FAILING RAILROADS HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE NINETY-FIRST CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON S. 4011, S. 4014, and S. 4016 TO PROVIDE FOR LOAN GUARANTEES TO ASSIST RAIL- Page Dennis, L. E., Jr., executive director, Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks; accompanied by C. L. Dennis, international president; and James J. Kennedy, Jr., legislative counsel... Gorman, Paul A., chairman of the board, Penn Central Co., and Jonathan "A Penn Central Director's View: *** Poor and Inept Management,” article Chamberlain, C. L., president, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, Everyone's to Blame, article from the New York Wall Street Journal__ In the Nation: How to Help the Motorist, article from the New York Lennartson, Nils A., president, Railway Progress Institute, statement__ Luna, Charles, chairman, Congress of Railway Unions, United Transpor- McGlaughlin, J. Raymond, national legislative representative, Brother- hood of Maintenance of Way Employees, statement.. Nelson, Robert A., Federal Executive Fellow, formerly Director of Office of High Speed Ground Transportation, Department of Transportation, New Haven Inclusion Cases-October Term, 1969, opinion.. Point of View: American Railroads Are at Economic Crossroads, article 445 The Penn Central Bankruptcy Express, article from Fortune magazine.... 402 369 FAILING RAILROADS WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1970 U.S. SENATE, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 1318, New Senate Office Building, Hon. Vance Hartke, presiding. Present: Senators Hartke and Cook. Senator HARTKE. The committee will come to order. OPENING STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN The Commerce Committee is in charge of communications and can't get the microphones to work. I am not too sure we can get the railroads running either. Good morning, Mr. Perlman. We are gratified you are here as a witness. As I explained to you personally, I sincerely regret that your appearance, which was scheduled originally on July 15, was unavoidably and suddenly postponed. I want to thank you for your gracious cooperation, and I want to give you my apologies for the inconvenience that was caused to you personally by these rescheduling difficulties. We are continuing our hearings on the rail loan guarantee bills. Since the bills were prompted by the problems of the Penn Centralalthough they did not get up here quick enough to prevent its filing for bankruptcy-we are very much concerned to learn what happened in the Penn Central to bring about its collapse. The Penn Central was created just 2 and a half years ago amidst glowing reports of great savings to be occasioned by the merger, of vastly improved service, and of rationalization of the rail system in the Northeast. Today we have this huge carrier in reorganization: throughout the Nation people are injured because debts will not be paid. Employees' paychecks have been questioned in some instances at banks. Headlines raise questions about continuance of railroad services. The fate of other railroads-who are inextricably bound up with a system as large as the Penn Central-are also brought in question. Transportation service suffers throughout the East and the country. The Penn Central has been involved in the conglomerate merger movement. We want to know if its railroad business suffered through diversion of assets; has management's attention been so concentrated on acquiring other businesses that it has not devoted enough time to the railroad business? These are some of the questions which have been in the mind of the committee and have been brought forward in the hearings. Staff members assigned to these hearings: A. Daniel O'Neal and John Cary. (365) |