WASHINGTON -- Dallas lawyer David Laney, former chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, was named Tuesday by President Bush to the Amtrak board of directors, reports the Dallas Morning News.

The appointment, requiring Senate confirmation, will fill the only vacancy on the seven-member board.

From Texas, Mr. Laney said he was looking forward to taking the position but had not yet had time to consider all the issues facing the financially strapped national passenger service.

"You've got a lot of folks circling the problem with many ideas," he said. "I've got a lot to learn."

Mr. Laney, 53, stepped down in January as chairman and president of Dallas' largest law firm, Jenkens & Gilchrist, but continues to practice with the firm. The Amtrak position, he said, would be part time.

He was appointed to the three-member Texas Transportation Commission by Mr. Bush in 1995 during his first term as governor.

Mr. Laney, a Dallas native, is a graduate of Stanford University and Southern Methodist University Law School.

A contributor to the president's campaign, he is one of the Bush Pioneers, who helped raise at least $100,000 each.

Formally known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp., Amtrak was created in 1971 and now serves more than 500 stations in 46 states.

Long plagued with financial problems, it still faces daunting decisions about new funding or further service cuts.

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson had been chairman but resigned after Mr. Bush asked him to join his Cabinet as secretary of Health and Human Services.

The new chairman, elected by the board in February, is John Robert Smith, the mayor of Meridian, Miss.

The vice chairman is former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic candidate for president in 1988.