(Washington, DC) Congresswoman Brown delivered the following statement:
“Today is a very sad day for the state of Florida. As the Ranking Member of the House Railroad subcommittee, I am more than disappointed in the Florida’s governor’s decision to return $2.4 billion in funding for a high speed rail system. Last week, Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica and I attended a previously scheduled listening tour to obtain input from Americans nationwide on the upcoming six year Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill. The hearing, which was jointly held with Senator Barbara Boxer and attended by several Members of the California congressional delegation, was widely attended and attracted a great deal of interest in the Los Angeles area. Sadly, I must admit that many of the California delegation members thanked Congressman Mica and me profusely for the high speed rail money Florida Governor Scott is about to hand over to other states.
Unfortunately, Florida’s governor is much more interested in politics than in creating jobs or improving the transportation system for Florida residents. Certainly, his decision will not do anything to bring down Florida’s 12% unemployment rate. Indeed, the high speed rail plan for Florida served as a true example of a successful public-private partnership and would have created tens of thousands of private sector jobs (Department of Transportation statistics say that for every $1 billion invested in transportation-infrastructure, 40,000 jobs are created); yet because of the governor’s decision, it will never have a chance to get off the ground.
I sincerely wish that Florida’s leadership had a similar mind set as those governing the state of California. In fact, not only has California proven to be a willing, enthusiastic partner with the federal government, but they have already created the bonding capacity to help make high speed rail a reality. It is more than sad that other states will receive the tens of thousands of quality high speed rail private sector related jobs previously headed to Florida, as well as the improved transportation and infrastructure capacity to move their residents more efficiently. I was recently in Salt Lake City, Utah, to see that city’s commuter rail system. This system, a light rail system known as “TRAX,” serves the entire Salt Lake Valley and an estimated 40,000 passengers daily.
Interestingly enough, this system was also initially funded by money ($300 million) returned to the federal government from the state of Florida. In the late 1990s after the state rejected federal transit funds destined for a Central Florida light rail system, the funding was later redirected to the SLC Valley.
Indisputably, President Obama and Transportation Secretary LaHood have done everything possible to make high speed rail a success for the state of Florida. Every single request made by the state, every concern, every issue – was addressed and remedied by the Department of Transportation. Secretary LaHood in fact even went so far as to grant the state two-one week extensions in an attempt to allay the governor’s concerns. I will formally request from the Transportation Secretary’s office to continue conducting the preliminary design and environmental impact study for the Orlando-Miami portion of the rail corridor.
I would like to thank President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senator Nelson, Congresswoman Castor, Congressman Mica, Orlando Mayor Dyer, Lakeland Mayor Fields and Tampa Mayor Iorio for all their hard work in trying to secure high speed rail for the state of Florida. I would also like to thank all of the stakeholders throughout the state of Florida for their efforts to make high speed rail an option for the state. Certainly, the governor’s decision today is a perfect example of the Biblical verse: ‘when there is no vision, the people perish.’ The difference between winners and losers is how we handle setbacks, yet one day I am certain that the state of Florida will have a high speed rail corridor running throughout the state.”