Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) are encouraging Amtrak officials to reconsider the carriers offshoring provision allowing contractors to ship some American jobs overseas.
The representatives forwarded correspondence to Amtrak President and CEO William J. Flynn after learning Amtrak’s current Request for Proposal (RFP) for work on its eCommerce and Mobile Development would enable job offshoring.
“There is no doubt that Amtrak, which promotes itself as America’s Railroad, should be staffed by America’s workforce,” the legislators wrote. “If Amtrak does not reverse the offshoring provision in this and any existing or future RFP, we will find it difficult to support additional taxpayer dollars for Amtrak. This may seem draconian given the need, but how can Congress justify spending taxpayer dollars to ship good-paying jobs overseas? We insist that your RFPs reflect the congressional intent that American taxpayer dollars support American jobs.”
The representatives said the RFP is being issued when Amtrak is planning to reduce its workforce by 14 percent and seeking additional taxpayer funding to maintain limited service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As you know, Amtrak’s Fiscal Year 2021 grant request seeks $2.34 billion,” the lawmakers concluded. “In light of COVID-19, the company returned to Congress to request $1.475 billion in supplemental funding. Amtrak further revised this supplemental request to a total of $4.88 billion. At the height of a pandemic-caused recession, Amtrak is choosing to look the other way and allow its contractors to ship high-wage, high-tech American jobs overseas. Such actions are unacceptable.”