Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. I also want to thank Mr. Latham and Mr. Pastor for their opposition to this amendment. With that, I yield back the balance of my time. THUD Appropriations In 2008, the Congress made a 10-year commitment, as the federal partner, to provide capital funds for the needs of the Metro system. These funds are matched by WMATA's regional partners, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. This amendment would eliminate $125 million in capital funds for Metro, which has already been cut from $150 million last year. A similar amendment offered to last year's THUD bill failed by a vote of 160-243. Eliminating this funding means Congress is choosing to go back on its commitment to provide money needed to maintain a safe and reliable system used by many of your constituents. Metro is currently using federal funds to improve its 30-year-old system to address the critical safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board, which Metro has made its highest priority. WMATA operates the second largest rail system and sixth largest bus system in the U.S. It provides 1.3 million trips a day--many of these trips carry employees to and from work every day. More than half of the Metrorail stations serve federal facilities, like the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security. Metro is critical to the economic growth of this region. It has spurred $37 billion in economic development at or near to Metro's property.…”