Frank Lautenberg: “I think the amendment that has been offered by Senator DeMint is not one of those amendments we would accept--the notion…”

“I think the amendment that has been offered by Senator DeMint is not one of those amendments we would accept--the notion that each ticket a passenger carries should identify the amount of subsidy that goes into that passenger's ride. I think it is wasteful and I don't see any benefit to travelers or taxpayers. Can you imagine the complication that is involved here? You don't know how many passengers are going to be on that leg and the subsidy has to be divided among the number of passengers. How far is each passenger going to travel? That would also indicate a part of the subsidy. You cannot take a mathematical formula and apply it to this percentage or to this particular passenger's ride. We all know what is afoot here. I generally agree that transparency is good when it comes to Federal taxpayers' dollars. But this amendment is not needed.”