Political Quotes

“let me just say this legislation has passed the House freestanding before. This establishes an independent inspector general's office for WMATA and puts Federal representation on the WMATA board for the first time in history, along with local representation, and it requires dedicated local matches, something the current legislation doesn't do. We have one choice, we can make Metro safer or put it at greater risk, and the choice is ours, and I urge adoption of the amendment. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority was created by an act of Congress--Public Law 89-744--in 1966. Since that time, Congress has authorized billions of dollars for WMATA on several occasions, including reauthorizations in 1969, 1979 and 1990. All of these reauthorizations, including the one we are considering here today, have been based on the congressional finding from the National Capital Transportation Act of 1960, signed into law by President Eisenhower as Public Law 86-669, that an ``improved transportation system for the National Capital region is essential for the continued and effective performance of the functions of the Government of the United States.'' To call into question the ethics of Members who support the reauthorization of Federal funding for an agency created by Congress more than four decades ago illustrates the absurdity of the majority's newly instated rule on congressional earmarks.”