ARC Testimony before Congress

Congressional Reporting Requirements

Gilbert E. Carmichael (Chairman) – is a leading international authority on railroad and intermodal transportation policy. Appointed to the National Transportation Policy Study Commission by President Ford during the Energy Crisis, he chaired its subcommittee on advanced technology and later served as Federal Railroad Administrator under President Bush. Currently, he is the Chairman of the University of Denver's Intermodal Transportation Institute. Majority Leader Trent Lott appointed him to the Amtrak Reform Council, of which he is the Chairman.

Paul M. Weyrich (Vice Chairman) – has been a reporter, editor, publisher, staff assistant for the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, and has served on various boards regarding rail issues for many years. These include: the Dulles Corridor Transit Citizens Advisory Committee and the Dulles International Airport Light Rail Task Force, which he chaired. He also served as Member of Board of Directors of Amtrak. Currently, he is President and Founder of Free Congress Foundation, a public policy think tank. He was appointed to the Amtrak Reform Council by Majority Leader Trent Lott and elected Vice Chairman by the Council.

Bruce Chapman – has had an extensive career specializing in public policy development. He has served as a Seattle City Council member, Washington State Secretary of State, Director of U.S. Census Bureau, Deputy Assistant to President Reagan as Director of White House Planning and Evaluation, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. organization in Vienna. In 1990, he founded the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, a public policy center on national and international affairs. He was appointed to the Amtrak Reform Council by House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Nancy Rutledge Connery - is an independent researcher and policy advisor on infrastructure, transportation, and community development; her clients included, among others, the U.S. Department of Transportation and The World Bank. She was appointed to the Amtrak Advisory Group (the Blue Ribbon Panel) established by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. During her career, she was the Executive Director at the National Council on Public Works Improvement, and Manager of the Public Works Project for the Washington State Department of Community and Economic Development. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott appointed her to the Amtrak Reform Council.

James E. Coston – is the managing partner of the Chicago law firm Coston & Lichtman where he specializes in equipment financing. He is a member of the Chicago and Illinois State Bar Associations and sits on the Equipment Leasing Subcommittee of the American Bar Association. Parallel to his legal profession, he co-founded Chicago’s Twentieth Century Railroad Club and for 15 years managed its highly successful program of weekend excursion trains chartered from Amtrak. His guest editorials on rail service have appeared in, among others, the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and USA Today. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle appointed him to the Amtrak Reform Council.

Wendell Cox – is a consultant on public transport issues both in the U.S. and internationally. He served as member of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission for both highway and public transport. Afterwards, he established the Wendell Cox Consultancy, a firm specializing in international public policy and demographics. He has advised governments in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Europe on the design of competitive public transport service delivery. House Speaker Newt Gingrich appointed him to the Amtrak Reform Council.

Christopher K. Gleason – is a financial analyst who is the president of a family-owned financial services company and also an expert on state and federal transportation issues. He has served on the National Motor Carrier Advisory Committee and on the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. He was appointed to the Amtrak Advisory Group (the Blue Ribbon Panel) established by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He was appointed to the Amtrak Reform Council by House Speaker Newt Gingrich

S. Lee Kling – has held an executive position as Chairman of a commercial banking company and is a senior partner in a merchant banking firm, and has extensive experience serving on government commissions. He has served as Finance Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and also served as National Treasurer of the Carter-Mondale Re-election Committee. President Clinton appointed him as a Commissioner on the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. He chairs the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, and Minority Leader Richard Gephardt appointed him to the Amtrak Reform Council.

Norman Y. Mineta – is the Secretary of Transportation under the new Bush Administration. He is a longtime Democratic Congressman from California, and formally served as the Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration. As a Congressman, he served on the House Public Works and Transportation Committee, eventually becoming its Chairman. He was a key author of the landmark Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) which shifted decisions on highway and mass transit planning to state and local governments. He is an Ex Officio member of the Amtrak Reform Council who represents the interests of the Administration.

Charles F. Moneypenny – currently serves as an International and Legislative Representative of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) with primary responsibility in the union’s collective bargaining and government affairs operations. He also serves as a senior staff leader in the union’s railroad division where he focuses on collective bargaining and employee contract enforcement issues. With more than two decades of service in labor movement, he was first elected president of the TWU Local 2054 in Boston in 1985 and served in that capacity until 1995 when he was appointed as an international union representative. President Bill Clinton appointed him as the labor representative for the Amtrak Reform Council.

John O. Norquist – is serving his third term as the mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the country’s growing cities. He is the author of The Wealth of Cities a book on urban design, government efficiency and educational issues. He has been an Adjunct Professor at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He chaired the National League of Cities Task Force on Federal Policy and Family Poverty. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Amtrak Reform Council.

Thomas A. Till - (Executive Director) has served, since March of 1999, as Executive Director of the Amtrak Reform Council. From 1992-1999 he managed transport policy planning and investment projects in the former Soviet Union for the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Prior to 1992, he held various positions in the consulting and in government, including study director of A Prospectus for Change in the Freight Railroad Industry, and, from 1982-1985, Deputy Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. A veteran of the US Air Force, he holds degrees in law and political science from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the US Air Force Academy. A Texas native, he is a long-time resident of Virginia.

Last updated October 17, 2001