chairman and a ranking member mica, members of the committee. certainly it is an honor to appear here before you today to discuss the progress in implementing the american recovery and reinvestment act. in addition to putting people back to work, the recovery act also sets the stage for one of the most significant new initiatives of president obama, vice president biden, secretary lahood. and that is the development of high-speed rail in america. fra postal appropriation in fiscal year 2008 was approximately $1.5 billion. the recovery act appropriated $9.3 billion over and above the $1.7 billion appropriation for fiscal year 2009. despite the significant new responsibility, fra takes great pride in the fact that we have met or exceeded every one of the milestones set for us in the recovery act. the first significant recovery act milestone for f r a was the obligation of $1.3 billion in capital funds to amtrak within 30 days the announcement. that milestone was met on march 17th. over and above the obligation of those funds, amtrak has approved s

mica, for yielding. quickly i want to say that individuals with top secret security clearance go through an extensive background check and investigation every five years. friends, family members, co-workers, even neighbors are interviewed during this process. this amendment recognizes the expansive nature of the top secret investigation and reduced risk individuals. for these reasons i support this amendment. urge its adoption. the chair: all time for debate has expired. the question is on the amendment as modified. offered by the gentleman from florida, mr. mica. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. as modified. the chair: it is now time to consider amendment number 4 printed in house report number 111-127. for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? mr. bachus: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 4, printed in house report number 111-127

mica. mr. mica: if i would -- the chair: the gentleman from florida is recognized. mr. mica: if i would i'd like to be able to close. i think our side has the right in opposition. the chair: the gentleman from pennsylvania has the right to close. the gentleman is correct. the gentleman from pennsylvania reserves the balance of his time. mr. dent: i reserve. the chair: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. castor: i'd like to thank the chair of the committee, mr. thompson, from mississippi for his leadership on this issue and the professional homeland security staff who are the committee's supportive of the of amendment. i'd also ask unanimous consent to submit for the record letters of support from the transportation trades department, the florida ports council, port everglades, port manatee, port of miami, the tampa port authority and the passenger vessel association. the chair: the gentlewoman's request will be covered by general leave. miscastor: i urge my colleagues to support the amendment and come down on the side of economic growth in a time of economic disaster. to

as the subcommittee knows the members of mica have requested capital assistance from treasury. as we have explained, we do not need help to meet our obligations to pay projected claims on our exists loans. instead we're asking for assistance in order to increase the number of loans we are able to ensure while maintaining strong capital reserves. every billion dollars of capital mortgage insurers hold translates into approximately 100 billion of new funding for home purchases, more than 650,000 new mortgage loans. a $10 billion program would increase market capacity by enabling 6.5 million loans to be insured. such a government investment would dramatically benefit the housing market and enable more borrowers to realize the dream of homeownership on terms they can afford and sustain. so the bottom line is that with additional capital, the mortgage insurance companies can ensure more loans. we hope it is forthcoming. in conclusion, i want to thank you for the opportunity to testify today. the private mortgage insurance industry continues to absorb risk just like it is designed to

mica was there to dissipate in that event.u mentioned positive train control, investing some $10 million, ptc, that's under the recovery act? the. >> yes, sir. >> could you list for us the company or companies that are producing ptc technology and how many jobs are resulting from network? >> the specificity of the ptc i may not be able to give you the jobs. the total amount when we put this together the first year was going to be 4600 jobs for all what we're going to be the first year, and the total for the whole package in two years was 8000 jobs. so i don't have it broken down that way today that we can provide that to you. on the positive train control, we are doing about three different things here. one is that we are extending our access system which is the advanced civil enforcement train control that exists already on the northeast corridor. another is that we are expanding the ici s. michigan line where we get a system with illinois and with lockheed martin. and then on the platform that today will be the gps base, the

mica has an existing social studies class said he would like to introduce them. they thought this was it. they thought this was recess. when someone starts talking, it is time to leave. >> sorry, mr. babbitt. i want the important transportation officials to know that you are being closely observed today. there are some high-paid lobbyists out there. we did attentively listened to the opening of your statement. the st. james middle school students are here from virginia. we thank you for bringing these young people. we hope you enjoyed a few minutes of this important testimony. i hope you will get the opportunity to see how a congressional hearing is chaired by mr. oberstar and participation by other members of the committee. thank you for being with us. >> i want to go back to let you know that your congressman is the senior chair of the committee. the epistle of james is the epistle of works. [laughter] by your works, ye shall be saved. you're here. go back and read the epistle of state james. then relate it to what we're doing in this room, putting people to wo

mica, mr. duncan and i and all the committees on both sides have been working on a new program, not just for the next two months. not just for the end of this fiscal year. not just for filling the hole in the trust fund. but for six years to create 6 million jobs. and we've had no outrage from the administration, no participation, no discussion. and i am personally offended by that. >> thank you, mr. chairman. it goes without saying that you have, i think i can speak for the entire committee, you have the support of the entire committee on not only your efforts, and as we have said many times there is no doubt where we need to go. i think it's important to make that clear. i also want to commend the german from maine because i think he brought up a very, very important point. i don't want to be the one who throws a bucket of cold water. even though that's pretty evident on not the first. but with the exception of the money spending on the stimulus money on transportation, the stimulus has been

mica, as well as mr. young and mr. oberstar and ms. brown, for all their help in putting this resolution together, getting it to the floor today and urge my colleagues to support house resolution 484 and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 484. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the resolution is agreed to. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? ms. waters: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 502. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 502, resolution recognizing national home ownership month and the importance of home ownership in the united states. the speaker pro temp

investment that has already begun and if increased as recommended by chairman oberstar and ranking member mica and this committee we must set that bar incredibly high. governor rendell has commented that our country is ready for and must have truly efficient passenger travel, trains that are capable of speeds of 185 miles an hour or more. when president kennedy declared this country to put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960's he knew that his bold aggressive promise required a new culture, a new mindset and ultimately a new administration of nasa to become a reality. this kind of example is something that i think we had should be mindful of today. don't misunderstood me. i have complete confidence in the united states department of transportation and secretary lahood, his colleagues at the federal railroad administration have -- a team including the administration. we have not had a chance to work together. and with karen ray, we had a pleasure of being with her in houston at one of the outreach sessions. they're fully capable of developing the system throughout the nation. in order

mica: how much time has left? the chair: the gentleman has two minutes left and the gentleman from florida has 2 1/2 minutes left. the gentleman from florida. mr. mica: i'd like to yield to 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from michigan, mr. ehlers, also a co-sponsor of this amendment. the chair: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for a minute and a half. mr. ehlers: some may ask, why do this? just look at the history and the record of the t.s.a. and some of the things they've done. how many of you rememberever we flew into washington national airport we had to sit in our seats for 30 minutes before landing and we had to sit in the seats for 30 minutes after takeoff? a totally nonsensical rule -- >> will the gentleman yield on that? mr. ehlers: i will not. i do not have the time. mr. defazio: well, the gentleman -- mr. ehlers: i have the time. the point is they make nonsensical rules that are totally unresponsive to our efforts to change it and that rule was not changed until i offered an amendment on the rul