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There is little doubt that the key to our region's continued economic growth is transportation. The Inland Empire serves as a hub for freight and shipping for the entire Southwestern United States. Unfortunately, current infrastructure has not kept up with demand. The growth in population has led to more passenger vehicles on our streets and freeways. At the same time, the regional economic boom has led to more commercial trucking and freight. We must seek to balance all of these needs to ensure continued economic prosperity and the safety of our families.

I have worked hard towards my vision of an integrated transportation strategy for the Inland Empire. Working to build the Alameda Corridor extensions and Alameda Corridor East so that our families do not need to commute to work and school side by side with trailer trucks, trains, and large commercial vehicles. Working to build a high-speed MagLev train to move passengers and cargo from the Inland Empire to Los Angeles. I have worked with local officials, other Members of Congress, and the Secretary of Transportation to create a coordinated airport expansion plan. Ontario Airport would play a major component in this plan as the principal back up to Los Angeles International Airport.

Now imagine a bigger and better Ontario Airport serving its passengers with more destinations at lower prices, passengers commuting to the airport via high-speed MagLev trains, or taking a taxi on safer freeways.

I am working hard to make this vision of the future come true, yet I have not forgotten to ensure we have adequate transportation in the present.

That is why I am fighting for federal funding of important local transportation projects; here are a few examples:

• I-10 Strategic Goods Movement Corridor Needs Assessment Study - $1 million;
• I-10 Sperry Drive Off Ramp Improvements - Request for $1.2 million;
• I-10 Mount Vernon Grade Separation Expansion - Request for $3.1 million;
• Drive Into History - Historic Rt. 66 Foothill Improvement Program - Request for $960,000;
• I-10 Riverside Interchange - $11 million;
• Realignment at Riverside Avenue - $1 million;
• Railroad Bridge South of I-10 Riverside/Riverside Avenue - $3.2 million;
• Downtown Rialto Livable Communities Program - $1 million;
• Cypress Avenue Overpass on Interstate 10 - $5 million;
• Grove Avenue / I-10 Interchange Improvements - $25 million;
• Holt Boulevard Airport Corridor Improvements - $2.5 million;
• Santa Fe Depot Restoration - $ 2 million;
• Santa Fe Depot Area Improvements - $3 million;
• Tippecanoe Interchange on Interstate 10 - $25 million;
• Five Level Parking Structure Seismic Retrofit - $1.5 million;
• Pepper-Linden Interchange at Interstate 215 - $15 million;
• Pepper Interchange on Interstate 215 - $15 million;
• Pepper Avenue / Interstate 10 Interchange - $2.8 million;
• Inland Empire Transportation Management Center -$3 million;
• Alameda Corridor East / Vineyard Avenue - Grade Separation for $2 million;
• Alameda Corridor East / Cherry Avenue-Interstate 10 - Interchange for $10 million;
• Tippecanoe Avenue / Interstate 10 Interchange - $10 million;
• Mountain View / Interstate 10 Interchange - $5 million;
• Alameda Corridor East / Palm Avenue Grade Separation - $5 million;
• CSUSB University Transportation Center - $5 million;
• UCR - Vehicle Emissions Research - $1 million;
• Loma Linda Omnitrans Transfer / Improved Safety and Accessibility - $150,000 million.

I testified on March 14^th, 2002 before the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee in support of numerous highway and transit projects being proposed in the Inland Empire, including:

• The Alameda Corridor East;
• The reconstruction of the Interstate 10 - Riverside Avenue Interchange;
• The need for an over-crossing on Interstate 10 and Cypress Avenue in Fontana;
• Interstate 10 Strategic Goods Movement Corridor Needs Assessment Study;
• A Transportation Management Center in the Inland Empire;
• An infrastructure improvement project for the Santa Fe Depot in the Historic District of San Bernardino;
• Building a MAGLEV high-speed rail in the Inland Empire.

LEGISLATION:

California was unfairly targeted for transportation funding cuts in the President's budget. That is why I proudly cosponsored and voted in favor of legislation that restored the transportation funding for California. Up to one third of our federal highway funds could have been lost without this legislation, which passed the House of Representatives on May 14^th of this year.

Unfortunately, Congress approved the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. I opposed this repository because it is possible that up to 80 percent of our nation's nuclear waste may pass through our county's rail lines. We all remember the tragic San Bernardino train derailment and the deaths that it caused. Now imagine that the train was not carrying coal and fuel, but instead was carrying containers full of radioactive nuclear waste. Not on my watch. I am not done fighting yet and you can be certain that I will not rest until we stop these shipments or divert them out of our county.

I wrote and sponsored HR 3064 - the Airline Security Act of 2001. This bill directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to implement certain aviation security measures, including; (1) development of facial recognition technology and other methods of automated passenger profiling to ensure that security systems are focused on appropriate targets; (2) issuance of requirements for fingerprints on visas, anti-hijacking training for pilots and flight attendants, and limitation of air passengers to one piece of carry-on baggage; (3) installation of panic buttons in aircraft cockpits to be used in the event of a hijacking; (4) acceleration of the development of anthrax and small pox vaccines, as well as other vaccines; (5) installation of video cameras in aircraft to record a picture of every passenger that enters the aircraft; and (6) imposition of background checks on hazardous haulers and on individuals seeking training as a pilot.

In addition, I voted for HR 2299, Transportation Appropriations for FY 2002. The bill ratified the funding formulas for highway, transit and aviation programs set by the 1998 highway and transit law (known as "TEA21") and last year's aviation funding law (known as "AIR21"). Total highway spending amounts to $32.9 billion, an increase of $1.2 billion (4 percent) over the fiscal year 2001 enacted level.

