Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I also rise in very strong support of this amendment. The interstate highway system was established in the 1950s, and it has served this country very well. The Congress is very proud of what it has done. But transportation has evolved. We have other responsibilities. We need to be concerned about the traffic congestion that we are generating, the deteriorating air quality, the loss of open space, and, as some other of our colleagues have said, an obesity epidemic among our youth. This Enhancement Program is one of the most popular aspects of our entire transportation program, because it encourages communities and individuals to be creative, to take initiative, to convert old, abandoned rail lines to trails. Rails to Trails is exciting. It has given people other opportunities when they might spend much of their weekend in an automobile to go bicycling, jogging, walking along trails. It has done so much across the country. And it is transportation oriented. But most importantly, it is community oriented. That is key. That is really what this is about. Communities have an opportunity to have some input into how the billions of dollars in road projects are used, to enhance their quality of life. At one point, 90 percent of our Nation's schoolchildren walked to school. Today, less than 10 percent do.”