Menendez Statement on Securing Federal Funding for Gateway in Omnibus
Menendez Statement on Securing Federal Funding for Gateway in Omnibus
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate’s mass transit subcommittee, today released the following statement after the omnibus spending bill that includes funding for the Gateway Project was signed into law:
“We kept Gateway alive in the face of a Trump veto threat, a hostile House Speaker, and a DOT Secretary fighting us at every turn. This has been a difficult process—only made more complicated by petty, vindictive, partisan politics that threatened to derail the country’s single most important transportation project—but I am pleased after hard-fought negotiations and creative problem-solving, that Senators Schumer, Booker, and I have secured enough funding in the federal spending bill to keep Gateway on track.
“Specifically, we were able to provide $541 million this year in additional resources to Amtrak and transit formula grants that the States of New Jersey and New York can tap exclusively for Gateway without interference from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Plus, we not only saved successful, discretionary, transportation grant programs that were on the Trump chopping block, we increased their funding, allowing Gateway to compete for up to another $2.9 billion.
“Failure to replace the more-than-a-century-old Portal Bridge and the crumbling Hudson River rail tunnels that keep the entire Northeast Corridor and one-fifth of our nation’s economy moving is not an option. Just last week, New Jerseyans got a taste, when the Portal Bridge got stuck in the open position, of the commuter chaos that would occur if the bridge or one of the tunnels were to go down before they are replaced.
“While I’d hope the Trump Administration would simply support Gateway, I am unwavering in my commitment and will not stop until we secure the federal funding needed to see this important project to its completion.”
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