Political Quotes

“Mr. President, one of the issues and questions that have been raised by many of my colleagues about this bill is that at first glance it appears to be higher than the President's budget request for these two departments--Transportation and HUD and the related agencies--and I want to explain why that is. It is a very legitimate question, but it has a very good answer. The answer is the President's budget for the agencies and departments under our jurisdiction is artificially low because it relies on gimmicks, and it relies on scoring differences between CBO and OMB. Let me explain just a couple of areas where it will become evident to my colleagues why the difference exists and why the President's budget submission actually is not less than the bill that is on the floor now, if true budgeting principles and accounting were used. First of all, the President's budget proposes to shift $2 billion in existing discretionary programs to mandatory in order to appear to achieve savings, including $1.5 billion from Amtrak's operating capital and debt service grants and $450 million by removing large hub airports from the Airport Improvements Program. In addition, the President's budget request assumes an increase in the passenger facility charge at airports from $4.50 to $8.00. Well, we have seen this movie before. When the FAA authorization was being considered just last year, Congress rejected this fee increase. There is no reason to believe it is going to be accepted now.…”