“If America is going to make progress in transportation, the next generation of transportation is not our highways. The next generation of transportation is high-speed rail.”
As a former Republican member of the US House of Representatives, Secretary Raymond H. LaHood was a firm advocate for bipartisan cooperation, refusing to sign Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America.” In 2009, he joined the Obama administration as secretary of transportation. He has focused on improving gasoline standards and repairing roads and other infrastructure.