Congressman Cohen Receives Plum Transportation Subcommittee Assignments

I am very pleased with my subcommittee appointments on the Transportation Committee. We will play a vital role in shaping the upcoming American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that President-elect Obama is supporting. We will work hard with the new administration to reach the goal of creating and saving between 3 and 4 million jobs in the next two years by, among other things, repairing the country’s crumbling infrastructure.

As the home to FedEx and five Class 1 Railroads, Memphis is known as the world’s distribution center, so I am proud that we’ll have full representation in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees many of the federal issues of importance to our community. We need continued and sustained investment from the federal government in our transportation infrastructure to continue to attract businesses and capital to Memphis and Shelby County, and that will be one of my biggest priorities during my second term.

Furthermore, this is one of the most important times to be on the Transportation Committee in recent memory as the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) expires on September 30, 2009. In reauthorizing this act, the members of our committee will be responsible for authorizing the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit for presumably the next five years.

The surface transportation network plays a critical role in federal, state and local economic activities. Enactment of the 2009 Highway reauthorization is essential to allow critical projects to move ahead, relieving traffic congestion, enhancing highway safety, and creating badly needed jobs for America. The bill will provide a critical boost to highway and transit construction as we begin the process of rebuilding America.

Contact:
Marilyn Dillihay, Press Secretary, 202-225-3265
Charlie Gerber, Communications Assistant, 202-225-3265