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tv   [untitled]  CSPAN  June 26, 2009 1:00am-1:30am EDT

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federal requirements have been taken to a new level. we're going to have to dedicate additional staff to the record keeping and auditing required under these new procedures. i guess this is madison, wisconsin. they informed other locality about the difficulty of getting the money disbursed. unfortunately, it will not do much for job creation this year because the american recovery and reinvestment act requires piles of red tape to get federal funding. it will delay people going to work. i am just giving you a small sampling of what they are telling us as far as the difficulty in getting people to work. i have been home, folks. i have a lot of folks hurting. florida just went over 10%,
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double digit unemployment. nationally, we are at 9.4%. not one person asked me to come to washington and passed some more red tape. people want jobs and they want them now. finally, in this report -- actually, it is not in this report. we have distributed the numbers. the numbers were provided by dot. you can see the outlay, the unemployment rate, in each of the states. also, there is the amount of money that has been extended. on this particular chart, these are the top 10, highest unemployment states, including the district of and icolumbia.
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$11 million, folks, this is typical that we can i get people working. we can i get the stimulus money out. -- we cannot get the stimulus money out. we created it. we have to do something on this committee to figure a way to get people working and cut the red tape. right now, in the long term, there's reauthorization for the next six years. mr. babbitt is when to report on successes at the faa. i know they're trying. but their main problem is right there, congress. hopefully, we can figure a way
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to help you do your job and get this money out and quicker to get people to work faster. >> frankly, i have little sympathy for the complaints of the state dot's that are subjected to reporting requirements. that is the transparency. that is part of the oversight. we told them we were going to do this. we give them a mechanism by which to do this. the state of minnesota uses it. it is the size of my thumb. there is no lengthy documentation. it is all submitted
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electronically, instantaneously from the field. and every one of the 87 counties in the state of minnesota has a flash drive where they gather information. contractor's report daily into the dot. we supplied that technology. most dates have that. i have no sympathy for people who say -- most states have that. i have no sympathy for people to say, you have 100% funds? you have 100% responsibility to see what you're doing with it. you can do it instantaneously without additional paperwork. i want to hear what their complaints are. frankly, on the surface of it, i have little sympathy. our panel today consists of very distinguished administrators,
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the middle administrations of the department of transportation. we will begin with mr. babbitt. you are newly anointed. i do not think that is the word. >> probably not anointed. [laughter] good morning. i do welcome the opportunity to testify today on the faa's implementation of the american recovery and reinvestment act. my colleagues and i share the sense of urgency and purpose for the task that the president and congress have said for us. although the faa's share for the transportation programs is relatively modest at $1.3 million, it will have lasting benefits for our nation's
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aviation structure. congress appropriated $1.1 billion for individual airport owners for airport development in such areas as airways, a tax hit -- taxiways, a terminal buildings, and high priority safety equipment at airports. the remaining $200 million was provided for the faa's own facilities and equipment program to upgrade power and navigation systems and to modernize the air traffic facilities. as this committee is aware, the act sets for some specific time lines for project completion. more than half of the $1.1 billion made available for airport grants was required to be awarded out within 120 days of the act. that was last wednesday, june 17.
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i am very pleased to report that we not only meant that milestone, we have exceeded the milestone, and have awarded over $800 million, almost 70% of the met -- of the money allocated. it is out and head of deadline. two hundred 40 recovery act projects are underway or will be started within 40 days. -- two hundred 40 -- 240 recovery act projects are underway or will be started within 30 days. the faa's internal objective is to have 90% airport grant funding or $988 million awarded before the end of this fiscal year all told, we anticipate that $1.1 billion of the recovery act funding provided will create or sustain approximately 12,000 jobs over the next two years.
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that is supplemented by the amount of jobs created. we distributed funding to the airports under our existing allocation process. we use in national priority system to help guide our decisions. the projects or programs need to be -- this pays off ultimately because the project's construction can begin very shortly after grant awards. this results in a planned ready-to-go projects. >> may i interrupt for a moment. will the social studies class please hold for just a moment. [laughter] i am sorry.
