1986 - The Exon Library

Proponents of the amendment emphasized that bids had been
made for Conrail that exceeded Norfolk Southern's offer and
that an attempt should be made to get a better deal. CBO
has estimated a $100 million annual loss during 1987-90
would result from a sale to Norfolk Southern. The
government has not promoted competitive bidding to maximize
its investment return as directed in the Northeast Rail
Service Act of 1981. Norfolk Southern's bid was prejudiced
from the beginning by a comment from the Federal Railroad
Administration's Deputy Administrator, James Rooney, that
the bid was "within the range of reasonable compensation."
Proper bid procedures are necessary, they maintained, in
order to protect the taxpayers' $7 billion investment in
Conrail. A new bid from the Allen Company is nearly half a
billion dollars more than Norfolk Southern's.
Opponents of the amendment claimed that the solicitation of
new bids by the Secretary of Transportation would return
the Conrail sale process to square one and would waste the
money and time that have been spent on the original bids.