Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007

TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - June 13, 2006)

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Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Chairman, I rise to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Knollenberg).

Mr. Chairman, I was disappointed to learn that this bill did not contain funding for the SouthEast Service Line of Metra, the Chicago area's commuter rail service. I have provided the chairman with a letter from Phil Pagano, the executive director of Metra, which I will include in the RECORD.

In the letter, Mr. Chairman, Metra states that it has a package of New Start projects called Metra Connects that were authorized by SAFETEA-LU. The SouthEast Service and the Star Line are two projects in that package that are new rail projects. Both are significant commuter rail projects for the northeastern Illinois region, and both projects currently are progressing on the same time schedule and are at similar stages of development. During the deliberation SAFETEA-LU bill, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee agreed that both lines would move forward and be funded equitably. Without funding for the SouthEast Service, this agreement is in jeopardy.

I, along with the rest of the Illinois delegation, appreciate and would like to thank the chairman for the money already included for Metra's other new Star projects, and I understand that money overall is tight.

Will the chairman work with me to try to fund this funding in conference?

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