Corrine Brown: Fed Funds for Rail Will Lead to Jobs

Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown weighed in on Thursday when it was announced that $342 million in federal funds would be headed to Florida -- instead of to Ohio and Wisconsin as was originally planned -- for high-speed rail projects.

"This is a great day for Florida, and a great day for rail in our state," said Brown, chairwoman of the House Rail Subcommittee. "And this additional federal funding will serve as a tremendous boost for our states plans to implement high-speed rail. We now need the partnership of Florida DOT and local government funding to match the federal governments commitment to keep this project moving forward. This partnership cannot be overlooked, since Florida could have funding taken away as well without state support of this project.

"With the unemployment rate in our state just under 12 percent, this investment in our states infrastructure comes at a most critical time, added Brown. With this funding, Floridas economy can begin to reverse this trend. As I always say, federal transportation and infrastructure funding is essential to job creation, and for every $1 billion invested in infrastructure projects, over 42,000 well-paying jobs are created.