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Boehner: Amtrak Crash Not a Funding Issue

At his weekly news conference Thursday, Speaker John A. Boehner rejected the notion that a lack of funding played a role in the deadly Amtrak derailment earlier this week, saying no money from rail safety was cut and pointing to reports indicating the train was traveling well over the speed limit when it crashed.

“Are you really going to ask? That’s a stupid question,” Boehner said, cutting off a reporter’s question on Amtrak funding. “Listen, you know they started this yesterday: it’s all about funding, it’s all about funding. Well obviously it’s not about funding — the train was going twice the speed limit. Adequate funds were there, no money has been cut from rail safety and the House passed a bill earlier this spring to reauthorize Amtrak and to authorize a lot of these programs.”

Boehner’s remarks follow arguments from some that additional funding for safety technology may have slowed the speed of the train.

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