Eleanor Holmes Norton: “I thank my good friend for yielding and as a cosponsor of this amendment, which has profound safety implications for…”

“I thank my good friend for yielding and as a cosponsor of this amendment, which has profound safety implications for America's subway. I think it is so urgent that a member of the Appropriations Committee has already restored $25 million. This was a partnership, a partnership between the Federal Government and Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. It became real after there was a crash that took the lives of nine District of Columbia residents in 2009. This is a unique transit agency. This is where staff of this body, this is where visitors from all over the world ride. If this funding is delayed, it will delay the crashworthy 7000-series trains. It is in trains that were not crashworthy that we lost lives. We beg that this funding be restored. The District, Maryland, and Virginia are each fulfilling their part of the partnership. It is up to the Federal Government to do our part and fulfill our part. Don't break the partnership open now.”