(UTU National Legislative Office Letterhead not reproduced)

September 25, 2000

To: All Concerned

From: Rail Coalition Supporting H.R. 4844

What happens between now and the adjournment of Congress, which should be in about less than two weeks, will determine whether or not H.R. 4844 becomes law. The most important rule to remember right now is to be nice. I know that it sounds silly, but one angry phone call could cause the death of this legislation. Congress is now in a rush to adjourn - it wants to handle as little as it can and leave as much as it can until next year so that they can go home and get re-elected. It is up to us to make H.R. 4844 a "must pass" piece of legislation.

Immediate Action

Normally, the Finance Committee, and maybe other committees would have taken up this legislation and called numerous witnesses before voting on it. With the help of Senator Roth (R-DE), H.R. 4844 has bypassed the hearing phase. On Wednesday, September 27, the Finance Committee will mark-up H.R. 4844 at 10 a.m. We feel very confident that there are enough votes to approve the legislation. The stronger the vote, the more likely our chances are that H.R. 4844 will be considered on the Senate floor. Just because legislation is voted out of a committee does not mean that the Senate floor will consider it.

Enclosed is a list of the Senate Finance Committee. All of the Democrats on the Finance Committee have indicated support for the bill. The following Republicans have signed our letter of support or have indicated support in another fashion. Senator Roth, Senator Grassley, Senator Hatch, Senator Jeffords and Senator Craig. We have not gotten support from Senator Murkowski, Senator Thompson or Senator Lott. We have been told that Senator Gramm (R-TX) and Senator Mack of Florida are leaning wrong and Senator Nickles of Oklahoma is absolutely opposed. This is troubling because Senator Nickles is a member of the Senate leadership. He is the Assistant Majority Leader.

It is important to place as many phone calls, emails and faxes as possible into that office between now and 10 am Wednesday morning. We should also focus on the other Senators who are leaning wrong and undecided, with the message to support a clean -- it is very important to use the word clean -- H.R. 4844. After their offices are contacted, please contact the other offices, with Lott being the most important. Senator Lott is the leader of the Senate -- he will be the one solely responsible for scheduling H.R. 4844 for floor action. In addition, please contact supporting members of the Committee and thank them for supporting a clean H.R. 4844 and ask that they vote that way in the mark-up in Senate Finance on Wednesday morning. 

We would also suggest that as many calls as possible go to the Republican Senate Campaign Committee at 202-675-6000. Remember, be nice when you call and inform them that every Democrat in the Senate has indicated support for H.R. 4844. Nearly 40 Republicans have also indicated support of the "Railroad Retirement & Survivors' Improvement Act of 2000", H.R. 4844 and you would hope that the rest of the Republican Senators can support this package.

We are anticipating that there will be further directions coming from the coalition late Wednesday or early Thursday as we move our effort to pass this legislation on the Senate floor. Please do all that you can and encourage others to do likewise. The success of our efforts depends on it. So far everyone has done a fantastic job. The proof is where we are today -- we have overcome every speed bump, every roadblock and every objection. We are very very close -- please keep up the good work.

UTU Main Page