|
<home> -- <press releases> News from Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo Congresswoman Bordallo Meets with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 16, 2009 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo today met with the Honorable Ray LaHood, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Before being appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Secretary LaHood served as a Member of Congress from Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2009. Then Congressman LaHood travelled to Guam in January 2008 as a member of a Congressional Delegation led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland to view preparations for the military build-up and hear from local leaders. The meeting was held at Congresswoman Bordallo’s office in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The meeting focused on transportation infrastructure issues facing Guam including the Port of Guam’s application for Recovery Act funds for modernization and expansion. The Congresswoman and the Secretary also discussed funding for other infrastructure projects including the 2030 Guam Transportation Plan and NextGen technology for the Guam International Airport. “Secretary LaHood and I discussed ways the Department of Transportation could assist the Government of Guam in improving our island’s transportation infrastructure,” Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo said today. “Secretary LaHood has visited Guam and has seen the needs of our local community first-hand and I believe that this experience will help him make the right decisions for Guam. I expressed my strong support for the Port Authority of Guam’s application for funding from the TIGER grant for port modernization and expansion. I also reiterated the need for the Department to utilize the authorities granted to the Maritime Administration from a provision I sponsored in the 2009 defense authorization bill. This arrangement between the Maritime Administration and the Port will help to facilitate the necessary improvements to ensure that port is not a chokepoint during major construction for the military build-up. I appreciate Secretary LaHood’s commitment to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to consider Guam International Airport as a primary location for new NextGen technology. I also expressed the need for continued interagency cooperation between the Government of Guam and the Department of Transportation to assist Guam in funding the Guam 2030 Transportation Improvement Plan. I look forward to working with Secretary LaHood on these important issues for Guam.” PHOTO CAPTION: Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo is joined by Secretary Ray LaHood of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. # # #
matthew.mateo@mail.house.gov or derek.mandell@mail.house.gov |
