Andrews refuted claims by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta that Amtrak should be downsized to service only regional lines rather than the nationwide system that the organization currently supports.  Last week, Mineta said: " There's no question Amtrak is facing very, very serious financial problems.  [Amtrak should] look at selected routes rather than blanket the country with rail service that is not . . . really viable." Andrews refuted this statement by saying: "It would be completely irresponsible for the Federal government to mandate that Amtrak begin cutting routes and stranding thousands of passengers who rely on the rail carrier for safe, reliable and affordable transportation."
 

Rep. Andrews joined with thirteen rail labor unions, The American Train Dispatchers Department, The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, The Brotherhood of Maintanence of Way Employees, The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, The Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers, The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, The Service Employees International Union, The Sheet Metal Wokers International Association, The Transportation Communications International Union and The Transport Workers Union of America, to highlight his support for the continuation of federal funding for Amtrak. He noted that in the Philadelphia region alone, 3.8 million passengers travel on its trains each year.  In addition, Amtrak employs approximately 3,000 workers in the Philadelphia Metropolitan area.
 

He also voiced his opposition to the policies of the Amtrak Reform Council (ARC), an "oversight committee, " some of whose members have stridently opposed Amtrak.
"The Amtrak Reform Council is not interested in reform---it is a tool to dismantle Amtrak.  "To date, the Council's only action has been to request more money from Congress for its own agenda.  We should not downsize Amtrak, we should eliminate the ARC." 

Last year, Rep. Andrews successfully sponsored a House amendment to save taxpayers $530,000 in federal funding from the ARC's budget.  The Council had originally requested $980,000 million in federal funding but Rep. Andrews's amendment, which passed the House on May 19, 2000, knocked them back to their 1998 funding level of $450,000. 

Despite Andrews' efforts, the ARC did manage to increase their funding to $750,000, which was added during the House-Senate Conference for the Transportation funding bill for FY 2001.  President Bush has allocated $785,000 for the ARC in his budget recommendation to Congress for FY 2002.  Congressman Andrews will again introduce legislation to strip the funding from this group on the basis that the ARC is wasting taxpayer resources by duplicating the efforts of governmental organizations already in place that independently evaluate and assess Amtrak's feasibility.  He anticipates that the House will consider his proposal this summer.

As part of an entire day devoted to improving the quality of transportation in South Jersey, Rep. Andrews held a press conference at the Federal Court House in Camden to call on the Bush Administration to investigate the wild and suspicious fluctuations in gasoline prices of the last several months.  He cited a report released on June 7, 2001 by the Energy Information Administration, which accounts for the recent reductions in price as a result of the record production of gasoline (8.6 million barrels per day) that occurred in May of this year.  "It is suspicious that huge increases in gasoline supply always seem to come on the heels of steep price increases," Andrews said.  "We need to find out whether these price increases are a result of illegal market manipulation."

In May of this year, Rep. Andrews signed onto a letter to President Bush requesting that the administration take immediate action to investigate the dramatic increases in gasoline prices that occurred during the month of April.  To date he has not received a response.
Today he announced that he has requested that the United States Justice Department investigate whether the big oil companies are artificially creating a shortfall in supply by limiting production and then increasing production when prices are high to maximize their profits.   In a letter dated today Rep. Andrews has requested that Attorney General Ashcroft look into possible gasoline production manipulation and report back on the results of his findings. 

Next, Rep. Andrews addressed the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce at Adelphia's Restaurant in Deptford to discuss his short and long term solutions to South Jersey's transportation problems.  He stressed how good regional transportation systems involve planning for the future.  For long term planning, Rep. Andrews highlighted his work with Rowan University to provide smart regional development planning for South Jersey communities, his efforts to promote livable communities and re-greening and revitalization of previously developed areas. 

Rep. Andrews is working to combat a major cause of increased suburban sprawl by reducing blight on formerly-thriving neighborhoods which is a problem faced by people who sell their homes for less than the value of the outstanding mortgage (known as "underwater mortgages").  He has written a bill to ease the burden of homeowners faced with such "short sales," by exempting from taxation any mortgage amount that is forgiven by the lender, thus keeping property values from spiraling downward and destroying the entire neighborhood.  He has also worked with Fannie Mae to promote a reduction in mortgage rates for homeowners that live in close proximity to public transportation to reduce the amount of traffic on our roadways.  He also supported elimination of the federal estate tax, to prevent farmers from having to sell their land to developers, thus reducing sprawl and preserving open space land for agricultural use.

Rep. Andrews offered several short-term goals devoted to fixing traffic nightmares throughout South Jersey.  These efforts include his work with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and a local developer to alleviate the bottleneck that occurs at the 42-295 Interchange, his work to acquire over $16 million in federal funding to eliminate the Collingswood and Berlin traffic Circles and efforts to promote the development of a light rail system in Gloucester County to get people out of their cars and onto the rails.

Rep. Andrews concluded his day by visiting members of the Amalgamated Transit Union at the New Jersey Transit Newton Avenue Bus Terminal in Camden to thank the New Jersey Transit bus drivers and garage and office support staff who spend each day ensuring that thousands of South Jersey residents can travel safely to and from work, school, shopping and recreational events.  Rep. Andrews pointed to the fact these men and women work every day to reduce the amount of traffic in South Jersey by providing a safe and reliable alternative to driving a car.