Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the FAST Act, which will create jobs, boost the economy, ease congestion on our roads and rails, and improve our quality of life. I want to thank Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member DeFazio for producing this bill and thank them for working with me in committee, on the House floor, and on the conference committee to make this bill better. Recommendations made by our Freight Panel, led by Chairman Duncan and Ranking Member Nadler last Congress, led to new provisions that will improve the efficiency of freight movement and ease congestion on our roads and rails. This is critical for our Nation's freight hub in northeastern Illinois as we continue the CREATE rail program and other large freight projects. The bill includes revisions I authored to create Buy America content, deploy zero-emission buses, and improve tank car safety standards, which will produce more American jobs, protect the environment, and improve community safety. The FAST Act will also improve public transit and active transportation infrastructure and safety. Commuter rail safety will be increased through PTC grants, and this bill prepares us for the future by including research provisions from my FUTURE TRIP Act. I would like to thank Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Smith for working with me on this. Thanks, finally, to my staff--Andrew Davis, Jason Day, Eric Lausten, and Shawn Kimmel--and all the committee staff for their work on this bill.…”