releases: https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=4C3B0CB7-F0AC-4E37-A0DE-09BD17CBE1AA
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=4C3B0CB7-F0AC-4E37-A0DE-09BD17CBE1AA | Fischer, Colleagues Press Buttigieg on Grants Favoring New York City Rail Projects Over Rest of Country | 2023-10-20 | 2023 | 2023-10 | Republican | Senate | NE | Deb Fischer | F000463 | www.fischer.senate.gov | fischer | https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases | scraper | Senators Express Concern Over Ballooning Costs, Excess Grant Funding for NY-NJ Gateway Program WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, joined five fellow Republican committee members this month in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) pressing Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the decision-making behind certain grants to the Amtrak NY-NJ Gateway Program. In the letter, the Senators asked the department to commit to giving fair consideration to the whole country for grants, rather than favoring the Northeast Corridor. The letter was led by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “DOT’s lack of transparency with Congress and potential misadministration of grant programs, particularly with respect to the billions of dollars in DOT funding for the Gateway Program, are deeply concerning. We request that you rectify the inadequate responses to our past letters,” the Senators said. The letter highlights the project’s ballooning costs over the last decade from $13 billion (2012 estimate) to $37 billion (2022 estimate). In addition, the Senators requested the DOT provide a number of answers related to how the funding for the Hudson Tunnel project was awarded and how much could ultimately be awarded to the Gateway Program overall. In addition to Senators Fischer and Cruz, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.). Read the full letter here or below. We write to follow up on letters to the Department of Transportation (DOT) earlier this year. In February, Senators Cruz, Thune, and Fischer sent a letter (“the February letter”) asking the administrators of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) about those agencies’ support and oversight of the Amtrak-New York-New Jersey Gateway Program (“the Gateway Program”). In April, Republican senators of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation wrote asking you to amend funding notices for a major rail grant program that had been drafted to unfairly favor the Northeast and the Gateway Program to the detriment of projects elsewhere in the country (“the April letter”). You did not respond to the April letter, instead tasking the FRA administrator to respond. Moreover, the agency’s responses failed to either fully answer the questions posed or commit to improving DOT’s approach. DOT’s lack of transparency with Congress and potential misadministration of grant programs, particularly with respect to the billions of dollars in DOT funding for the Gateway Program, are deeply concerning. We request that you rectify the inadequate responses to our past letters by personally answering this letter, and including (1) a description of how DOT will use its authorities to provide oversight and (2) the commitments that we have requested or an explanation why you are refusing to make those commitments. In February 2022, Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report finding that Amtrak lacked a comprehensive framework to manage its commitments to the Gateway Program. Among other concerns, Amtrak lacked an integrated master schedule; a program management plan; and mechanisms to collect and provide information regarding the program’s status, including its budget and schedule. The report indicated a risk to Amtrak’s ability to “meet its commitments in scope, on time, and in budget,” warning that “assessments of prior complex construction and acquisition programs found that when [Amtrak] did not put this framework in place early enough, it experienced cost increases, schedule delays, and stress on its partner relationships as projects matured.” DOT has awarded more than $8?billion in federal funding to the Gateway Program, despite the Amtrak OIG’s serious concerns about potential cost overruns and schedule delays. Based on the latest estimates from the Gateway Development Commission, the nine projects that comprise the Gateway Program will cost $37?billion over the next 15 years. Grants that DOT has awarded to the Gateway Program include an unprecedent single grant of nearly $7 billion for the Hudson Tunnel project via a Capital Investment Grant (“CIG”), as well as: $91.5?million via a Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (“Fed-State”) grant for the Portal North Bridge and Substation 41, awarded May 2020; $766.5?million via a CIG for the Portal North Bridge, awarded January 2021; $45?million via a Fed-State grant for the Sawtooth Bridges, awarded August 2022; $292?million via a National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) grant for the Hudson Tunnel, awarded January 2023; and $25 million via a Local and Regional Project Assistance (RAISE) grant for the Tonnelle Avenue bridge and utility work (for the Hudson Tunnel), awarded June 2023. In this period of historically high inflation, it is especially important that you be judicious with taxpayer dollars and resist political pressure to simply cut checks to this or any other project. Both the law and simple prudence demand a real evaluation of the huge cost estimates and verification that Gateway Program grantees have the capacity to deliver the planned infrastructure timely and on budget. The February letter inquired about the Gateway Program’s budget and readiness, but DOT failed to respond meaningfully. For example, FRA stated it would employ a “risk-based approach to targeted engagement” with Amtrak, without indicating what aspects of the Gateway Program, if any, would get independent review. Awarding billions of taxpayer dollars to projects that Amtrak and other grantees may not be capable of delivering is financially irresponsible—opening the door to fraud, waste, and abuse. This recent string of awards reflects what appears to be a troubling effort to prioritize the Gateway Program above deserving projects elsewhere in the country. Indeed, your Department seems to be maximizing the funding for the Gateway Program in many grant programs, whether a good fit or not. As pointed out in the April letter, DOT and FRA manipulated the massive Fed-State grant program to ensure the absolute maximum amount of funding from the 2021 infrastructure law will go to the Northeast (and Gateway), effectively depriving projects from the rest of the country of the opportunity to compete for as much as $7?billion under that program. In his response, FRA Administrator Amit Bose refused to correct this. | 1 | 2026-03-30T01:40:41Z | 2026-04-06T18:43:12Z |