Political Quotes

“Thank you so very much for circling back to the transportation issue. That issue is still before this House. There has been no hearing, and the bill that was put forth by the Republicans simply has gone nowhere. In fact, it hit the brick wall. I'm sure one of the reasons it hit the brick wall is that there is no way to create a modern transportation system in that bill. For example, we both talked about streetcars and light-rail cars. In California, there is a factory near Sacramento that makes light-rail cars. I'm delighted there's a factory now in Portland, Oregon, that is building streetcars. And the factory in Sacramento is also building locomotives. The reason this is happening is that the Democrats, in their recovery legislation, the stimulus bill that gets such bad press--totally undeserved, I might add--actually had a clause in it that American taxpayers' money was going to be used to Make It in America. And that started or propelled both of these operations as cities decided they would use some of their own money, some State money, and some of the Federal money to enhance their public transportation programs. However, the transportation bill that you brought up just a moment ago totally removes the public transportation sector from the bill. Now I don't know how we're ever going to build buses, trains, and light rail, Amtrak, without the support of the Federal Government. {time} 1720 I know you were deeply involved in this.…”