"The President's budget is disappointing on many fronts, including his proposal to freeze our transit investment at last year's level, failing even to adjust for inflation. Transportation infrastructure is a vital investment in America's future, and the President's proposal will decrease real investment in transit. Investing in infrastructure, especially public transit, boosts our economy and enhances security.

Transit ridership is at record levels, due in part to the Federal commitment made in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 1998. As a result, transit systems are operating in every state in America, in urban, suburban, and rural areas, linking people to jobs, medical care, shopping, places of worship, and other essential services. Vibrant transit systems are also essential to our national security, as we saw during the evacuation of our major cities on September 11, 2001.

"And the demand is growing, as more and more communities are turning to transit to help them reduce congestion, create a cleaner environment, and spur economic growth. It is not surprising that increased investment in transit during the 1990s coincided with the longest peace-time economic boom in our nation's history.

"Decreasing our commitment to transit is another example of the President's failure to understand how to keep our citizens - and our economy - moving. Instead of helping all Americans through increased investment in transit, the President has decided to pursue a reckless fiscal policy that will provide large tax breaks to the extremely wealthy, leaving no millionaire behind."