Strohmaier touts Amtrak at Havre whistle-stop

Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson

Democratic U.S. House of Representatives candidate Dave Strohmaier thanks people seeing him during his stop Thursday afternoon in Havre on his "Get Congress Back on Track" tour through northern Montana.

A candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives called on the nation Thursday to increase its investment in infrastructure, citing a mainstay of the Hi-Line and a hot topic here and across the nation while on a whistle-stop tour through Montana.

"This train we see behind us, the Empire Builder, for me is a symbol and an emblem of my campaign, " Democratic candidate Dave Strohmaier said from the train platform in Havre. "For too long, we have let infrastructure deteriorate in this country, and that's why I am calling this tour across Montana the 'Get Congress Back on Track, ' tour. "

Strohmaier is running for the seat now open with six-term incumbent Republican Denny Rehberg's decision to run against Montana's freshman Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat.

Three other Democrats have declared they intend to run for the seat, state Sen. Kim Gillan of Billings, state Rep. Franke Wilmer of Bozeman and Helena attorney Rob Stutz.

The winner of that race will face the winner of the Republican primary. Bozeman businessman Steve Daines and former Klu Klux Klan member John Abarr of Great Falls have declared their candidacies as Republicans.

Strohmaier and his wife, Gretchen, and children, 7-year-old Ezra and Liezel, 5, boarded the Empire Builder about 7:20 a. m. Thursday in Whitefish. He spoke on the platform there and at each of the Empire Builder's stops through Glasgow, as well as speaking to passengers on the train.

Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson

Gretchen Strohmaier, center, plays with her children Liezel Strohmaier, 5, left, and Ezra Strohmaier, 7, at the Amtrak depot while her husband, Democratic U.S. House of Representatives candidate Dave Strohmaier, talks to people during his stop in Havre "Get Congress Back On Track" tour through northern Montana Thursday afternoon.

On the Havre platform, Strohmaier told his audience that his push to increase infrastructure investment includes supporting more than just the physical infrastructure.

"A big part of my campaign is making sure that we be good stewards of everything that we share in common in this nation, and, for me, transportation is a big part of that, " he said. "(So is) supporting our good folks in organized labor who keep these trains rolling. "

Strohmaier said there have been some "hard-fought" battles this year in Wisconsin and other parts of the nation by people who want to be able to organize and use collective bargaining.

"I can guarantee you, in Congress I'm going to make sure that those folks … have a strong voice in Congress, " he said.

Strohmaier said he considers passenger rail to be critical to the nation's infrastructure and economy, and to the society of Montana and America.

In an interview after his speech, he said he didn't hear anyone opposed to his call for increased investment while he was talking on the rail platforms or on the train. But he has heard people say the government should stop subsidizing passenger rail service, Strohmaier said.

"What I say to that is, OK, how about the subsidies we dump into our highway system in this country, the subsidies we dump into the airline industry? " he said.

Stromaier said Amtrak actually provides a better return than airlines or highways. Amtrak recovers about 85 percent of its operating costs through ticket sales, he said, compared to the investment by the Federal Aviation Administration getting about a 60-percentile return and the investment in highways getting about a 57-percent to 60-percent return through gas taxes and fees.

"So, it's ironic that somehow, passenger rail has been singled out as, God forbid, you shall not subsidize this mode of transportation, when we are already heavily subsidizing, to a higher degree, the other forms of transportation in this country, " he said.

"I don't see subsidy as being a bad word, " Strohmaier added.

He said the fight by Amtrak supporters to keep it funded and operating seems to be an annual event. Every Congressional session someone is trying to privatize the service or strip its funding, Strohmaier said.

"From my standpoint, the best way to make a strong, viable passenger rail service is not to starve it, but to make it more interconnected than it is already, " he said. "I think it's a tragedy that this transportation mode is constantly being put in jeopardy … every year it has the battle of justifying its existence. "