Jack Reed: “I commend Senator D'Amato and Senator Sarbanes for their work on this initiative. The bill they brought to the Banking…”

“I commend Senator D'Amato and Senator Sarbanes for their work on this initiative. The bill they brought to the Banking Committee adds immensely to the act we are debating. It provides a critical component to the overall transportation in America, and that component is mass transit. This bill that Senator Sarbanes and Senator D'Amato have worked so hard on would provide $5 billion, which, over the next 6 years, would accumulate and provide sufficient funding for mass transit throughout the United States. The legislation recognizes that in many regions of the country, particularly the Northeast where I come from, mass transit is one of the critical elements of our transportation policy. We do not have the space to build more roads. We also are in a congested area of the country in which environmental factors are so critical. Without mass transit we cannot deal with transportation problems, environmental problems, and also the basic needs of the people of my State and my region to be productive citizens. This is particularly the case when we are talking about reforms we have just undertaken with respect to the welfare system, moving Americans from welfare to work. For many of these Americans, literally, their path to the work site is through mass transit, through buses, through subways. Without these vehicles, without these mechanisms, they cannot become effective participants in our work force. Transit is particularly important to my State of Rhode Island.”