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mr. mica has an existing social studies class said he would like to introduce them. they thought this was it. they thought this was recess. when someone starts talking, it is time to leave. >> sorry, mr. babbitt. i want the important transportation officials to know that you are being closely observed today. there are some high-paid lobbyists out there. we did attentively listened to the opening of your statement. the st. james middle school students are here from virginia. we thank you for bringing these young people. we hope you enjoyed a few minutes of this important
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testimony. i hope you will get the opportunity to see how a congressional hearing is chaired by mr. oberstar and participation by other members of the committee. thank you for being with us. >> i want to go back to let you know that your congressman is the senior chair of the committee. the epistle of james is the epistle of works. [laughter] by your works, ye shall be saved. you're here. go back and read the epistle of state james. then relate it to what we're doing in this room, putting people to work. >> and if you do not study hard, we will make you come back and sit through all the hearings. [laughter]
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>> thank you very much, class. [applause] >> now that you have regained her composure, thank you very much for that interruption. >> please proceed. >> i was looking forward to the increased scrutiny. i believe i was mentioning that, keeping with the intent of the law to create jobs throughout the state, the faa has monitored the allocation of the funding. as a result, the announced projects of this funding are represented in all 50 states, as well as puerto rico, an american simonamerican samoa, and other
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territories. we are putting it to work to replace airport towers, to replace and improve power systems and implement navigation and landing system components. while these projects may not be as visible to the public as the airport grant program, they are an important part of a functioning of the faa's operations. many facilities are showing signs of age. they are in need of repair or rehabilitation. we have allocated the funding to put $50 million to power systems at 90 different sites, $50 million for modernization programs, and the largest part, over $80 million, for replacement of three control
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towers and the modernization of three other tower sites. the act itself does not set a time when for the fnc fund, but we have set close to $50 million through june 17. we project an additional $30.2 million to be allocated at the end of the month. we plan to have the entire $200 million out by july of 2010. this, on its own, will support 300 new jobs. all of these projects are works that the agency had planned. this will accelerate the plan. it will provide needed improvement for our facilities sooner or ahead of schedule. we look forward to reaping the benefits of such projects.
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finally, not only did the president and secretary of food direct us to get this out into the economy to be fast and smart, we also have to be accountable. currently, the faa is making all of our funding information publicly available by posting the information on the f a recovery act website that has -- on the f a a recovery act website. this information is available to the public and includes the recovery act funds received. we are stepping up our project and financial management oversight as well. the managers in the field are planning more on-site inspections for the recovery act project. it has been our experience that the most effective oversight comes from a physical inspection of the work being done in the
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field. in addition, we will closely monitor payments to make sure that the recovery act funds are used appropriately and will use some of the administrative funding to hire an accounting firm to take a fresh look at the factors that we currently used to consider high-risk grantees. this will allow corrections in real time for any problems we see. the faa is proud for what we have accomplished to date. we are having millions of dollars in bids received lately. -- received daily. we are actually able to undertake more projects and plan and found more projects than originally anticipated. we thank you for your support in this effort. we will keep you informed on our projects. i will answer any questions you might have at the end. >> again, congratulations on
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your designation, on clearing the senate. we are glad to have you here. we know you have a long record of experience, hands on experience in real ribbing. welcome to larry hearing. it will be the first of many will have before this committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. certainly, it is an honor to sit here before you today to discuss progress in implementing the american recovery and reinvestment act. in addition to putting people back to work, the recovery act also sets the stage for one of the most significant new initiatives of president obama,
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vice president biden, and secretary lloyd. that is high-speed rail in america. -- secretary la hood. that is high-speed rail in america. the recovery act appropriated $9.3 billion over and above f r ra's intended in 2009. we take pride that we have met or exceeded every one of the milestones set for us in the recovery act. the first significant recovery act milestone was the obligation of $1.3 billion in capital funds to amtrak within 30 days of enactment. that milestone was met on march 17. over and above the obligation of
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those funds, amtrak has approved specific projects totaling $1.1 billion. the bulk of the funding awaiting final approval involves security investments in the department of homeland security is assisting. we anticipate the remaining projects covering the entire $1.3 billion will be approved within the next three weeks. amtrak is now turning approved projects into orders for materials and supplies and working on rebuilding its railroads. the amtrak president is a witness today. i will leave it to him to talk about the progress that amtrak is making with these dollars. let me talk about the president's high-speed intercity rail initiative. the obama administration believes that the transportation investment strategy must involve several strategic goals in the coming years, ensuring safe and
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efficient transportation stretches, building a foundation for economic competitiveness, promoting energy efficiency and environmental quality, and supporting interconnected livable communities. high-speed intercity passenger rail will address many of the strategic transportation goals. we are on track to achieve this vision in a timely manner using the same build out approach that european countries have used. through the grant guidance that was issued on time, we intended to develop merging and regional high-speed corridor services that exceed 110 miles per hour
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in corridors of 100 miles to 500 miles. we intend to upgrade the lineup -- the reliability of service. the president's high-speed rail initiative is going to transform fra as an agency in many ways. historically, we have been a safety agency, but also gave amtrak an annual grant. now we have a new mission, a new set of partners, and increased responsibility. it is a testament to the dedication of our small staff. in order to meet our growing responsibility, i asked with your support that the budget begin to address the fra
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resourced needs. i will also suggested the oversight of expenditure of dollars to be used by the secretary and project oversight to be more consistent with the 1% take down that is hysterically offered for oversight, not the 0.25% offered in the recovery act. long serving staff have told me that, never before, have they seen the level of administration support for rail programs as they have seen today from the president, vice president, and the secretary. i look for to working with the members of congress, and in particular to working with members of this committee to help this nation reached the numerous benefits offered by high-speed rail. i look forward to your questions.
