Patty Murray

This morning we are holding our first hearing of the year on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) budget for fiscal year 2012.

I am concerned about the House budget that was passed.

It's about investing smarter and more effectively.

We believe the deadline can and should be met.

I appreciate both of your testimonies today, and I just want to reiterate that safety is a concern to everyone.

Yes, you will have an opportunity to submit questions. Any member will. Thank you very much.

Well, I appreciate the comments from both of you. I want to reiterate that rail security going forward is going to be very important.

The recent focus in the Congress on budget cuts has created a race to the bottom that will make it difficult to continue those investments.

Rail offers an environmentally sound and efficient alternative to move people and goods.

We cannot put together a Federal budget that will put our fragile economy and millions of jobs at risk.

I agree that leaders here in Washington, DC need to tighten our belts and work together to get our Nation's debt under control.

I appreciate both of your testimony on all those complex budget issues.

How soon would we be looking at search and rescue?

Those are issues we are dealing with in every program here, and we are trying to be sober about what we can realistically do.

So we need to make some tough decisions here, and we will need your input as we do that.

We do need to know from you what programs you will cut in order to deal with that cost increase

What about additional security checks?

I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses about how we can reclaim our role as the world's leader in rail and get our economy back on track.

Building more and wider roads won't be enough.

I know families in my home State of Washington deeply value our Amtrak service, the Cascade Line, which just set record ridership for the second year in a row.

The budget is not going to get any better, and we need to be able to show exactly what we are doing and why.

We are now at a pivotal moment for our Nation's transportation policy.

We need to see realistic alternatives to the kind of slash and burn politics that have taken over our budget debates.

It is about sharing data and working more efficiently, a good long-term goal, and we support that.

I do not disagree with the long-term projections at all. I totally am where you are.