[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 265 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 265

 To amend title 49, United States Code, to require Amtrak to submit to 
Congress an annual report with respect to the implementation of certain 
   recommendations of the Amtrak Food and Beverage Working Group for 
   improving the food and beverage service of Amtrak, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2025

  Mr. Cohen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 49, United States Code, to require Amtrak to submit to 
Congress an annual report with respect to the implementation of certain 
   recommendations of the Amtrak Food and Beverage Working Group for 
   improving the food and beverage service of Amtrak, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Train Furtherance of Outstanding 
Onboard Dining Act'' or the ``Train FOOD Act''.

SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF IMPLEMENTATION BY AMTRAK OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF 
              AMTRAK FOOD AND BEVERAGE WORKING GROUP.

    (a) Annual Amtrak Report.--Section 24321 of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new 
        subsections:
    ``(d) Implementation Advisory Committee.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
        of enactment of the Train Furtherance of Outstanding Onboard 
        Dining Act, Amtrak shall establish an advisory committee to 
        provide internal review with respect to the implementation by 
        Amtrak of the recommendations contained in the report under 
        subsection (b).
            ``(2) Membership.--The advisory committee shall consist of 
        individuals representing--
                    ``(A) Amtrak;
                    ``(B) the labor organizations representing Amtrak 
                employees who prepare or provide on-board food and 
                beverage service;
                    ``(C) nonprofit organizations representing Amtrak 
                passengers; and
                    ``(D) States that are providing funding for State-
                supported routes.
            ``(3) Termination.--The advisory committee shall terminate 
        on the date on which Amtrak submits the final report required 
        under subsection (e)(1).
    ``(e) Annual Implementation Status Report.--
            ``(1) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
        of enactment of the Train Furtherance of Outstanding Onboard 
        Dining Act and annually thereafter until such time as all 
        recommendations contained in the report under subsection (b) 
        are implemented by Amtrak or determined by Amtrak to be 
        impractical or impossible to implement, Amtrak shall--
                    ``(A) submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
                and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
                Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
                Representatives a report on the status of the 
                implementation of each such recommendation; and
                    ``(B) make the report available on a publicly 
                accessible website of Amtrak.
            ``(2) Report contents.--Each report under paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    ``(A) a description of the progress made by Amtrak 
                in implementing each recommendation contained in the 
                report under subsection (b);
                    ``(B) identification of each such recommendation 
                for which implementation is complete;
                    ``(C) identification of each such recommendation 
                that Amtrak determines to be impractical or impossible 
                to implement;
                    ``(D) for each recommendation identified under 
                subparagraph (C)--
                            ``(i) the justification for the 
                        determination that the recommendation is 
                        impractical or impossible to implement; and
                            ``(ii) if the justification is all, or in 
                        part, attributable to insufficient funding, an 
                        estimated cost of implementing the 
                        recommendation;
                    ``(E) a description of how, if at all, food and 
                beverage service of Amtrak has changed--
                            ``(i) if in the initial report, since the 
                        date of enactment of the Train Furtherance of 
                        Outstanding Onboard Dining Act; and
                            ``(ii) if in a subsequent report, since the 
                        date on which the previous report was 
                        finalized; and
                    ``(F) comments submitted by the advisory committee 
                to Amtrak regarding the information included under 
                subparagraphs (A) through (E).''.
    (b) GAO Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 
to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
Representatives a report describing the progress made by Amtrak in 
implementing each recommendation contained in the report under section 
24321(b) of title 49, United States Code.
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