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The definition of the word “omnibus” also does not favor
petitioners. The word “omnibus” is defined as “a public vehicle
usu. automotive and 4-wheeled and designed to carry a
comparatively large number of passengers.” Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary (1993). Although the description of
“omnibus” as 4-wheeled plausibly includes a sedan, the sedans
petitioners used would not be able to carry a large number of
passengers.
Petitioners argue that because Congress used the term
“automobile bus” and not just “bus” in the statute, they must
have meant something more expansive than a traditional “bus”.
Petitioners justify this construction with several different
arguments, all of which we reject.
A. The Prefix “Automobile” Does Not Modify the Meaning of
“Bus”
Petitioners argue that because the word “automobile”
precedes the word “bus” in the statute, Congress must have
intended a more expansive definition than the ordinary meaning of
the word “bus”. Petitioners offer no definition of the phrase
“automobile bus”, but they simply conclude that “the term
‘automobile bus’ does not seem to have any significance such that
any vehicle, including sedans and vans, qualify * * * if the
vehicles were used for transportation which is regularly
scheduled.’” This premise clearly violates “‘a cardinal
principle of statutory construction’ that ‘a statute ought, upon
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