Political Quotes

“It was my impression that this House had put an end to earmarks, and yet the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill contains $125 million solely for the benefit of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, also known as WMATA. This is just a fraction, mind you, of the $1.5 billion that Congress intends to give the D.C. Metro system over a 10-year period. This is not just your everyday average earmark. The Heritage Foundation has dubbed this subsidy ``the largest earmark in American history.'' So I have an amendment here at the desk, and it is very simple. It simply eliminates this earmark that has received subsidies since 2008. At a time of record budget deficits and debt, the American people cannot afford to provide yet again another earmark, another special subsidy, especially when you take into consideration the fact that the D.C. Metro already receives funds from a variety of other Federal sources, from other Federal Transit Administration grants and programs. Also, you add to that, given the performance of this agency, I find it absolutely astounding that the American people should want to give even more of their hard-earned cash to this agency. In addition to daily service interruptions, lax management, and poor general performance, Metro has a significant record of wasting money.…”