Amtrak Nominees Get A Hearing

By Jim Mathews / President & CEO

Four nominees to Amtrak’s Board of Directors will get a formal hearing on Wednesday morning before the Senate Commerce Committee, and we think it’s great that this long-overdue piece of unfinished business is getting addressed.

Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) will ask the Senators to consider the Biden-Harris Administration’s nominations of David Capozzi, Samuel Lathem, Ronald Batory, and Elaine Clegg.

The nomination of Lathem, a voice for organized labor, has been languishing for more than two years, along with that of Capozzi, a distinguished advocate for the disability community, because the Administration’s slate of nominees didn’t include enough representation outside the Northeast Corridor.

The White House broke that logjam this Spring when it announced the Batory and Clegg nominations, a decision we welcomed then and continue to support strongly today. We believe that Clegg, currently CEO of Boise’s Valley Regional Transit, and 45-year railroad veteran Batory, most recently the head of the Federal Railroad Administration (and a longtime member of this Association), are knowledgeable, well-qualified, and can represent more broadly the interests of those across the country who rely on Amtrak services.

We strongly urge the Committee to endorse all four nominations, completing the process it set in motion early this year with the confirmations of Chair Anthony Coscia, Mayor Chris Koos, and former DOT official Joel Szabat to join the Amtrak Board. That was the first time the Senate had confirmed an Amtrak nominee since 2015.