Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member, and I thank the chairman of the full committee, of the subcommittee, both chair and ranking member. I do too want to take a moment to thank the ranking member for his long service to this Nation. As he has been a member of the Appropriations Committee, we can count his work inside this House. But I really think the American people, Mr. Olver, owe you a moment of gratitude for the work and commitments that you've shown in making sure that those who need help can get help, and I want to pay tribute to you this evening. I also want to indicate that we understand that we are living in difficult times. But I raise concerns about funding, living in the fourth largest city in the Nation, where we see enormous congestion, and the importance of transit dollars; $900 million, fortunately, came to Houston after a long, long wait to build a light-rail system. Those dollars need to continue. Housing plays a very important role. In the city of Galveston, for example, they have been the recipient of $700 million after Hurricane Ike to use for the restoration of private housing, infrastructure and, of course, public housing. To cut those lines of funding will, in essence, impact communities around the Nation that are impacted by disaster. Losing the full funding of the TIGER grant--and I support the gentlelady from California, Ms. Waters' amendment to restore those dollars--they create jobs.…”