Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment that will spur local job creation through federally-funded transit projects nationwide. Specifically, this amendment would provide the necessary flexibility for transit agencies to implement geographically targeted hiring and procurement preferences. My amendment will help to ensure construction and operations jobs contribute to the local economic development and of cities and towns where the transportation projects exist, instead of outsourcing these new jobs. Flexibility to implement local hire policies will also provide local and State agencies the ability to address unemployment in our hardest-hit regions. For example, the Los Angeles Transit Corridor Light Rail Line is currently under construction in Los Angeles. This project is expected to be a significant economic engine for development, generating an estimated 7,000 jobs during its 5-year construction period. Los Angeles Metro, our local transit agency, would like to encourage construction contractors to hire within the local community in order to help address unemployment in the area. However, according to current regulations, local transit agencies are restricted from implementing local hiring and procurement policies for federally-funded transportation projects, even when the vast majority of the project funds are State or locally generated. This is a commonsense amendment.…”