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LaHood touts visit to 50th US state
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02/21/13 12:30 PM ET
Outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood touted a recent trip to Montana, which he said Thursday completed a stretch of visiting every U.S. state during his tenure at the Department of Transportation.
In a blog post on the DOT website, LaHood said a visit to Montana on Monday marked the last remaining state he had not been to since he was appointed Transportation secretary by President Obama in 2009.
LaHood said he has greatly enjoyed the traveling aspect of his soon-to-be former job.
“To say it has been a good ride would be understating it,” he wrote. “During the past four years, it has been a series of many, many rides ... by plane, train, car, boat, streetcar — you name it — and all of them good.
LaHood announced last month that he was planning to retire from the DOT, pending the appointment and Senate approval of his successor.
LaHood said of his four years in office, “from coast to coast, I've seen hundreds of communities where people are coming together, putting aside their differences, and working to achieve their transportation needs.
“Cities, towns, and counties are forging more efficient transportation regions,” LaHood wrote. "State and local governments are creating alliances with private organizations and businesses. And this DOT is happy to partner with them.”
LaHood said he also appreciated getting to visit DOT employees who are not based in Washington.
“It's not just the different communities or transportation improvements that I appreciate,” he wrote. “In many of the places I've visited, I've had the opportunity to meet folks who are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation team, but who do their important work hundreds or thousands of miles away from our Washington, DC, headquarters. To see the great job these professionals are doing is a powerful reminder that our federal government is far more than an abstract bureaucracy of office buildings.”
The White House has been quiet about the timing of the selection of LaHood’s successor atop the DOT. A long list of rumored candidates has been the focus of speculation in Washington, but Obama has not spoken publicly about the position since he congratulated LaHood on his tenure.
