Michael Bennet

I am interested to know how we can increase the private sector's role in creating our transit future.

I hope that we can produce a bill in this Committee that shows that our commitment to helping local transportation entities more adequately meet those needs is just as strong.

We find ourselves at a crossroads at this time of economic downturn--a crossroads at which we must choose a path that creates jobs and moves us to a cleaner, greener future.

I can think of no one better to help guide this Committee through our discussion on the reauthorization of Federal transit programs than John.

I think it is particularly important when we talk about things like the deferred maintenance... an investment in our economy.

It seems like the red tape and the regulatory aspects that get in the way of communities like ours getting these projects off the ground.

As Senator Bennett would say, I think Salt Lake City experienced a similar success in hosting the Olympics with their transit.

So let me know when it is going to be.

If our markets were lubricated and were doing what they were supposed to be doing, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about investing taxpayers' money.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I assume that your view is that there is Federal authority now to be able to intercede, either through the Treasury or the Fed, with the VRDO market in some way that may give hospitals, public hospitals, schools, and other municipal credit…

Mr. Chairman, thanks for holding the hearing. It is from this perspective truly a row of witnesses.

What is so frustrating is that you get a very strong sense that there was nothing inevitable about any of this stuff.

I think that one would have hoped--it obviously did not happen in this case maybe until it was too late--that the boards of directors of these companies would have exercised the fiduciary duty on behalf of everybody and said, you know…

I really am interested in hearing some testimony at some point on how these workouts are actually happening.

I for one--and I am sure other people up here--will be interested to know how the regulator can create its own set of stoplights to be able to say, you know, we feel like we are moving directionally in the wrong place--or maybe in the…

So the Fed may be OK, but the Treasury may be----

Kids can't learn if they are hungry during school.

I am calling for some massive additional more effective regulation to regulate the standards, responsibility, accepting the responsibility and accountability both by the agencies and by the companies, uniform national standards, and a…

Does anybody else have a comment on that?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it.

There is not one silver bullet to deal with it.

We think we roughly saved 4,200 homes by doing that.

I always like to see a local government guy make good.

It would seem that if there were a way to create an environment, some sort of backstop of some kind to be able to get these governments in a position to be able to do the work they are intending to do anyway.