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Oberstar, DeFazio pitch transportation jobs to summit

WASHINGTON — On the eve of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth, Democratic transportation leaders sent President Barack Obama “a loud, clear message”: Transportation projects create family-wage jobs and can create them quickly.

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar and Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Chairman Peter A. DeFazio sent the message in a letter to the White House Wednesday.

“We write to emphasize the need to increase investment provided by highway and transit formula programs as a way to create and sustain family-wage jobs, contribute to our nation’s long-term economic growth, and help the United States recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression,” the letter begins.

The two chairmen pointed to data collected by the committee on the progress so far under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has already resulted in almost 7,900 highway and transit projects breaking ground all across the nation. These projects have created or sustained more than 210,000 direct, on-project jobs, as well as hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs in the past nine months. Beyond the funds provided by the Recovery Act, additional highway and transit projects totaling more than $62 billion are ready to go to construction in the next few months. To offset the continued rise in construction unemployment, the collapse of the private construction market, and state budget crises that limit states’ ability to finance highway and transit projects, we must act now to provide additional investments for ready-to-go highway and transit projects,” the letter states.

The letter further cites figures that show thousands of ready-to-go highway and transit projects across the country. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, there are 7,497 ready-to-go highway and bridge projects, totaling $47.3 billion.

Furthermore, according to an American Public Transit Association survey, there are ready-to-go transit projects worth more than $15 billion.

“The Recovery Act was just an initial step toward creating jobs and livable communities. We look forward to working with you to transform our nation’s transportation systems and build upon the job opportunities created by the Recovery Act,” the letter concludes.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected] .

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