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>> thank you, that is a very encouraging report. i am sure that some of the table is new to be yoyou. you are more accustomed to being on the other side of the table, preparing questions to drill witnesses. now it is your turn to be grilled. >> congratulations and welcome. i am glad to have your. >> thank you. now i understand why they elevate the diets. >> when i was elected in 1974, bob jones let each of us new members say something for one
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minute. he came to me and i said, mr. chairman, is a different feeling from what i had real power as an administrator. [laughter] >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to take a moment, on behalf of secretary la hood and the entire peltier family, to express our condolences to the families of the tragedy of the metrarail in washington, d.c. i would be happy to talk more about that in q&a. ms. norton may be calling a safety hearing. we would be happy to participate in that as well. on the recovery act, in the 16 weeks since this hallmark legislation was enacted, the fda has been working to support the economic recovery.
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i want to share some of our accomplishments. we were allocated $8.4 billion. we view that as an extraordinary opportunity. fda is stepping up -- fta is stepping up six different programs. together, they will serve no fewer than 695 grantees with the potential of 1300 separate recovery act grants. these grantees exhibit drastically different levels of strength, staffing capacity, and range from the largest rail system that serves more passengers annually than amtrak
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to the smallest world transit providers that may have a flight of three or four minivans. florida's dot plans to use the money to construct a greyhound -- it will provide improvements to safety to the environment and economic benefits. by contrast, in south carolina, the government plans to support its "united we ride initiative. it will have a travel coordination center. it is focused on rural residents and the elderly and helping them get the medical -- get to medical appointments and elsewhere. reaching the challenge of reaching all that -- given the challenge of reaching all of the grantee's, we have put the funds to work. we are using website, whether
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dinarweb diinars, and sometimese get on the phone to walk the grantee's through the process step by step. i cannot state how proud we are of the extremely hard work by the fda staff to put this money to work. they have been -- of the fta staff to put this to work. they have been working day and night. this collaborative -- 1.4 $7 billion have been obligated so far. another $4.1 billion is in process for obligation in the near term. -- $1.47 billion have been
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obligated so far. another $4.1 billion is in process for obligation in the near term. these transfers reflect local decisions by state and municipalities to use recovery act highway funds for transit projects. we estimate that approximately 4000 new transit vehicles will be purchased or on order by this september. there will comply with the american act. -- they will comply with the america act. minnesota is a very good example. the metropolitan council will purchase 31 standard hybrid buses, articulate buses, and
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small 30-foot buses. links in orlando, fla., they will buy 60 buses. i think that that is part of what has been missed. you have talked about the sand and gravel people coming back to work. we have bus lines that are hot and are staying not knowing that these grants are coming. they know the orders are coming. when we purchased a bus, we do not ask the grantee to give all the money up front. they out with the money to the grantee when the bus is the bill -- is delivered. i think that is an important point in the overall issue of outlays. the only thing i would add is that, consistent with your guidance on reporting requirements, -- the only thing i would add is that we have a good system in place.
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we feel that the grantees are cooperating. we are using rate levels of sophistication. where they needed, we are helping them. >> thank you. that is an excellent report. it is very uplifting. i will return to the subject of the process in the time reserved for questioning. next, the acting administrator of the federal highway illustration. >> thank you. through the recovery act, we are playing a key role in creating jobs. the administration estimates of the highway personal loan of the recovery act will create or sustain close to 300,000 jobs by 2012. it is part --- it has been hardy the recession.

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