Amtrak Board Leadership Enhancement Act

Amtrak Board Leadership Enhancement Act - Amends federal transportation law to replace the Amtrak Reform Board with a reconstituted Board of Directors of Amtrak (effectively eliminating the Reform Board).

Revises former requirements for the composition and terms of the Board of Directors.

Allows members of the Amtrak Reform Board to continue to serve out their terms.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4394 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4394

To alter the composition and terms of the Board of Directors of Amtrak, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 2005

 Mr. Castle (for himself, Mr. Schwarz of Michigan, Mr. Blumenauer, and 
  Mr. Costa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To alter the composition and terms of the Board of Directors of Amtrak, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Amtrak Board Leadership Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMTRAK BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

    (a) In General.--Section 24302 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 24302. BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

    ``(a) Composition and Terms.--(1) The Board of Directors of Amtrak 
is composed of the following 9 directors:
            ``(A) The Secretary of Transportation.
            ``(B) The President of Amtrak.
            ``(C) 7 individuals appointed by the President of the 
        United States, by and with the advice and consent of the 
        Senate, each of whom shall be a citizen of the United States, 
        who--
                    ``(i) have general business and financial 
                experience;
                    ``(ii) have experience or qualifications in 
                transportation, freight and passenger rail 
                transportation, travel, hospitality, cruise line, or 
                passenger air transportation businesses; or
                    ``(iii) are representatives of users of passenger 
                rail transportation or State government.
    ``(2) In selecting individuals under paragraph (1)(C) for 
nominations for appointments to the Board, the President shall consult 
with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader 
of the House of Representatives, the majority leader of the Senate, and 
the minority leader of the Senate and try to provide adequate and 
balanced representation of the major geographic regions of the United 
States served by Amtrak.
    ``(3) The term of an individual appointed under paragraph (1)(C) 
shall be 5 years, or until the individual's successor is appointed and 
qualified. Not more than 4 individuals appointed under paragraph (1)(C) 
may be members of the same political party.
    ``(4) The Board shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman from 
among its membership. The vice chairman shall serve as chairman in the 
absence of the chairman.
    ``(5) The Secretary of Transportation may be represented at board 
meetings by the Secretary's designee.
    ``(b) Vacancies.--A vacancy on the Board shall be filled in the 
same way as the original selection, except that an individual appointed 
by the President of the United States under subsection (a)(1)(C) to 
fill a vacancy occurring before the end of the term for which the 
predecessor of that individual was appointed is appointed for the 
remainder of that term. A vacancy required to be filled by appointment 
under subsection (a)(1)(C) shall be filled not later than 120 days 
after the vacancy occurs.
    ``(c) Quorum.--A majority of the members serving shall constitute a 
quorum for doing business.
    ``(d) Bylaws.--The Board may adopt and amend bylaws governing the 
operation of Amtrak. The bylaws shall be consistent with this part and 
the articles of incorporation.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on January 1, 2006. The members of the Amtrak Reform Board 
serving on the date of enactment of this Act may continue to serve for 
the remainder of the term to which they were appointed.
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