Gerry Connolly

Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Con. Res. 88 offered by the Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Would you agree, Mr. Taylor, that makes it a juicy cyber target?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, on what is, I think, one of the most important topics we can be addressing here in Congress with respect to our future.

I don't think any of us on either side of this committee would ever support a willful ignoring of a legitimate subpoena from the committee.

I echo the concerns of my colleagues about the security of Israel and the lack of balance at international institutions.

I can't think of anything that would be more detrimental to Israel's long-term survivability than to have something akin to the P5+1 make a decision on how Israel should cede territory in the future to a state that is possibly not viable.

At the end of the day, there could be no substitute for the two parties sitting down and having direct talks if we're ever going to have peace in this corner of the world.

The United States has never wavered on its commitment to ensuring Israel is able to defend herself against any and all threats.

This atrocious attack is unacceptable and unfortunately is emblematic of the constant threats that Israel faces.

I promise I am just going to take a minute.

One of the other concerns GAO had was we may end up, with the best of efforts notwithstanding, with nonuniform reporting standards.

I want to thank all of you for the partnership. I think it's made a real difference in building some cohesion within the Federal Government in at least this area.

Federal law cannot dictate who is on the board of Metro.

It's about the security and welfare of our country.

We cannot allow the deterioration of our Metro system to become the soft underbelly of any target in the future.

I just would urge you quickly to help dispel this myth of you're sitting on a lot of capital you don't know what to do with.

We have witnessed a maddeningly decade-long descent into mediocrity, where it's imbued the entire workforce.

We need the FRA and its resources and capabilities because the FTA doesn't have it right now.

It's gotten to that point that if we're going to reassure public confidence we have to hold people accountable at every layer of the organization.

Where you stand is where you sit. Where my constituents stand is that the Federal Government gets a free ride every day on Metro, because it doesn't pay operating subsidies.

I don't want a burden on mine. And in Virginia we pay the subsidy, my local taxpayers.

Metro was facing multiple crises, a crisis in leadership, a crisis in safety, a crisis in commuter and stakeholder confidence, and a crisis in funding.

No one is more disheartened than I with the current unacceptable state of affairs.

I've spent 21 years of my life working on Metro-related issues, first as a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, then as chairman, and now as a Member of this body.

I think Congress has to provide resources to beef up that effort and to help restore American confidence.