CA High-Speed Rail Caucus: Republican’s Attempts to Block High Speed Rail Would Derail Safety and Economy

Washington, DC – Reps. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), and Laura Richardson, Co-Chairs of the CA High-Speed Rail Caucus, released the following statement after the House of Representatives voted 239 to 185 to pass Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-CA) amendment preventing funding for California's High Speed Rail project:

"Republicans have made it clear they will do anything they can to kill California's High Speed Rail project, and the Denham amendment is one more example of how thoughtless partisanship would hurt all of California. That's because, in addition to preventing high speed rail funding, it could also cut off rail related grant funding for projects like track safety and system upgrades in California. This short-sightedness would limit federal funds for California used to upgrade our transportation infrastructure so we can promote commerce and spur job creation.

"The facts for building high speed rail are not in dispute. Without it, we will need to spend more than twice the amount of the high speed rail project building over 4,000 new freeway lane miles, 115 new airport gates and 4 new runways just to keep up with California's population growth. By passing this amendment today, Republicans are pushing a job killing agenda focused on wasting billions in lost worker productivity and energy consumed tied up in highway and airport congestion—money that could be better used growing our economy."

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