Political Quotes

“I thank the chair. I rise to offer an amendment with my colleagues in the national capital region that would restore full funding of the Federal commitment for vital rider safety improvements to ``America's Subway,'' the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or Metro. Let me remind my colleagues, this is not like the traditional transit or capital funding under the Department of Transportation. The Passenger Rail Investment Improvement Act of 2008 specifically authorized a $150 million annual Federal commitment for 10 years, and Congress has worked in bipartisan fashion the past 6 years to fulfill that. It was a Republican initiative initiated and authored by my predecessor, Republican member Tom Davis of Virginia. As required by law, the Federal funding is matched dollar for dollar, with $150 million coming from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. I appreciate the efforts of my fellow Virginian, Mr. Rigell, and the subcommittee chairman, my friend, Mr. Diaz-Balart, to try to work with us to restore some of the funding at full committee markup. But reducing any of this funding would renege on the Federal commitment and jeopardize the successful local-State-Federal partnership we have worked so hard to create. It would also open the door for our partners to pull back on their commitments commensurately, which would only exacerbate Metro's challenge in upgrading its aging infrastructure.…”