Hal Rogers: “Reclaiming my time, I fully understand that. But I am having some difficulty understanding that those earlier who…”

“Reclaiming my time, I fully understand that. But I am having some difficulty understanding that those earlier who objected to the use of trust funds for airport security and struck $466 million from the bill that was designed for that purpose, and now supporting the dipping into a trust fund, the new one, for the purpose of airport security. Mr. Chairman, we have got to find the money somewhere. I really am at a loss to understand why those who objected to the use of the trust funds that were earlier stricken did that. We have got to find monies to pay these air marshals to safeguard the cockpit, to pay the screeners under the new scheme. It is going to cost us $54,000 per person, the government. We do not have the money. It was stricken from the bill. Where is the money? Where is the money? The trust funds are sitting there fat. I thought when we passed a tax to create a trust fund and charge users of the airports and the highways for the use of those facilities, I thought those monies would be used for airport security and the other purposes that the trust fund is collected for; and yet those were stricken from this bill. I support the gentleman's amendment because we have to have the money, but it still leaves us several hundred million dollars short.”