The bill includes language improving the safety of cross-border trucking between the United States and Mexico. In general, the language prevents the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from granting operating authority to Mexican motor carriers beyond the commercial zone of the U.S. until the Department of Transportation's Inspector General conducts a comprehensive safety review of border operations and the Secretary of Transportation certifies in writing that the opening of the border does not pose an unacceptable safety risk to the American public.

FEDERAL FUNDING REQUESTS IN 2001:

I worked hard to help secure funding for numerous highway and transit projects being proposed in the Inland Empire, including:

• $300,000 for Metrolink Project to San Bernardino;
• $500,000 for I-10 Avenue Interchange to Rialto;
• $375,000 for CNG/LNG Bus Fueling Station to San Bernardino;
• $4 million for the Alameda Corridor East from Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley into the Inland Empire, connecting Ontario and Colton. The Alameda Corridor might also ultimately be extended to allow for trade with Mexico.

TRANSPORTATION FUNDING REQUESTS FROM THE 106TH CONGRESS (1999-2000):

• $500,000 over the next two to four years for U.C. Riverside and CE-CERT, from the U.S. Department of Energy;
• $30 million for the "Jump Start" Program for the Alameda Corridor East project. Includes a Safety upgrade Program for 55 grade crossings;
• $31 million for traffic control measures to implement advanced signal control measures in seven signal groups along 35 miles of the Alameda Corridor East;
• $68 million for the widening of 17 roads and grade separations at 25 rail crossings;
• $135 million in Federal TEA-21 Highway Demonstration Earmark authorized for Fiscal Years 1999-2003, Alameda Corridor East;
• $35 million Federal FHWA Discretionary Section 118(c) Trade Corridor Grants;
• $10 million for Etiwanda Interchange Project;
• $14 million for Railroad Grade Crossing Projects in San Bernardino County:
  Milliken Avenue/Ontario                             $ 5 million
  Rialto Avenue/San Bernardino                   $ 3 million
  Vineyard Avenue/Ontario                           $ 3 million
  State St.-University Ave./San Bernardino   $ 3 million
• 1 million Community and Environmental Transportation Acceptability Process (CETAP) in San Bernardino County;
• $1.7 million to enhance and upgrade the existing 1,700 freeway call boxes in San Bernardino County in order to conform them to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act;
• $1.1 million for the State Street Extension Project in San Bernardino County;
• $800,000 in FTA Bus and Bus Facilities for the restoration of the Santa Fe Train Depot;
• $3.2 million in FTA funds for Intermodal Transportation Center in San Bernardino;
• $6.4 million for expansion of West Valley Facility, located in Montclair;
• $10 million for Foothill Boulevard project in the City of Rancho Cucamonga;
• $5 million for Haven Avenue project in the City of Rancho Cucamonga;
• City of Rancho Cucamonga master plan for Rails-to-Trails Corridor;
• City of Grand Terrace. $2 million for Barton Road over-crossing of I-215;
• Federal match for widening I-215 between Orange Show Road to Rialto Avenue in San Bernardino and between 16th Street and Highway 30, including needed new interchanges;
• $20 million for widening of Interstate 10 car pool lanes in San Bernardino County;
• $8 million for interchange at Interstate 10 and Riverside Avenue in the City of Rialto;
• $16.9 million for Highland Avenue Storm Drain project in the City of Rialto;
• $1.1 million for Rialto Metrolink Station, and extension to use funds appropriated in Fiscal Year 1988 for improvements at the train station;
• $12.6 million in Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants - San Bernardino International Airport;
• $20 to $25 million for Airport Capital Improvement Plan listing 15 projects at San Bernardino International Airport;
• $25 million for proposed interchange at Interstate 10 and Grove Avenue in Ontario;
• $100,000 for a Cargo Demand Study for Ontario International Airport;
• $18.9 million for widening of Sierra Avenue at I-10 interchange, City of Fontana;
• Federal match for upgrading and replacing interchanges along Interstate 10, including Cherry, Etiwanda, Citrus, and Cypress streets, and the new interchange at Route 30/Interstate 210;
• $2.3 million for Intelligent Transportation System facility, City of Fontana;
• Federal match for Pepper Avenue/I-10 interchange, grade separation at Valley Boulevard, tow bridges over Mt. Vernon Avenue, and a connector bridge at Washington Street;
• $10 million in planning funds for deploying a 75-mile MagLev system between Los Angeles International Airport and March Air Force Base, via San Bernardino Airport.

GRANTS:

• May 8, 2002: $ 379,000,000 grant from the California Transportation Commission to the Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail. This money will be used to design and construct approximately three miles of the Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail between Haven and Etiwanda Avenues in Claremont, Fontana, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, and Upland;
• October 5, 2001: $600,00 from the Federal Transit Administration to the City of San Bernardino OMNITRANS for a Job Access grant. The grant will assist the local transportation agencies in providing the necessary transportation services for Welfare to Work participants to get to jobs and education/training programs;
• May 11, 2001: $990,644 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority for track and railbed improvements. The project will consist of double tracking a three-mile segment on the Metrolink San Bernardino line between Pomona and Montclair. The project will reduce delays and increase travel speeds for the trains. This grant is an expansion of a project with funds totaling $3,961,039 to this date;
• May 18, 2001: $150,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to the City of Rialto for airport improvement at Rialto Municipal Airport. The project will rehabilitate the aircraft parking apron and the perimeter fencing at the airport. The rehabilitation of the apron will extend the useful life of the airport and the rehabilitation of the perimeter fencing will enhance security;
• September 14, 2001: $2,056,012 grant from the Federal Transit Authority for Omnitrans buses and the Rialto Metrolink station. Funds from this grant will provide for three buses for Omnitrans and improvements for the Metrolink station in Rialto.

Updated - September 13, 2002