Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member. I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for accepting my amendments on the DBE prompt payment issue, and to allow teen driving safety grants to be used to help fund school-based driver's education to help our young people meet the Graduated Driver Licensing requirements. I want to talk about the last of my amendments, requiring a GAO report on the impact of MAP-21 changes on the ability of those who previously benefited from transportation services under the Job Access and Reverse Commute program to get to work. The report would examine whether services to low-income riders declined after MAP-21 was implemented, as well as efforts by the FTA, after passage of MAP-21, to encourage public transportation agencies to maintain and support these services so that low-income riders would allow them access to jobs, medical services, and other life necessities. MAP-21 ended the stand-alone JARC grant program. Instead, those activities were added as eligible uses of funds under larger formula grant programs. There was no requirement that transit agencies use any of their annual transit funding to provide services to meet the needs of low-income individuals trying to get to work--none. My amendment would allow us to know what the real-world impact of these changes are. Congress did not intend these changes to make it harder for low-income and TANF populations to use transportation to get to work. That just doesn't make sense.…”