ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 27, 1995 TAG: 9512270126
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
If no presidential reprieve arrives, the government's oldest regulatory agency is going out of business.
Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1887, in part to appease train riders angry because railroads often charged more for short trips than for longer journeys.
The commission will cease to exist Jan. 1 unless President Clinton vetoes a bill Congress passed last week. There was no word Tuesday on the president's intention, and ICC officials said they did not know what fate awaited the agency.
While its demise isn't in doubt, the process is still in question. President Clinton has backed phasing out the ICC but promised to veto an earlier version of the bill, objecting to a provision reducing the job protection of railroad workers affected by mergers.
The commission's main remaining functions focus on approving mergers and making sure truckers and other carriers have the proper licenses.
The Department of Transportation will be in charge of licensing and will approve, or disapprove, railroad mergers.
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB