Chris Sununu: “let me use my portion of time to conclude my remarks. I wish to address some of the points Senator Lautenberg made in…”

“let me use my portion of time to conclude my remarks. I wish to address some of the points Senator Lautenberg made in his presentation. First, it was suggested that under 2007 data, four routes would have to be shut down if my amendment were made the law of the land. I find that surprising and maybe a little problematic for a couple of reasons. First, I am not aware of any Inspector General audit that was done for 2007, which would be required under the amendment. The only IG audit of which I am aware, the most recent one, was in 2004, and that indicated only one route did not meet this threshold. So, first, I don't think there is any data to make that assertion that four routes would be closed. Second, if that were the fact today, that means the situation has gotten worse over the last three years; that it has gotten worse and that the costs are trending in the wrong direction, and that is something about which we should all be concerned and, in fact, alarmed. Third, it was suggested that closing four routes, if that were the case, would be a sudden and massive reduction in the capacity of the system. In fact, even if four routes were affected, we are talking about 1 to 2 percent of ridership. The phrase ``making people pay their own way'' was also used. It does nothing of the sort. As I indicated, I think there is an opportunity for providing some support or subsidy level, certainly in the medium term.”