Political Quotes

“I would like to move in just a moment to the issue of how we can actually help other parts of our economy grow as we build our infrastructure. But before I do I am just thinking about the previous discussion from our Republican colleagues where they talked about the deficit and the deficit and we ought to eliminate government programs. Certainly there are government programs that are neither efficient, effective, or necessary, and, yes, those should be cut. But when you start talking about infrastructure this is something that we really must do. It was said that for an expenditure of some $15 billion New York City could have protected its subway system and the shoreline from the devastation of two major storms, one that occurred a year ago and another one that occurred just 97 days or 3 months ago, Superstorm Sandy. So if we get ahead of these disasters and build the necessary protections, for example in my district if we build those levees, yes, it will cost money. For the Natomas area it's about $1 billion. Very expensive, no doubt about it. But if we do not protect and do not build those levees the devastation will amount to several times that amount of money. That's precisely what happened in Manhattan and in the New York City area. So again, you spend that money up front, yes, you put people to work, yes, there may be an immediate issue of where and how we fund it, and that's a legitimate issue, but fail to do it and then the cost is horrendous.…”