The task at hand should be to get grassroots support on the local level by [a] getting the local governments that Amtrak's Sunset Limited served to pass a support resolution and [b] educating our supporters as to how the MPO's [Metropolitan Planning Organizations] work.

Whereas Congress and President Bush approved legislation calling for $13.1 billion in passenger-rail spending in the next five years.; Whereas Amtrak’s Sunset Limited could be on track for full restoration of service in South Mississippi, Alabama and Florida with the new law that gives Amtrak $1million to study reinstating the service, which was canceled after Hurricane Katrina.; Whereas the provision requires Amtrak to report to the U.S. House and Senate committees that oversee it in nine months and the law stipulates that "the plan shall include a projected timeline for restoring such service, the costs associated with restoring such service, and any proposals for legislation necessary to support such restoration of service."; Whereas the law says that "in developing the plan, Amtrak shall consult with representatives from the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, railroad carriers whose tracks may be used for such service, rail passengers, rail labor, and other entities as appropriate."; Whereas Amtrak will work through the Departments of Transportation in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to try to come up with a rail plan and public meetings designed to get feed back from potential riders would be coordinated thought the Mississippi Department of Transportation; Whereas the key will be finding a way to offer a service that attracts more riders and Amtrak wants to offer train service that can keep to a schedule because the old Sunset route was habitually late and offering multiple trains from Orlando to New Orleans might make it easier to keep the routes on time and attract more ridership: Whereas, in areas with daily service, Amtrak trains and infrastructure carry commuters to and from work in congested metropolitan areas providing a reliable rail option, reducing congestion on roads and in the skies; Whereas, for many Gulf Coast Residents, Amtrak represents the only major intercity transportation link to the rest of the country and without the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans that link is broken; Whereas passenger rail provides a more fuel-efficient transportation system thereby providing cleaner transportation alternatives and energy security; Whereas passenger railroads emit only 0.2 percent of the travel industry's total greenhouse gases; Whereas according to figures from the Tourism Division of the Mississippi Development Authority, 22 million tourists visited Mississippi in 2007 and spent a total of $5.7 billion, total tax revenue from the tourism industry for 2007 was $417 million, Tourism was responsible for more than 85,000 direct jobs with a payroll of $1.7 billion, enough to make it Mississippi's sixth-largest employer; Whereas daily passenger train service would be the next logical step in the revitalization and reconstruction of the Mississippi Gulf Coast: Now, therefore, be it Resolved,-- (your city) (1) recognizes the contribution daily passenger train service would make to the redevelopment of the Mississippi Gulf Coast ; (2) urge the Executive Director of the Department of Transportation and the Director of the Division of Tourism of the Mississippi Development Authority support full restoration of service, daily, of the Sunset Limited on the Gulf Coast; (3)request that  Amtrak, our Congressional Representatives in Washington, the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Transportation keep (your city)  fully informed as to any and all developments by Amtrak regarding restoration of the Sunset Limited to the Gulf Coast, rail studies, plans and public meetings designed to get feed back from potential riders.