Tester blocks White House Amtrak Board nominee
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News from the office of Senator Tester
BIG SANDY — U.S. Senator Jon Tester secured a major win for Montana this week by forcing the White House to withdraw one of its Amtrak Board nominees and replace them with someone outside of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The shift follows Senator Tester’s blocking of President Biden’s slate of Amtrak Board nominees until the Administration brought them into compliance with geographic representation requirements from Tester’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Montanans sent me to Washington to fight for our rural way of life, and I’ll stand up to anyone – including the Biden Administration – who tries to put rural America second,” said Tester. “When I sat down with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to craft our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I fought to ensure that the American West would be fairly represented on the Amtrak Board. I’m glad the Biden Administration will now follow the law and do right for rural America by guaranteeing our Amtrak Board represents our nation’s diverse geography.”
In April, Tester formally blocked President Biden’s nominees to serve as members of the Amtrak Board of Directors – five of whom were from Northeast Corridor states, violating provisions secured by Tester to ensure full geographic representation and firsthand knowledge of long-distance routes on the Amtrak Board through his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
