mr. cummings and mr. boardman indicated, and with an aging population, higher gasoline prices, and the total instability of the fuel resources, highway and aviation congestion, millions of more travelers will choose to ride the train if the service is available and dependable. amtrak workers are prepared and well trained to provide services to our customers, but for us to succeed, congress must provide amtrak with consistent and predictable multiyear funding for modernization and capacity upgrades beyond reorganization what amtrak really needs is dramatic increases in capital investments. amtrak's next generation plan for the northeast corridor is outstanding. it will cut the transit time in half between washington and new york, as well as between new york and boston. capital spending to increase speeds and upgrade amtrak's infrastructure is the ticket to transporting americans in a cost-effective and energy efficient manner. we in labor are amtrak's partners. we urge this committee to allow amtrak the la

mr. cummings: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers on this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. farenthold: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i want to take this one final opportunity to urge my colleagues to support the hatch act modernization act of 2012. we've heard from speakers on both sides of the aisle, indicating some of the absurd results that we have seen as a result of this act, none more glaring than the officer whose k-9 partner was prohibited from running for office. with that, and all the other examples, i think it's clear we need to support passage of s. 2170. i see the chairman has -- has asked for some time. if my colleague on the other side of the aisle doesn't on, i would like to -- object, i would like to yield the chairman, mr. issa, two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. issa: i thank the speaker and i want to thank my colleagues and particularly my friend, mr. clay.

mr. cummings: yes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cummings: thank you very much. today i'm incredibly pleased to congratulate my dear colleague for her aessential to the chair of the senate appropriations committee. the senator's commitment to our great state is undeniable. she has worked tirelessly throughout her prestigious career to serve her fellow marylanders first as a social worker and now as one of the most influential members of the united states senate. the senator is a leader that maryland and truly our nation can be proud of. she was the first woman elected to the senate who was not preceded by her husband or father and has continued breaking barriers ever since. this trend continued yesterday when she became the very first female senator in the history of our nation to become the chair of a powerful appropriations committee. i'm honored and proud to serve alongside her here in the united states congress and i look forward to continuing to work together with her for the betterment of our nation. the speaker pro tempore: fo

mr. cummings. i want to thank the witnesses. making a record is an important part of the process. each of you has brought an insight, mr. butkus, even though you don't have a ph.d. behind your name, your humble us and your recognition that your continued dedication to a clean sports added more than 0 science can add to the human side of this hearing. for our scientists, i want to thank you for beginning the process of making it clear that a number, a contract in a testing regime has to occur and can occur and has occurred in most of the rest of the sports world. so again i want to thank you for your time as we go into the holiday season and we are adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the brookings institution posting a forum this morning on the future of homeownership. speakers include banc of america ceo brian moynihan. that is why on c-span at 10:00 eastern. >> the white house was very controversial as most things in america were. there was competition, he submitted a design for a palace, america having a palace, it was not p

mr. cummings? >> mr. behm, one of the chief concerns in managing high-speed rail grant programs, some of the money that was intended to stimulate the economy through these projects has not actually been delivered due to failure to complete service outcome agreements. it is one thing to apply for and receive grants, but quite another to get the job done. so i'm particularly concerned about the confusion of the implementation of these projects. the fra says they have made great strides in this regard since the igs audit was completed. so, can you tell us if they have taken all appropriate action to ensure that these projects finally get underway? and what else would need to be done? >> well, i think it was, one thing we report -- we point out is it was very important that the fra, and we thought was a great thing that they did to require the agreements to be reached before the funds were obligated. it's those agreements that ultimately ensured that the federal investment that is being made is actually going

mr. cummings started on. if you were to look below the current level that you, the threshold, the very conservative threshold, is it likely some of those would not test positive, are, in fact -- in other words, i want to understand not only is it a lightning question, but isn't it true that in some cases, because it's such a short window, basically, somebody dopes three days before, you're seeing it, but you're not considering it a false; is that correct? >> that's correct. i mean, the threshold has been set intentionally very high, and when you do that you accept a number of what would be false negatives. people are using it, but you say you are willing to exclude that so we don't get anyone having a false positive. >> a quick follow-up. it means under the current testing, they can juice in the off, off season and get away with it? this is a relatively limited testing period in which they are really only tested during the playing season, if you will; isn't that correct? in other words, it's not year round te

mr. cummings, the states cannot afford this. we don't have the money. so the mta is open to partnerships as long as unions and worker rights are protected and all the rights that have put if place for the protection of workers, the environment, pension and other rights. investing now in world class high-speed rail would pack a double punch. it would create high-paying jobs and spur economic development trout the program. -- throughout the program. we are wrong overdue for high-speed rail, and it's time to put this country on the right track. i thank the committee for drawing attention to the importance of high-speed rail, and i look forward to the day when high-speed passenger rail is operating in the northeast corridor. in closing, mr. chairman and ranking member, if we really support high-speed rail, then projects that we fund have to be successful, and they have to have profitable. right now the northeast corridor is profitable. it is the only corridor that is profitable in the whole nation. so investing in high-speed rail now would boom. my colleagu

mr. cummings started on. if you were to look below the current levels, the conservative threshold, is unlikely some of those would not test positive and are doping tax not only the lightning question but in some cases, because it is such a short window, some the dopes three days before, you are seeing it but you're not considering it defaults? >> that is correct. the threshold has been set very high. when you do that, you are accepting a number of false negatives. people are using it but you are willing to exclude that's who we do not get anyone having a false positive. >> it also means that under the current testing, and they could juice in the off-season and get away with it. this is a testing period during the playing season. not year-round testing. >> i am not totally familiar with what the nfl does. 90% of our tests have been no notice, out of competition. >> this one is less aggressive. there we go. >> thank you for conducting. the nfl players association raised questions about the science that underlie