Dear Representative:

I urge you to support the Railroad Competition and Service Improvement Act of 2007 authored by Chairman Oberstar as well as the Railroad Anti-trust Enforcement Act of 2007, H.R. 1650, authored by Congresswoman Baldwin. These important pieces of legislation are crucial to addressing the concerns our cooperative members face as captive rail shippers.

Cooperatives depend on rail shipment of goods such as coal, fertilizer, and grain. Without access to competition for freight delivery, we have become captive shippers to certain railroads and experience crippling cost increases and jeopardized service. This situation threatens the vitality of our rural economy.

Our state’s farmers are typically members of the rural electric co-ops that are experiencing much higher rates due to the railroads increasing the cost of coal transportation. These farmers are also being squeezed by costs being passed off to members of grain elevator co-ops that are having to build new rail shuttle loaders and pay higher rail fuel surcharges.

More broadly, railroad monopoly power abuse is adversely affecting every facet of Minnesota's economy including forest products, paper, agriculture, ethanol, fertilizer, grain elevators and of course, electric utilities.  All other American industries operate under the antitrust laws of the nation.

We respectfully request you support these two pieces of legislation.  Since today the railroad industry has consolidated to four major carriers controlling 90% of the country's rail traffic, these railroads must both be covered by the nation’s antitrust laws and must be made to justify to the STB why they charge captive shippers as much as four to five times what they charge rail customers with access to competition.

We very much hope you will join your Colleagues in taking a stand for your constituents by supporting these important pieces of legislation.  Please let me know if you would like additional information regarding how captive shippers in our community are being negatively impacted. Once again, thank you for your consideration, and hopefully support, on this important issue.