mister chairman, i want to assure you and mister schuster and ms. norton and mister defazio that the washington metropolitan delegation is united in its determination to ensure working with you that america's subway is a subway system second to none. thank you very much. >> thank you congressman boyer. next is congressman connolly. >> german grays, chairman schuster, ranking members norton and defazio, thank you for having us here today. i'm delighted to join with my colleagues mister hoyer and mister delaney. i serve as the ranking member of the governing operations committee of the oversight and government reform committee which held its own hearings on metro and the weight of the plaza tragedy. the challenges facing metro are significant and i welcome collaboration between our two committees to ensure robust oversight over metro's management of federal dollars and adherence to see federal safety standards. i've spent the last 22 years working in metro. first is a member of the fairfax board of supervisors whereas german i made appointments to the