John W. Olver: “I thank the ranking member for yielding time. I rise in support of this conference report. As ranking member on the…”

“I thank the ranking member for yielding time. I rise in support of this conference report. As ranking member on the Transportation and Housing Subcommittee, I first would like to thank Chairman Tom Latham for working openly with me throughout the process, and I congratulate him on bringing his first conference report to the floor. Also, I would like to thank staff--for the majority, the subcommittee clerk, Dena Baron, and her excellent staff; and for the minority, Kate Hallahan, Joe Carlile, and Blair Anderson--all for their diligence and hard work in making this a better bill. Mr. Speaker, this bill contains elements with which I disagree. In particular, I wish CDBG funding was closer to last year's level, and I am disappointed that the bill does not provide funding for the High- Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program. Both of these programs are in high demand and would contribute significant value to our communities if funded properly. However, this bill is a reasonable compromise that has improved significantly the Transportation-HUD portion that was marked up in subcommittee.…”