Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thank you for holding the important hearing.
This is a very, very important investment, and we want to work with you on it.
Good, good. And I--and I--those are--that's what I'm asking...
I'm sorry, I believe we have an experience with the highways. We know how important they are.
What an economic engine the interstate system has been for places all over America.
If you build it, they will come.
Are we spending it properly?
I think it was far too little, because we could have used a whole lot more for highways and bridges.
We are borrowing from our children and our grandchildren.
I appreciate that.
To go in and be building sidewalks, when there is a--there are such transportation needs.
What's livability?
I'm just saying, the system is not working, and I need to know, before we put more money in.
Refusing to deal with them, or putting off the tough choices, is not a responsible way to go about it.
With a $12 trillion and growing deficit, we cannot continue to throw Federal funds at projects, willy-nilly.
We have a right, these days, to know: What were the criteria? What were the applications?
I am not going to vote for it until I have that path laid out.
This budget is making me feel a lot like Bill Murray in 'Groundhog's Day.'
