We need the FRA and its resources and capabilities because the FTA doesn't have it right now.

if we actually could bring it down theoretically to zero, would be an enormous dent on the debt over 10 years.

We cannot allow the deterioration of our Metro system to become the soft underbelly of any target in the future.

we ought to implement your recommendations.

every dollar we invest in the GAO has what return on it?

It's about the security and welfare of our country.

I just would urge you quickly to help dispel this myth of you're sitting on a lot of capital you don't know what to do with.

Federal law cannot dictate who is on the board of Metro.

investing in the GAO is a very smart investment.

it's gotten to that point that if we're going to reassure public confidence we have to hold people accountable at every layer of the organization.

where you stand is where you sit. Where my constituents stand is that the Federal Government gets a free ride every day on Metro, because it doesn't pay operating subsidies.

Metro was facing multiple crises, a crisis in leadership, a crisis in safety, a crisis in commuter and stakeholder confidence, and a crisis in funding.

I've spent 21 years of my life working on Metro-related issues, first as a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, then as chairman, and now as a Member of this body.

No one is more disheartened than I with the current unacceptable state of affairs.

I think Congress has to provide resources to beef up that effort and to help restore American confidence.

As we work on maybe a bipartisan and focused strategy, strong demand that that MOU when it is renegotiated includes very significant provisions around this is something that I think we would all probably agree with.

That is a painful and un-American situation that we should not tolerate and it should not be part of our discourse.

I apologize for being late. Was at another subcommittee hearing, so I may ask questions that you've already covered.