Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Chair, the amendment I authored with my good friends Congressman Price, Congressman Quigley and Congressman Butterfield will increase funding for FTA Technical Assistance and Training, returning them to their 2014 levels.

The technical assistance and training dollars made available by this amendment will help increase mobility for people with disabilities and older adults. By providing this assistance to our transit systems and services, we can ensure they become more accessible for those who rely on them the most.

Easter Seals, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging and others have a long history of working with the FTA to provide training, technical assistance and support services to the transit industry, the elderly and peole with disabilities. It is critical for this work to continue, especially as more people age and more of those with disabilities seek to live as independently as possible.

For FTA to do this effectively, it must have adequate resources to support these technical assitance activities.

Accordingly, our amendment will increase funding by $2 million for FTA Technical Assistance and Training, restoring it to $5 million, which equals last year's levels.

Individuals with disabilities and older adults disproportionately rely on public transit to work, live, learn, and access recreation in their communities. I ask that my colleagues support this amendment, which will provide immeasurable benefits to all those it serves.

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