . I want to thank you for the opportunity for the most honorable. Im going to move back in a few years and start from the beginning. The opportunity montana. Mr. Chairman, i know there are many people in the community that think theres no opportunity, but i am here to tell you there is. Its alive and well and we are living proof of that. But its more than that. Probably now for the last 20 years right in the middle of the Empire Builders track. Before that he was west of montana and a little town during Economic Development which is also on the line. He served on the Tourism Council and was recently appointed a Climate Solutions council and serves as the vice chair of the board of regions as well as the Montana Economic Advisory Council and a board o board of s of the montana cooperative. They cant afford to lose those services. I pushed for the hearing. Just how tone deaf the policies are when it comes to their effect on the communities. I invited them to come to testify because he has had his boots on the ground literally for decades. Hes been doing it for decades. I have no doubt what hes going to offer, compelling testimony that shows the Committee Just how important it is that we invest in the future. Ive been particularly stunned by the trum trump administratios annual efforts to cut amtrak. The administration started by calling for the end. The Trump Administration fought to end the Long Distance service which would have meant the end to the empire builder in montana. Since then theyve attempted to cut the budget in half leading to where we are today. This is unacceptable and its hurting our economy. Some colleagues refused to hold the administration accountable. There is a bunch of hot air press releases. To get serious about this issue before it is too late. The chair man and the Ranking Member are making this habit and finally, thank you for taking the time to participate in the hearing and bringing montana perspective to this conversation. I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator tester. Senator daynes. Thank you for holding this important hearing. And for giving me an opportunity to introduce a fellow montana and. Paul, as senator tester mentioned, is called the heartbeat of the hyaline effect. I was there literally a week ago today. And swear our best man in our wedding grew up there. Its home to one of the amtrak stations along with shelby, in which i thought successfully to restore to that station. In particular the empire building to america. Like paul, im deeply concerned about the impact. Including a democratic member of the committee. I also filed an amendment to prohibit those reductions. As i noted in the letter to the Senate Leadership just last month, Daily Service on the empire builder is essential to providing montana access to healthcare. To visit the communities, wilderness and National Parks. I want to thank you for participating in this hearing today and for bringing an important voice to the conversation. I remain hopeful congress can come together, pass a bipartisan relief bill which i will fight to ensure includes Adequate Funding for amtrak and guarantee on returning staff and Daily Service. Thank you, mr. Chair man. Thank you very much. I think we better take you first. You have been adequately introduced and endorsed. Are you there and locked and loaded. Im here. Your full testimony will be made a part of the record and you are recognized for five minutes to summarize. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member cantwell and members of the committee, i am honored to be with you today to discuss the absolute importance of the service especially as it relates to the historic investment in the critical component of americas transportation infrastructure. I serve as the executive director of the appropriation a federally recognized development district. Our region includes five counties, bordered to the north by the canadian provinces in alberta and saskatchewan and by the missouri river. 17,000 square miles and larger than the landmass of mine individual states. Many of the communities we serve are considered not just rural. And running through it all the empire builder, part of the most successful longdistance route. The empire builder in montana includes the 12 communities and has proven to be a lifeline for residents. Its utilized for a variety of reasons including access to advanced medical care in urban areas such as the clinic in minnesota and facilities in seattle. This Passenger Service delivers people to the place of work and brings Families Together who live in different parts of the country. Importantly the empire builder brings outofstate residents for vacations and other purposes that add significantly to the economy. The busiest stop for the empire builder more than 50,000 people annually at that location adding significantly to the local economy that has a sizable Tourism Sector to the Glacier National park, lake. 2019 the amtrak stations in montana served 121,429 passengers who either boarded or disembarked. This level of activity is significant especially for a rural state. According to the passengers association, the empire builder contributed to an estimated 327 million to the economy and the federal government paid approximately 57 million a year to keep it running. 270 milliondollar net positive is a return on investment that is noteworthy and validates the federal governments investment. Regardless of the significant demonstrated in the years passed, Daily Service on this route has been eliminated as of ten days ago on october 19th. Amtrak made the decision to reduce the service to three times per week. This move will obviously significantly hamper the ability of residents to utilize the empire builder as it contemplates travel for personal or professional reasons. While we know the current pandemic this significant cut in service will make things worse. Fewer options available for those individuals and families interested in using the Passenger Rail system. In times like this more negative numbers will come in potentially further justify a and even deepr cuts in the future. We know its difficult to reestablish a service once it has been eliminated. The concern at this juncture is the redemption and service will become permanent and amtrak in our state and elsewhere will be a less reliable travel option for americans. The federal government historically and smartly invested in the countries Public Transportation system. The systems kept the nation moving quite literally. The economic powerhouse that we are as a country attributable in many ways to the investment the federal government has always made in building and maintaining americas Transportation System whether its airports, seaports, the interstate system or Passenger Rail system. The government traditionally recognized the importance of investing the Transportation Systems and keeping the economy on track to assure people and goods get from one location to the next. A safe reliable Passenger Rail system is critically important especially from the community. I strongly recommend your continued investment thank you for the invitation and opportunity to appear here today. But before i make my remarks i want to take a moment to recognize and remember mr. Allen boyd. Allen boyd was the third president and passed away just a few days ago and left amtrak at a better position than when he arrived and we are forever grateful to him for his service to the nation where among others he was the first secretary of transportation. Amtrak delivered record performance and we were excited to see that it was to be another record year however as the pandemic took hold in march the ridership plummeted by 97 . For some context we carried more than 80,000 passengers and by april there were less than 4,000 passengers per day and by way of example, yesterday we had 17,000 passengers. Thanks to the act we manage actd to survive fiscal year 20 but the ridership and revenue are still down more than 80 . We recently updated our forecast for fiscal year 21 and anticipate needing up to 4. 9 billion in total funding to operate and invest in the network to support the partners and address the various congressional priorities such as furloughs and daily longdistance service. Unfortunately, congress hasnt passed the 21 appropriations bill and instead passed the continuing resolution through december 11th. This coupled with no emergency funding is a concern given the dramatic revenue loss during the pandemic. That being said we were pleased to see the house passed their updated heroes act a few weeks ago which included 2. 4 billion. We are hopeful the senate will provide this level of assistance if not more very soon. However, given that nothing is being enacted we must be prudent in addressing the situation at hand. Therefore as we advise we are now adjusting service and workforce levels. Failure to implement the actions would have resulted in the company consuming 250 million each month given the reduced level of ridership and existing level of operations. At this rate, amtrak would be forced to take even more drastic measures and impacts for the companies, employees and network. As you know, we have reduced service on the state to support many months ago at the beginning of the crisis and recently implemented a temporary frequency adjustments to most of the longdistance trains through the month of october but i want to be very clear these adjustments are temporary. There is no plan or agenda to make these adjustments permanent. Many of the states benefit from Long Distance service. We heard from mr. Tuss from montana and