it is a great honor to bring up ray lahood who brings great leadership to our agency. thank you. [applause] >> thank you all very much for coming. welcome to the department of transportation. we are grateful so many busy people would take time to join ask -- take time to join us. i want to say i, like all americans, are pleased that the unemployment numbers are going in the right direction. when i see president obama , i encourage him to continue to have the jobs summit and the next day unemployment goes down, so i hope there is a correlation between that. somebody said before i came in here that this reminds them of the space launch or the start of the highway built in america. we are launching something very special. and something that i know all of you are very interested in. many of you will remember that i stood with president obama in april. it was an extraordinary day because as a result of the american recovery act, the president and vice president announced $8 billion for high- speed rail for america. as so many of you have heard me say, that is 8 billion times more than

seriousness of the systemic failures of commercial aviation, in november, transportation secretary ray lahoodconvened a meeting of all stakeholders, including airlines, ports, consumer advocates, manufacturers. he began the process of setting up an advisory committee to address the overall economic viability of our industry. very unfortunate, -- unfortunately, each stakeholder has advocated his starkly very different and seemingly very self-serving individual agendas. there's been no consensus or support for common solutions to address long-term sustainability. balancing the needs of all stakeholders is probably the biggest single issue we face to move this industry forward. so secretary ray lahood is to be commended for providing the leadership and the realization for all stakeholders. we have a moment of reflection. it has been 16 years since the commission established by president clinton offered recommendations to address the ailing -- then -- airline industry. the recommendations of that commission were largely ignored. not surprisingly, most of the issues in many of the recommendations

it is a great honor to bring up ray lahood who brings great leadership to our agency. thank you. [applause] >> thank you all very much for coming. welcome to the department of transportation. we are grateful so many busy people would take time to join ask -- take time to join us. i want to say i, like all americans, are pleased that the unemployment numbers are going in the right direction. when i see president obama , i encourage him to continue to have the jobs summit and the next day unemployment goes down, so i hope there is a correlation between that. somebody said before i came in here that this reminds them of the space launch or the start of the highway built in america. we are launching something very special. and something that i know all of you are very interested in. many of you will remember that i stood with president obama in april. it was an extraordinary day because as a result of the american recovery act, the president and vice president announced $8 billion for high- speed rail for america. as so many of you have heard me say, that is 8 billion times more than

. >> i would not miss ray lahood. let me thank senator menendez for doing this. he has strong interest in the subject matter. and others -- this is a subject in which a great many of us have interest. i am excited about your leadership in this effort. i appreciate that very much. this is -- is described -- i describe this issue as a win- win. it reduces dependence on foreign oil and protect our environment and connects people with jobs and services. this is an issue that truly demands our ongoing attention. it may have said this already. if i am repeating your remarks i apologize. i was stunned to see the numbers on writer ship. -- ridership, they are the highest numbers since 1956. there were 10.7 billion trips taken last year. we want to work to increase those numbers. our first priority is security. even though there are problems and we read about them, it is important to note that among the safest mode of transportation are transit. incidents fell by half which is a positive sign despite the notoriety of some of these major problems you are saying. a recent s

more economic news from the administration did transportation secretary ray lahood is to announce thatll many factors and suppliers have committed to establish or grow -- rail manufacturers and suppliers have committed to establish stations and grow jobs with high-speed rail lines. $800 billion of high-speed rail awards will be announced this winter. >> c-span's 2010 studentcam contest is here. the top prize is $5,000. just create a 5-to-eat-minute video on one of our countries greatest strengths or a challenge the country is facing. must incorporate c-span programming and show varying points of view. winning entries will be shown on c-span. grab a camera and get started. code to studentcam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome william dunkelberg. thanks for being with us. you are not at the white house yesterday for the jobs summit. guest: my invitation was lost in the mail, i think. host: if you were there, what would you have asked the president or advised the white house? guest: the real key to the economy is the consumer. 70% of gdp is consumption. if yo

secretary led -- ray lahood will make an announcement about the number of high-speed rail manufacturers who are looking to come to the united states, manufacture components here, a manufacturer tests here based on our willingness invest in high- speed rail. many more options are coming. we are not just looking to on new programs. many investments are the most successful investment to date. at today's summit, we will be hearing about ideas. these are ideas that can do more than we have done so far. some of you will urge us to invest in your infrastructure, roads, bridges. we have seen this. today we will hear the case for doing more. others will argue that we should invest in the green jobs. we have seen that these investments can be successful in creating jobs. today we would hear the case . others give you -- of you will talk about more instances. -- incentives. we should see if there is more than we can do. many different participants are here. many different offerings will be put forward. take the things we know work and make them work better and faster. all of this cannot be done wi

. >> i would not miss ray lahood. let me thank senator menendez for doing this. he has strong interest in the subject matter. and others -- this is a subject in which a great many of us have interest. i am excited about your leadership in this effort. i appreciate that very much. this is -- is described -- i describe this issue as a win- win. it reduces dependence on foreign oil and protect our environment and connects people with jobs and services. this is an issue that truly demands our ongoing attention. it may have said this already. if i am repeating your remarks i apologize. i was stunned to see the numbers on writer ship. -- ridership, they are the highest numbers since 1956. there were 10.7 billion trips taken last year. we want to work to increase those numbers. our first priority is security. even though there are problems and we read about them, it is important to note that among the safest mode of transportation are transit. incidents fell by half which is a positive sign despite the notoriety of some of these major problems you are saying. a recent s

i have been deeply impressed with the work of secretary ray lahood of transportation, housing secretaryshaun donovan, e.p.a. administrator lisa jackson, where the federal government is in the process of creating a new partnerships with our communities, businesses and families in terms of how the federal government does business and invests that money. but even with bold vision and with more value being extracted, we actually are going to need to invest more money. the chinese, for instance, are investing about nine times as much as the united states in their infrastructure needs. we are losing the race for global competitiveness while we see conditions deteriorate here at home. the society of civil engineers has graded american infrastructure at a d and suggest that it require at least $2.2 trillion in the next five years to bring things up to standard. if we act now, there are in fact areas of broad support for more investment, from business, local government and the american people, if this increased money goes to rebuild and renew our country. there is a danger that our current direc