This week: Rail plans probed by House

{mosads}After a recent House vote to zero out funding for next year, Shuster said it was better for the development of high-speed rail if Obama’s program was brought to a close.

“Today’s vote marks the end to President Obama’s misguided high-speed rail program, but it also represents a new beginning for true intercity high-speed passenger rail service in America,” Shuster said last month in a statement.

“By zeroing out high-speed intercity passenger rail funding, we are being given the unique opportunity to refocus and reform the high-speed rail program on the rail lines that will produce the most benefit for the least amount of cost,” he said.

At the same time as Shuster was touting the elimination of funding, Democrats were continuing to award grants for high-speed rail, using money appropriated in previous years that Republican governors in states like Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin have rejected.

Also this week, the full Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will consider a bill designed to boost the Gulf Coast economy, the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (H.R. 3096).