You are here: Fairness.com > Resources > Rep. Ray LaHood

Rep. Ray LaHood


Self Description

February 2010: "Ray LaHood became the 16th Secretary of Transportation on January 23, 2009.

In nominating him, President-elect Obama said, “Few understand our infrastructure challenge better than the outstanding public servant that I’m asking to lead the Department of Transportation.”

Secretary LaHood’s primary goals in implementing President Obama’s priorities for transportation include safety across all modes, restoring economic health and creating jobs, sustainability – shaping the economy of the coming decades by building new transportation infrastructure, and assuring that transportation policies focus on people who use the transportation system and their communities.

As Secretary of Transportation, LaHood leads an agency with more than 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget that oversees air, maritime and surface transportation missions.

Secretary LaHood said he would bring President-elect Obama’s priorities to the Department and see them effectively implemented with a commitment to fairness across regional and party lines and between people who come to the issues with different perspectives.

Before becoming Secretary of Transportation, LaHood served for 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 18th District of Illinois (from 1995-2009). During that time he served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and, after that, on the House Appropriations Committee. Prior to his election to the House, he served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman Robert Michel, whom he succeeded in representing the 18th District, and as District Administrative Assistant to Congressman Thomas Railsback. He also served in the Illinois State Legislature.

Before his career in government, Secretary LaHood was a junior high school teacher, having received his degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He was also director of the Rock Island County Youth Services Bureau and Chief planner for the Bi-States Metropolitan Planning Commission in Illinois."

http://http://www.dot.gov/bios/lahood.htm

Third-Party Descriptions

February 2010: 'There was no immediate comment from the safety agency. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has praised NHTSA for its efforts to hold "Toyota's feet to the fire."'

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/RunawayToyotas/revolving-door-us-safety-agency-toyota-representative/story?id=9747342

August 2009: '"Distracted driving" is becoming a cause celebre, with more states banning texting and some legislators pondering whether to bar cellphone use by drivers outright. The District and six states require hands-free devices. Texting has been banned in the District and 17 states, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he will convene a meeting Sept. 30 to formulate "concrete steps . . . to make drivers think twice about taking their eyes off the road for any reason."'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/12/AR2009081203235.html

August 2009: "U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has created a committee of senior agency officials to find ways to close what his department describes as a gap in oversight, created by ceding safety issues to regional transit authorities."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/09/AR2009080902345.html

October 2006: "A Republican member of the intelligence committee, Rep. Ray LaHood (Ill.), wrote Hoekstra to demand an investigation because the story [a leaked intelligence report--Ed.] was published two days after a Democratic staff member obtained the NIE."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601594.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Department of Transportation/Transportation Department (DOT) Organization Feb 18, 2010
Member of (past or present) Republican Party (U.S.) / Republican National Committee Organization Oct 27, 2006
Member (past or present) US House of Representatives Organization Oct 27, 2006
Subordinate of (past or present) Appointed/Selected by Pres. Barack Hussein Obama Esq. Person Feb 18, 2010

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Feb 04, 2010 Revolving Door: From US Safety Agency to Toyota Representative: Federal Investigations of Runaway Toyotas Excluded Most Serious Cases After NHTSA Official Is Hired by Car Company

QUOTE: Federal safety investigators agreed to exclude reports of the most serious cases of alleged "runaway Toyotas" after the intervention of a former safety official hired to be a Washington, D.C. representative of Toyota...

 ABC News
Aug 13, 2009 Tighter Cellphone Laws Might Face Static: U.S., Local Officials Seek to Curb Drivers' Distractions as Crashes Spike

QUOTE: Text messaging and cellphones have gotten most of the attention lately [as dangerous distractions for drivers], and it might take [U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray] LaHood's federal influence to wean the nation from them. Almost 90 percent of Americans own cellphones.

 Washington Post
Aug 10, 2009 Subway Safety Panel Foiled by Constraints: 12-Year-Old Oversight Committee Has Little Influence on Metro Operations

QUOTE: Before June's deadly subway crash, no federal agency stepped in to ensure that [the Washington, D.C.] Metro found and fixed the electrical circuits now suspected of contributing to the worst accident in the system's history. That's because none is authorized to.

 Washington Post
Oct 27, 2006 Intelligence Chairman Urges Leak Inquiry

QUOTE: The chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has proposed a sweeping inquiry into the possible leak of a classified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq by a staff member...

 Washington Post