[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1293]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TRANSIT FLEXIBILITY

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to highlight an issue of 
importance to many of our Nation's small- and medium-sized public 
transportation systems. Outdated population limits established in law 
in the seventies have caused many of these transit agencies to lose 
flexibility in the way they spend Federal funds. As a result, many of 
these systems, approximately 110 to be exact, will be forced to 
dramatically scale back their operations, and that means not having a 
ride to work for thousands of riders.
  In the coming days, I plan to reintroduce the Transit System 
Flexibility Act. This bill will allow local officials flexibility in 
the way they spend their Federal funds and save them from having to 
shut down important bus routes. And it will not cost any additional 
taxpayer money.
  Madam Speaker, local officials know their own needs best. This is a 
sensible solution to an urgent problem, and I hope my colleagues who 
represent one of these 110 small transit systems will cosponsor the 
bill.

                          ____________________