Political Quotes

“I find myself in kind of a unique position on this issue, one, because 10 years ago, I was at the same place my colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) is in; I was a State senator, and Metro in Houston was proposing a heavy rail system that would take so many dollars into such a small geographic and community area for the service. And it would have meant that the rest of our area, including the Congressional district that I have now, and my State Senate district at that time, would not have had revenue for either expansion of the bus or even heavy, light rail or anything at that time. And as the State senator, I introduced a bill opposing it, and along with some other colleagues from Houston of mine, who is currently still in the legislature, because we needed to get the attention of the local community, because they were not being responsive. And as my colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bentsen) said, it was not so much support for it as it was at least along a corridor that wanted it at that time. But I have watched the Houston Metro over the last 10 years, and with the help of my colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay) to where they have literally the state-of-the-art bus system, the park-and-rides in the country. And it would not have been done for this last 10 years without the support of this Congress.”