Political Quotes

“I could not disagree more with my friend from Oklahoma City. First of all, the streetcar is a highly developed mechanism that 30 communities across the country are involved with right now, and they all invest their own money, including Oklahoma City. I find it ironic that somehow there is this notion that people are picking this out of the air as a toy or arts and crafts. That is not the case. Look, I have been working on this for over 30 years, since I initiated a project for Portland's streetcar. I would be happy to introduce the gentleman to businesspeople, to local government. Actually, my friend from Oregon understated it. It is $4.5 billion. It is happening in Seattle, in Tacoma. I was in New York--in Brooklyn-- this Friday, where they are looking at a streetcar. It is an extraordinarily efficient way to concentrate development. It encourages private investment. It extends the pedestrian experience. It is part of the toolkit. I notice the gentleman has left the Chamber. I was going to ask him if he knew that, in his Oklahoma City, there is a TIGER grant that is going to build three blocks of rail line starting in 2016. It was a choice of Oklahoma City. They thought the TIGER grant was so important that they are using Federal money in a project that is supplementing local money. My friend from Oregon is correct, the ranking member, in that we shouldn't take this tool away from communities, large and small, across the country.…”