Frank Lautenberg: “once again, it is obvious to all that Senator Lott understands what we have to do to get things done around here, and…”

“once again, it is obvious to all that Senator Lott understands what we have to do to get things done around here, and that it can't be all one way because each of us does represent a different State. We are brought here to bring in the opinions of the people whom we serve, our constituents, so we do get a mix of views. Sometimes I wish we didn't, but for the most part that is life in the real world. The thing we sometimes fail to see is, when we do something for the infrastructure, when we do something for rail service, it is in the national interest, even though there are currently many more riders in the very densely populated Northeast corridor. The fact is, as I related before, other places around the country are examining rail service as an alternative to their own congestion and pollution problems. When we look at something called essential air service, it is essential. That is why it is done. The Government does subsidize its existence because communities need that. So it is with rail service.”