New York officials have pushed for years in Congress for the money to build an express train directly linking the southern end of Manhattan to Queens and Long Island. Conservatives in Congress have resisted on the grounds that it costs too much and would set a bad precedent for other cities.

That disagreement led to a testy exchange Friday between Schumer and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

"The tragedy of 9/11, there are other tragedies. I mean Katrina was certainly a terrible tragedy, there are other tragedies that can hit. Obviously we had the tornadoes, you know, that hit," Ensign said at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, according to a transcript provided by Schumer's office.

At that point, Schumer interrupted, but Ensign continued: "People will argue, 'well, you did it for New York City, you should do it for other places.'"

Schumer took umbrage at any comparison of the Sept. 11 attacks to tornadoes or natural disasters.

"It's not fair to New York, it's not fair to America, it's not even fair to the war on terrorism," the New York Democrat said.

The exchange was the latest reminder of the disagreement that has kept Congress from approving $2 billion in tax breaks toward the construction of the $6 billion rail link. New York officials contend it should be passed to make up for tax breaks that were part of the $20 billion Sept. 11 aid package to the city but went unused.

The rail link measure has passed the finance committee and now awaits a vote by the full Senate.

Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said: "As a fiscal conservative committed to accountability and balancing the budget, this provision is the first of its kind and people may take advantage of it at the expense of the taxpayer."