Congressman-Elect Nolan receives apointment to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

Washington DC—Minnesota’s Eighth District Congressman-elect Rick Nolan has been appointed to serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
 

Announcement of the appointment came from Nolan’s office, Thursday morning.

The transportation and infrastructure committee is the body at the epicenter of efforts to spur job growth by revitalizing the nation’s roads, bridges, railroads and waterways.

Nolan’s staff said he made growing the economy through major reinvestments in transportation and infrastructure a focal point of his campaign. He also requested the assignment during earlier meetings with House leadership. Nolan received word of the assignment from Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic Caucus.

Former Congressman Jim Oberstar had served as the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during part of his long term in Congress. Oberstar was defeated by Congressman Chip Cravaack in 2010 before Cravaack was defeated by Nolan in the 2012 General Election.
 

“This is a major committee assignment – vital to  generating good jobs and economic development here in the Eighth Congressional District,” said Nolan in a release provided by his office.. “Building a strong surface and water transportation system creates good paying jobs, improves the quality of our lives, and is the economic backbone of a large district like the Eighth. Timber, taconite, tourism and manufacturing spread over a large geographic area all require strong transportation to be successful. The Eighth District is poised for great economic success going forward if we act now to lay the foundation. That’s what transportation and infrastructure are all about.”
 

“This committee assignment means we can move forward on Day One with efforts to secure federal support for the Northern Lights Express high speed rail project, fund Essential Air Service for our regional airports, repair and rebuild our network of Northern Minnesota roads and bridges, build capacity and traffic through the Port of Duluth, modernize the electrical grid system and make high speed broadband communications available to everyone, regardless of location,” Nolan’s statement concluded.

Further committee assignments will be announced at a later date. Nolan officially takes office on January 3.