"We all know what our financial situation is."
"Just last month, news came from Washington. Senator Warren, in Congress, personally axed two critical budget allocations for us here in Erie City."
He pulled two crumpled photocopies from his pocket.
"The first is a notice from the Federal Transportation Department, suspending the special appropriation for dredging the Erie Port channel. Twelve million US dollars."
"The second is a letter from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, deferring the release of the soil remediation fund for Erie City's heavy industrial zone. Eight million US dollars."
Smith crumpled the two papers into a ball and slammed it onto the ground.
"Twenty million US dollars! A full twenty million!"
"This money was supposed to dredge our port so we could accommodate larger ships! It was supposed to clean up that contaminated land so we could attract investment and build new factories!"
