Midwestern members reopen fault lines over $2.3B rail loan
By Elana Schor
The final skirmish is beginning this week in a long congressional battle that has exposed rifts over fiscal conservatism, geographical bias and ethics reform, as the government nears a decision on whether to approve a $2.3 billion loan to a South Dakota railroad company.
The $2.3 billion would help the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, or DM&E, finance a proposed track expansion to transport coal and ethanol around the biofuel-booming Plains region. But DM&E’s request has pitted Dakotan lawmakers against Minnesota members lining up behind their state’s venerable medical facility, the Mayo Clinic, which sees a safety hazard in new trains speeding potentially toxic cargo through its backyard.
The Federal Railroad Administration ruled on environmental standards for the rail expansion late last week, starting a 90-day clock for ultimate approval or rejection of the DM&E bid by the Transportation Department and sparking fresh vows by Minnesota Sens. Norm Coleman (R) and Amy Klobuchar (D) to block the loan at all costs.
“The burden is on us, as the department moves forward, to try to stop something,” Coleman told reporters on a Thursday conference call. Coleman added that he has reached out to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, but suggested that the delegation has effective tools for obstruction of the loan if the railroad does not float a mitigation deal to allay Mayo’s concerns.
“Individual senators can make it very difficult on a department, very difficult,” said Coleman, who is gearing up for a tough reelection fight in 2008. “Nominations can be left unfille