Who Represents Rochester in Congress - Not Gutknecht but McCollum

After seeing in July 21st The Free Press story on DM&E safety record, a reference was made to Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican and fiscal hawk, who called the loan an "inappropriate use of federal dollars" in a House floor speech. He urged lawmakers to contact Transportation Department officials to "put the brakes on this runaway locomotive."

I wanted to check the Congressional Record for his complete remarks (see below).

In doing so, I found a Minnesota Representative who seems to care more about Rochester than our current elected Representative.
"Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to an unprecedented federal loan that is fraught with risk, would enrich a private company at public expense and threatens the people of my state, Minnesota "Why does the DM&E need to seek this massive federal support?
Could it be that private sector investors who have a fiduciary responsibility to invest soundly know a boondoggle when they see one?
Unfortunately, it appears the DM&E has been far more successful in attracting Members of Congress who seem willing to ignore their responsibility to the American people to ask the tough questions and demand protections and accountability.
It is not Congress’ role to be the lender of last resort for high risk, private sector boondoggles.
This is all the more true considering the threat the DM&E project poses to Minnesota. "The proposed DM&E line would send dozens of mile-long coal trains through the heart of Rochester, Minnesota every day. Any threat to Rochester’s continued growth is a serious concern for Minnesota since it is one of the fastest growing cities in the state and an anchor of Minnesota’s high-tech economy.
"Wrapping a profit driven scheme in the thin veneer of public good, the DM&E and its supporters in Congress are pushing a bad deal for Minnesota and imposing a financial risk upon America’s taxpayers that is irresponsible and unjustifiable.
The federal government does need to make major new investments in transportation infrastructure, but investments consistent with our national goals and in a transparent process that allows Congress to conduct necessary oversight and stewardship of scarce tax dollars.
Public dollars should support taxpayer priorities, not the whims of one company and their patrons in Congress. As is too often the case today, Congress has had no opportunity for oversight, no opportunity to ask hard questions of the DM&E and protect taxpayers from one corporation’s sweetheart deal that smells worse by the day. This $2.5 billion loan to the DM&E should not be allowed take place and taxpayers in Minnesota and across the United States should be outraged at this pork barrel corporate welfare giveaway."
http://www.mccollum.house.gov/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC={...4-829B-935C582BABA3}
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So why does Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum recognize the financial inappropriateness of this pork barrel project and yet First District Congressman Gil Gutknecht and Senate candidate Mark Kennedy fail to appreciate the fiscal consequences ?
If you portray yourself as a fiscal hawk, why isn’t Jeff Flake your role model ? He regularly issues “Egregious Earmark of the Week” on his website. http://flake.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=47372
For more on Flake versus Gutknecht definition of fiscal responsibility, see http://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/71010411/m/217101253
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Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Speaker, last year's highway authorization bill, better known as SAFETEA-LU, which brought us the bridge to nowhere, seems to be a gift that keeps on giving. It has now cleared the path for a program that may set a standard for fiscal mismanagement and favoritism by the Federal Government. Thanks to changes made to the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing, or RRIF, program in SAFETEA-LU, the administration is considering awarding one of the largest loans to a private company in the history of the United States. This would be a $2.5 billion loan to the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroads, or DM&E, a loan larger than the Chrysler bail-out. SAFETEA-LU expanded the loan authority of the RRIF program from $3.5 billion to $35 billion and removed any prohibition on the size of any single loan, paving the way for the DM&E loan application. If drastically expanding the program's loan authority opened the door for DM&E, a handful of other changes to the program all but drive the loan application home. Mr. Speaker, the RRIF program is on the verge of being used to provide a competitive advantage. It is inappropriate for the taxpayers to finance it. H5495
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/queryhttp://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SD_DME_MAYO_SDOL...OME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT