Test track trying to steer through Senate roadblocks

By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

It may be the premier railroad testing complex in the nation, but the Transportation Technology Center Inc., just east of Pueblo, keeps getting derailed in Congress whenever supporters try to have it included in the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium - an exclusive group of universities and test centers that provide anti-terror training.

Today, the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider a railroad security bill that includes an amendment that would put TTCI in the national consortium - and backers expect the legislation to be approved. The test track amendment is sponsored by Reps. John Salazar and Ed Perlmutter, both Colorado Democrats.

If the legislation is approved today in the House, it still must run a more hazardous course in the Senate, where bills can be quietly killed by a single opponent. Earlier this month, a similar TTCI amendment was turned away from an emergency supplemental budget bill, despite the backing of Colorado Sens. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, and Wayne Allard, a Republican.

The Senate is the place to kill legislation because of the time-honored courtesy where a single senator can put a "hold" on legislation until a majority of the Senate votes to have the hold removed.

That's what happened earlier this month when Allard and Salazar tried to attach the TTCI amendment to the supplemental budget bill. Opposition from one or more senators - most likely a senator on behalf of a current member of the consortium - objected to the amendment and it was set aside.

In a telephone press conference Monday, Allard said he has been talking to colleagues, hoping to remove any obstacles.

"I think there have been concerns (among the consortium members) that TTCI would be cutting into the federal money available to them," Allard said. "But that's not what I envision. The fact is, we should include the rail test track in (the consortium) because it is the only place where that kind of anti-terror training can be done."

The current members of the consortium are Texas A&M University, Louisiana State University, New Mexico Institute of Mining &Technology, Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site and the National Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala. As members of the consortium, they shared in $150 million in federal anti-terror training program grants last year.