"And if you increase the debt service to do that, short of getting greater ridership, you are ultimately looking at the possibility of a fare increase."
"This is about rebuilding in a smarter, better, and stronger way."
"Yes, and isn't it fair to say that a delayed recovery is a failed recovery at the end of the day?"
"I was pleased, as the Subcommittee Chair working with Senator Johnson and the full Committee, to create the program in MAP-21 on emergency relief."
"It is very likely that all of your numbers will go upwards, not downwards, at the end of the day."
"Didn't we learn a lesson in a different context after September 11th that in a post-September 11th world, multiple modes of transportation are critical..."
"It seems to me that it is not only common sense, but for my friends who are fiscal hawks, the reality is that it is far more fiscally responsible to ultimately ensure that we do not have repetitive lo..."
"Don't those figures make the compelling case that the disaster supplemental is not just about building or rebuilding a few States, but is helping to rebuild at the same time a national economy?"
"If we cannot get New York and New Jersey workers and businesses back to the pre-storm pace in terms of economic recovery, I think we are going to see our economic recovery slow down instead of moving ..."
"That amount would not even cover the recovery estimates that we currently have, much less get to any of the necessary mitigation investments that have been requested under the President's budget."
"So, in essence, it is more fiscally prudent to do the mitigation than to just replace as it was and wait for the next storm and repay all over again?"
"What are the consequences of not having the resources under which you would make those decisions?"
"Now is the time to determine what actions we must take in order to build back the region in a way that makes us less vulnerable in future storms."
"I have lived in New Jersey my whole life, and I have never, ever seen the type of devastation we have now."
"This really needs to be done in a coordinated fashion that bridges all of the local players, all of the local agencies, State and local government to make sure that the impacts of Hurricane Sandy do n..."
"Now, some of our colleagues seem to think that any attempt to rebuild our transit systems with an eye toward mitigation and making them stronger for the future is a waste of money."
"Now, when you lose 20 percent of your ratable base--I was a mayor for 6 years--that is a nightmare because there is no way to make it up except for shifting the responsibility for that community's cos..."
"Of course, we should rebuild to protect against future storms."
