Gregory Meeks: “I believe this is a sad state of affairs. What took place on September 11 was not a New York tragedy; it was a national…”

“I believe this is a sad state of affairs. What took place on September 11 was not a New York tragedy; it was a national tragedy. As a result, we spoke with the President of the United States, and he pledged $20 billion to the City of New York. We all know that to repair the damage that took place to the United States of America that happened to be in the City of New York will cost far more than $20 billion. But the President pledged $20 billion. We negotiated and we thought we had agreed that we had at least $20 billion in this appropriation, in this year, that the city could count on in rebuilding the World Trade Center area. And then to come back and to only receive $11 billion, not knowing when the $9 billion will come and having some promise in the future about when the $9 billion will come will not help restore what needs to be done in New York City. We need to make sure now, not just for New York City, but for our Nation, that we rebuild in that area. We need the $20 billion, not sometime in the future, but now, as promised. We heard the President say during the campaign, ``I mean what I say, and I say what I mean.'' We want the President to say what he means and let us have the $20 billion now.”