To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and modify the railroad track maintenance credit.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my support for the extension of the Section 45G Short Line Railroad Tax Credit, which expired on December 31, 2009.

As a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I appreciate the economic benefits a strong, reliable rail network provides our economy. Rail has kept our economy connected and competitive for decades and is critical to driving our economic recovery.

Key to the rail network are short line railroads, which keep 13,000 small and rural rail customers connected to the main line railroad network and the global economy. However, short line railroads must invest heavily in repairing and maintaining track, more than any other segment of the rail industry. To address this, Congress enacted the Section 45G short line railroad tax credit, which encourages short line railroads to invest in critical track maintenance. These improvements are necessary to improve the efficiency of our national rail network and keep our economy moving. This tax credit expired on December 31, 2009.

Without an extension of this tax credit, short line railroads are unable to initiate long-term plans, and have halted much needed infrastructure projects across the country--projects that create good- paying jobs on and off the tracks. The Section 45G credit generates approximately 3,305 full-time jobs annually and supports tens of thousands of jobs in America's steel and timber industries that make railroad ties or steel rail.

Madam Speaker, it makes economic sense to provide certainty to this industry and extend this tax credit. Short line railroads are too important to our economy. As a cosponsor of H.R. 1132, legislation to extend the credit through 2012, I urge swift action on extending the Section 45G short line railroad tax credit and urge my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I rise to urge the House to take up and pass H.R. 1132, which would extend the short line railroad tax credit as soon as possible. This credit creates immediate jobs, leverages significant amounts of private infrastructure investment and helps preserve much needed rail service to rural and small town America.

This credit has produced significant results since its enactment in 2004. Unfortunately the credit expired at the end of 2009. Nationally there are over 500 short line railroads operating 50,000 miles or nearly one quarter of the country's rail network. In my own state of Michigan, short lines operate 52 percent of the states total rail network and almost all of that is in areas no longer served by the large Class I railroads. The majority of Michigan's agricultural products that move by rail move by short line rail.

Today's short lines are small businesses that saved the track the large national railroads would otherwise have abandoned. This tax credit has played a critical role in helping preserve this valuable transportation infrastructure. If we do not extend it soon, the 2010 work season will be lost and with it we will lose a very cost efficient way to create jobs and rehabilitate our rail infrastructure.

Currently, H.R. 1132 is co-sponsored by a bi-partisan majority of the House, 259 Members. Surely with that kind of support we can find a way to enact this legislation before it is too late to enjoy its benefits in 2010, a year in which Michigan desperately needs new jobs.

Mr. Speaker, for 7 years now, my colleague Mr. Pomeroy and I have worked to preserve transportation connections for communities that would be disconnected but for their short line and regional freight railroads. Our bill, H.R. 1132, which extends the section 45G short line railroad tax credit, is supported by 259 of our colleagues.

Unfortunately for Kansas businesses that depend upon rail service, the 45G credit expired last year. As a result, small railroads like the Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, the Kyle Railroad, and the Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway are unable to maximize their infrastructure investments to best serve their customers. The 45G tax credit generates nearly 7 million good-paying track worker hours each year. More importantly, the tax credit helps farmers and coops in rural communities of Kansas move grain to food processors in Kansas City and manufacturers in Wichita to move steel and their finished goods to market.

I rise today to express my hope that we can find a path forward to continue the economic development and sound transportation policy fostered by the tax provisions contained in H.R. 1132.

Short line railroads located in my district, including those in Chanute, Pittsburg and Humboldt, serve a critical role in transporting grain, cement products, steel and other industrial-based products to the national freight rail network. The short line tracks in Kansas and across the Nation have benefited from the section 45(g) short line railroad tax credit which expired at the end of 2009. Without this credit, short line railroads would lose critical resources used to upgrade infrastructure or create jobs, and rural businesses would not have the rail services they need to compete. That's why we must find a responsible way to extend the tax credit, like H.R. 1132, that would extend it until 2012.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this important legislation to ensure short line railroads continue to thrive and provide valuable services on Main Streets across America.