Passenger Rail Service Talks

A Congressional hearing about the future of passenger rail service this morning discussed many possibilities, including improvements made to the Amtrak Daily Pennsylvanian route between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, creating a route to stop at State College, creating a route between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and additional routes to Pittsburgh's light rail system to include South Side, Oakland and the Route 28 Corridor. Amtrak Senior Director for National State Relations Ray Lang says the Keystone Corridor, the route connecting Harrisburg and Philadelphia, is a major triumph. It take 90 minutes to get from one city to the other on an express route, 30 minutes faster than it was before making improvements. Since improvement completion, ridership was up by 26 percent. Lang says the Daily Pennsylvanian route could use similar improvements to become more efficient. Also, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 Patrick McMahon says light rail will pay large dividends, and would be more reliable than other modes of transportation to get to jobs, businesses and run errands. The most practical routes to extend Pittsburgh light rail service to be to accommodate the East End, South Side, and Route 28 Corridor.

VA Office Accused of Mishandling Claims

There have been some accusations about the Veterans Affairs Office claiming there have been workers taking inappropriate advantage of performance incentives. Now some local politicians are taking the situation into their own hands. U.S. Congressmen Jason Altmire, Tim Murphy and Mike Doyle, along with Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey have sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office to look into the matter. Altmire says workers would delay entering a name from the time they initially heard about the case, and instead entered it right before they started working on the case, making it seem that their work was more efficient. He says the Pittsburgh Veterans Office has the fifth longest backlog in the country, and this situation only makes matters more frustrating. In fact, Congress made an investment to aid in clearing the backlog by purchasing a computer organizing program for the group.

Altmire Fights Congress Pay Raises

From his first month in congressional office in 2006, Jason Altmire has been against Congressional pay raises. That year, he successfully stopped a pay raise for the 2007 fiscal year. Now he wants to stop the Congressional pay raise in 2010. Because of the economy being in bad shape, and with thousands of people losing their jobs, Altmire says this is not an appropriate time for congressmen to get a raise. According to a 1989 law, lawmakers receive an automatic 2.8 percent raise every January, unless there is a vote that specifically rejects it.

Working America hits Altmire's district

A grassroots organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO is upping its membership drive efforts in key congressional districts across the country including Pennsylvania’s 4th. The group “Working America” focuses on issues it feels are important to working families including minimum wage, better access to health care and the right to organize. The group says it fights for “workers who do not have a union on the job.” Members will be canvassing in Congressman Altmire’s district and other neighborhoods in southwestern Pennsylvania. Jen Jannon is the state director of working America. She says they often get people to sign up on the spot and write letters or make a call before they leave the porch. Jannon says nation wide the organization has 2 million members and 400-thousand of them are in Pennsylvania. She says people are yearning to have their voices heard in Washington and by gathering under one organization they feel they have that power.

Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act passes house

The Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act has passed the house as a part of the Defense Authorization bill. The act was sponsored by U.S. congressman Jason Altmire after he learned that Servicemen and woman who had been wounded in combat and were unable to fulfill their military duty had been ordered to repay their enlistment bonus checks. The Bonus Act passed the house Unanimously and awaits Senate approval before going to the Presidents desk where it will be signed into law. When becoming law the Act will only affect those soldiers wounded in combat on after its approval.

Bill Aims to Help U.S. Manufacturers Compete

Congressmen Jason Altmire and Phil English are introducing a bill called the Supporting America's Manufacturers Act. The bill would establish congressional review of cases filed by manufacturers seeking relief from unfair trade practices. The bill is intended to help manufacturers who have suffered because of China's ability to flood U.S. markets with cheaper products. The International Trade Commission (ITC) is in charge of handling petitions for assistance and makes recommendations to the President on whom to help. The President has not approved any assistance to any manufacturer. The bill would give Congress the ability to overrule the President's decisions.