Eleanor Holmes Norton

The purpose of--we would not be engaged in this hearing, and you would not have this money except for one purpose, to create jobs.

You see, this is the kind of inefficiency we have got to do without. You all should not be put to that.

I can't do anything without people. We are stuck on stupid without people.

I realize that's a foreign language, but we have got to learn to speak it now.

Look, I want more people hired. Guess what? GSA better have this work done on time.

if this doesn't get in on time we are not going to be able to say, you know, Maryland did it or look what--we told Virginia.

We understand it is going to be within, the staff believes it will be within 50 miles of Baltimore.

The President does have to do it all at one time or go home; and he ain't going home.

you requested that we find a way to speed up the process to construct this intercity bus terminal.

So wait a minute. So we are going to count it from when?

That is a long time line.

There are going to be howls unless we are able to say more about what we are doing with training.

I want to congratulate Mr. Catoe to his face again because Mr. Catoe, you and your employees performed magnificently during the inauguration.

I do agree with you, Mr. Chairman, regarding how we must use the stimulus exercise, shall we call it.

I want to see the timeline within two weeks for spending the $4.5 billion dollars for Saint Elizabeth's.

But above all, thank you for the way in which you are tracking these funds and making good on your promise that this money had to be used or lost.

What we did was to go to the Senate, frankly, and indicate that this was a classic FDR project.

I mean, that is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard.

I intend, Mr. Chairman, to make this a requirement in the new reauthorization funds.

But apparently none of it is yet out.

I am concerned that very often the really indispensable work that the IGs perform are performed after the fact.

Some of us fought up here for WMATA to buy natural gas buses during the last go-round.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I thank you for your early hearing on WMATA because it signifies the recognition of the subcommittee and the full committee of how dependent we are as a Federal Government on WMATA and on hearing of its…

are you finding that WMATA is going with projects that have already gone through sufficient clearances?

The notion of fares going up, my impressions is that WMATA has withheld fare increases over long periods of time, and then had to raise fares.