Frank Lautenberg: “In response, A, I would like to do it; and, B, I wonder if people realize how many new lines are being dreamt up--I say…”

“In response, A, I would like to do it; and, B, I wonder if people realize how many new lines are being dreamt up--I say ``dreamt'' up because unless we get the base going, nothing else is going to happen. I hear from colleagues in other States besides mine who say, you know, we could use train service here or there. We have seen something in New Jersey that exemplifies the value of rail service. We had a line open from the southernmost tip of our State to Trenton, our State capital. The ridership, at first, was very low. Before you knew it, we began to see buildings, factories, warehouses, et cetera, being built along the transit way. And now the area is beginning to prosper where it was just dead and nothing was going on. That is what we have seen. There is a lot of talk about something called transit villages. In New Jersey, the most crowded State in the country, we don't think about villages really, but we have transit villages centered around a rail hub. People know they can get back and forth, and companies know employees can get back and forth to work and they can run an efficient operation. So this is a point in time when opportunity presents itself, and we ought not to miss it. If we cannot see it, we ought to let the public see that. Certainly, at this point in time, we ought to be able to discuss it. We should not have any obstruction to bringing the issue to the floor of the Senate.”