Eleanor Holmes Norton

Now, you are bearing in mind VRE and MARC wanting to expand rather substantially?

That is understandable. But the fact that you found yourselves on the outside looking in from the beginning, that is unfortunate.

Well, how in the world did that occur? It was a train station first and foremost.

Have you ever thought about that or had those discussions with anyone connected with the Corporation?

We need to have that.

If we are going to pay for it--because I can tell you this much, we are not going to pay for everything.

Because, of course, they are trying to not be at odds with their own climate change policy and their own congestion policy.

DDOT has made a formal request that all of these facilities be put at Union Station.

At some point we are going to have to make a decision in the city and in the Congress about what the tradeoffs there, because we want low-cost service.

A city of this size can hardly tolerate increasing numbers of bus companies that are leaving people off at any curb they happen to find vacant.

We are trying to get people to get on buses, but not intercity buses.

I will ask the Amtrak president when he steps forward.

The Congress will see this as interests who depend one upon another.

I want to thank each and every one of you. This panel would have had a huge hole in it...

That is very, very bad, very, very bad, and something we are going to have to look into.

I have to take personal responsibility.

This notion of partnering with small businesses is really important.

We are trying to increase small business use within the Federal Government and certainly within the GSA.

You are going to have to break it up to do anything with small businesses.

I would like you to submit that for the record. I would like all of you to do it.

Would you submit for the record here your small business plan and who have gotten those contracts?

Lower rent leasing rates for the government.

I suppose I take umbrage that the Federal worker is deprecated.

I don't think you should underestimate people who every day have to deal with the private sector the way you do.

I congratulate you on doing it.