Obama nominates new Secretary of Transportation

President Barack Obama has nominated mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, Anthony Foxx as the next US Secretary of Transportation. If the nomination is approved by the US Senate, Mr Foxx will replace Ray LaHood, who has held the position for four years.

As head of the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Mr Foxx would be responsible for the country’s transportation network, including roads, railways, waterways and some aspects of aviation. In his budget for the current fiscal year, president Obama requested funds of US$ 77 billion for the department, US$ 53 billion of which were ear-marked for investment in infrastructure.

Commenting on the nomination, President Obama said of Mr Foxx’s tenure in Charlotte,, “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.”

President Obama also thanked current Mr LaHood for his hard work and dedication to public service. “Over the past four years, thanks to Ray's leadership, we’ve built or improved more than 350,000 miles of road -- enough to circle the world more than 14 times. We’ve upgraded more than 6,000 miles of rail -– enough to go coast to coast and back. We’ve repaired or replaced more than 20,000 bridges, and helped put tens of thousands of construction workers back on the job,” he said.