Amtrak overseas?

Thanks to a Google search more news about Amtrak, this time from the Railway Gazette International (UK). It's a report about Amtrak's President and CEO Alexander Kummant requesting $4.67 billion in subsidy for next year (2009). Surely that's a small amount to help Amtrak pursue improvements, both for operating support and capital projects. It would be nicer if somebody woke up and realized we could--and should--do more to make national passenger rail more attractive to the traveling public.