September 10, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 156 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page S5529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Transit

  Mr. President, finally, on transit, COVID-19 has changed nearly every 
aspect of American life, but Senate Republicans and the White House 
only want to address the barest sliver of the problems in our country, 
so this week I have been pointing out many of the things that the 
Republican proposal leaves out.
  Yesterday, I spoke about the plight of live venues and the need to 
save that essential part of our culture and our economy. Today I want 
to address another topic that has received far too little attention 
from the Senate Republicans: transit.
  Public transportation systems are the lifeblood of great American 
cities. Regional networks connect workers to jobs and consumers and 
businesses. As anyone can imagine, during the pandemic, while transit 
authorities like the MTA have continued round-the-clock operations to 
serve the people, ridership on public transportation has plummeted, 
leaving them in a state of crisis. God forbid if public transportation 
were forced to shutter or drastically reduce operations, like on Long 
Island, where they rely on the Long Island Rail Road. The damage to 
regional economies and to the national economy would be severe. But 
there is not a penny--not one single penny--in the Republican bill to 
help public transit systems or even help State and local governments, 
which fund a lot of the transit systems--not a penny.
  My Republican friends seem to look at this crisis through a narrow 
lens. Some of my colleagues have criticized Democrats for the 
outrageous idea of wanting to help our State governments and the 
essential public services they provide.
  I have news for our colleagues. These regional transit systems are 
mission critical to the national economy. It is not just a New York 
problem or a New Jersey problem or an Illinois problem, it is a 
national crisis.
  The Metropolitan Transit Authority alone carries about 40 percent of 
the Nation's transit riders and drives as much as 10 percent of the 
national GDP--10 percent. The facts argue for heavy investment in 
public transportation systems to stanch the bleeding and jump-start the 
economy when the pandemic wanes. The lack of investment in transit 
systems in the Republican legislation is unacceptable.