There are cities in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District which are served by Amtrak.
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) in (ironically) Sedalia, which is served by Amtrak [2014 file photo].
Yesterday the House of Representatives voted to pass HR 749 which would reauthorize federal support for Amtrak (and, thus, enable passenger train service to continue in various cities and towns across the country, including in Missouri’s 4th Congressional District).
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 112
H R 749 YEA-AND-NAY 4-Mar-2015 3:05 PM
QUESTION: On Passage
BILL TITLE: To reauthorize Federal support for passenger rail programs and for other purposes—- YEAS 316 —
Clay
Cleaver
Graves (MO)
Luetkemeyer
Wagner—- NAYS 101 —
Hartzler
Smith (MO)—- NOT VOTING 15 —
Long
[emphasis added]
Well, there was plenty of bipartisan support for the bill to keep funding Amtrak and passenger rail service for four more years. Except… Representative Hartzler (r) didn’t see fit to vote to support passenger rail service which directly serves the people in her district. Why would that be the case?:
House Approves Amtrak Funding, Rewrites Rules To Allow Furry Riders
March 04, 201511:08 PM ETThe Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act passed on a vote of 316 to 101 (132 Republicans joined 184 Democrats in voting for the bill; 101 Republicans voted against). It keeps spending for Amtrak at nearly current levels – about $1.4 billion a year – for the next four years, and includes other reforms aimed at improving the railroad’s fiscal performance.
That disappointed some of the passenger rail service’s supporters, who had hoped for increased funding to help Amtrak improve its deteriorating infrastructure and update aging rail cars and equipment.
But many Republicans, backed by conservative groups including Club for Growth and Heritage Action, say the overall federal passenger rail subsidy of $7.2 billion is too much. The groups argue the spending reforms don’t go far enough and warn this would be scored as a “key vote” in their influential ratings of conservative lawmakers.
Just before the bill passed, a GOP amendment to eliminate all federal subsidies for Amtrak failed on a vote of 147 to 272….
[…]
One can see the dilemma – vote for services for the people in your district, or vote the way right wingnut special interests want you to vote.
I have heard Mrs. Hartzler’s road-show bit about her aim to “undo” the entire Obama agenda. With each successive vote, though, it seems she wants to undo…everything!
…has anybody noticed what an absentee this “representative” is becoming? He was all but invisible (except on TV ads and very private campaign appearances) during the last election cycle and this is another in an ongoing pattern of not casting a vote. Seems like this would be an easy one for Amtrak-deprived SWMO. I would think that the folks around Springfield would be “fed up” at their lack of representation.