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Yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with California politicians and business officials to reaffirm the Obama administration’s commitment to high-speed rail.

LaHood met with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and local business leaders to discuss the benefits high-speed rail could bring to the California economy.

“We need to invest in the Central Valley today for high-speed rail to come to Los Angeles and San Francisco tomorrow,” he said in a prepared statement. “At this make-or-break moment, America needs a transportation jobs bill that includes resources to continue building a national high-speed rail network.”

Later in the day, LaHood visited Sacramento to tour Siemens’ locomotive and passenger-car manufacturing plant, where 70 next-generation electric locomotives are being built for Amtrak.

He also met with California-based manufacturers and suppliers at the Next Generation Rail Supply Chain Connectivity Forum, hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce and National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which is working to implement Buy America standards. The forum was held to attract U.S. manufacturers to the supply base for next-generation rail equipment being procured in the United States, and facilitate connections between rail industry original equipment manufacturers and a broader domestic supply base.

“This will help ensure that when we invest in transportation, American companies and workers will benefit,” LaHood said.