Political Quotes

“I was about to introduce, along with the Presiding Officer in the chair, the Senator from New York, as well as about 12 other colleagues, an amendment to this legislation for security needs for Amtrak. They are at a minimum of $1.8 billion. Just the six tunnels that go into New York City carry 350,000 people per day. They are antiquated, built around 1910, and need significant upgrading to protect the safety and security of the people traveling on those rails. I could go down the list. I will not, in the interest of time. The managers of the bill have made an agreement with me and with the Presiding Officer and many others to do the following: We will withhold that amendment on this aviation safety bill. The chair and the ranking member of the Commerce Committee are going to attempt to mark up an Amtrak security bill and possibly a port security bill in their committee as early as next Tuesday. God willing and the creek not rising, as my grandfather would say, there is a possibility they will be able to report that to the floor sometime next week.”