America’s next transportation secretary is…
When Ray LaHood announced early this year he would not return to serve a second term as the Department of Transportation Secretary, a door opened for Charlotte, N.C. Mayor Anthony Foxx. President Obama nominated the second-term Democrat Monday to pick up where LaHood will leave soon leave off. The President is hoping Foxx’s impressive track record of overseeing successful transportation projects in Charlotte will translate to a national scale.
“When Anthony became mayor in 2009, Charlotte, like the rest of the country, was going through a bruising economic crisis,” President Obama said at a White House Briefing. “But the city has managed to turn things around. The economy is growing. There are more jobs, more opportunity. And if you ask Anthony how that happened, he’ll tell you that one of the reasons is that Charlotte made one of the largest investments in transportation in the city’s history.”
Foxx’s claims to transportation fame in Charlotte include breaking ground on the Charlotte Streetcar Project, opening a third runway at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, completing a major highway widening, improving a major bridge and extending the city’s LYNX light-rail system.
As transportation secretary, Foxx will be tasked with spearheading programs the president believes are integral to the overarching goals of his administration.
“Our top priority as a nation right now is doing everything we can to grow our economy and create good jobs and rebuild opportunity for the middle class,” Obama said. “And one of the best ways we can do that is to put more Americans back to work rebuilding our infrastructure.”
SOURCES
