forward and i think could go right into amtrak. it can have a lot of great results, and i hope that it is one of the first projects that can get some of the stimulus funding that would be available, and i think it's great that she's here to talk about the national system and i just want to recognize governor rendell who is also someone i've worked with a long time and his brother is actually my constituent, and also a good friend and someone that with hill i have worked in dallas and texas, so we have a lot of interest here and i look forward to hearing from the witnesses and it's a very distinguished panel. thank you very much, stir chairman. .. forgo

additional opening statements and we'll try to deal with this expeditiously and have just five-minute rounds or six-minute rounds maybe to give just an extra minute for use as the members see it. i'd like to introduce the witness panel. a good friend and governor ed rendell of pennsylvania. just like the people of new jersey, our neighbors in pennsylvania rely on trains on a daily basis. governor rendell has been governor rendell has been a vigorous advocate for passenger rail and a recall clearly his satisfaction but his energy and getting a new rail link between philadelphia and harrisburg and met with almost immediate success and that's the kind of story we expect to see constantly. in the honorable joseph szabo, the fra administrator, the first

time you have been before this committee since your confirmation and we're looking for to hearing how you are working to develop first class passenger rail service and your head and heart are behind that. and the honorable judge robert eckels, chairman of the texas high-speed rail and transportation company -- corporation. susan fleming director of infrastructure issues hipaa gao, and tom skancke, commissioner of the national surface transportation policy and revenue steady commission, president and ceo the tom skancke company. and we thank you all for being here and it governor rendell if you would please take five minutes to summarize, i try to meet the target of weekend. >> mr. chairman, you forgot

mr. joseph boardman. >> my god, i look good show. and fire that person. [laughter] that is what happens taking care of relationships. we are glad to have you, joe, you have done a great job at amtrak. i'm sorry and we thank you, governor for the reminder. we will start to offset the five minutes. >> thank you mr. chairman and ranking member and all the members, it's a pleasure to be here. i think this is a momentous opportunity for the country and i will analogized to the opportunity we had when we built the federal highway system but we need to do it right. i am here today wearing three hats as governor of pennsylvania, chairman of the national governors' association and as co-chairman of building america's future, an organization dedicated to improving and investing in infrastructure but i started with governor schwarzenegger and

mayor bloomberg bipartisan organization and we believe that promoting inner-city rail is a key priority for america's overall infrastructure plan. mr. chairman, you talk about the success pennsylvania has had a teamed up with amtrak we've invested $145 million and improve the time on philadelphia to harrisburg line from a hundred 20 minutes to 90 minutes and in two short years our right ship has gone from 898,000 to nearly 1.2 million as a result of that change. if we build it right people will write it, i have absolutely no doubt about that. there's been similar progress around the country and a lot of emphasis on doing what we did. the house during line has been approved and i want to talk about that and a second, but i believe as we look at inner-city passenger rail be can't be content as a nation to build a

110-mile systems. if we do that we are absolutely consigning marceau's to second-class citizenship compared to asia and europe. we have to find a way to build and finance to high-speed rail. as you know that train in shanghai runs at 268 m.p.h. appear, japanese bullet trains are at 170, the french is at 160. we can't be content to just build on an ordinary system. what will an amtrak -- fra's do in helping our climate control. will create jobs for our citizens, a jet building out orders for american factories. the mistress the