On the recordMarch 4, 2015
Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlelady for yielding. I would like to support this amendment and urge my colleagues to do so. They are putting in a high-speed rail in my State now, running over 100 miles through my district, something that will go 120-plus miles an hour through the middle of small towns and communities which are ill- prepared and ill-equipped to safely facilitate that high rate of traffic. I wish I had thought ahead to bring some illustrations, photographs, or diagrams of some of the intersections that this train will go blazing through without much thought to the pedestrians, the vehicles, the men, women, and children in the community that will be put in danger by it. I think this is a great amendment. If you are going to use Federal money--I see that the gentlelady said it is for projects that use Federal money, not an unfunded mandate--but if you are going to use the Federal money, you are going to use these RIF loans, some of which appear to be in the process of being granted in direct conflict of the requirements of granting the RIF loans, the very least we could do is insist that the money is used safely in our districts. {time} 1345 The very least we could do is insist that the money is used safely in our districts. So I thank the gentlelady for yielding, and I urge my colleagues to support this great amendment.





