"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 concerns in a time when all facilities of every kind are stret..."
"I congratulate the District as the first to put up its share initially when we were going for these funds..."
"Some of us fought up here for WMATA to buy natural gas buses during the last go-round."
"Let me just speak for the District of Columbia. I mean, we have truly embraced the whole concept of restore the core..."
"What assurance can you give us that those funds will be obligated within those 90 and I guess 120-day timeframes?"
"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."
"WMATA may have to take the lead on this."
"the problem we have here is a move it or lose it problem."
"The stimulus funds are calculated to get out fast, produce jobs immediately, and of course to get the work done the Federal Government needs to have done in the States and in the Federal Government."
"It would be such a tragedy if we had a series of audits that because we were trying to get jobs for Americans as quickly as possible that the prediction that nobody can get money out that quick withou..."
"the issue is obligation."