March 9, 2005: NORTON IN COLLOQUY ON HOUSE FLOOR GETS PROMISE FOR HELP TO MEET METRO'S GROWING PAINS

Washington, DC—Speaking for the entire region, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today engaged in a colloquy with the leadership of the House Transportation Committee on the House floor about the urgent need to address dramatic increases in ridership on the Metro subway and bus system, driven by federal employees, necessitating more support from the federal government. During the colloquy (discussion between Members), which occurred during the debate on the Transportation Equity Act (TEA-LU), Norton got the Transportation Committee, on which she is a senior member, to agree to work with the region to find appropriate ways to maintain Metro so that it meets today’s needs. She said that the most immediate problem requiring attention is the need for additional rail cars.

In her statement Norton said that Metro’s problems affect “every office of the Senate and House and every federal agency,” because Metro is “indispensable to the daily operations of the federal government.” She said that federal employees, who account for almost 50 percent of the rush hour riders, are the biggest users of Metro.

The Congresswoman said that Metro’s homeland security benefit to the government was dramatically demonstrated when it moved hundreds of thousands of employees on 9/11. “However, the large investment of the federal government in helping to build this system is at high risk because WMATA riders have grown so rapidly- by one-third in just the past eight years,” Norton said. "I ask that the Committee work with me and regional members from Virginia and Maryland to find ways to help the region bear the burden of expanded federal use of the system.”