High-Speed Rail in California

Floor Speech

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Mr. KILEY of California. I have good news for Californians. Today is the beginning of the end of high-speed rail, the biggest public infrastructure disaster in U.S. history.

A few months ago, I joined Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy in Los Angeles to announce an investigation and compliance review into the State's high-speed rail project. Today, the results are in.

The State, with respect to $4 billion in grants that it took, is woefully out of compliance with the conditions of those grants, and, fundamentally, the audit found that this project has no viable path forward.

Of course, Californians have known that for a long time. They have spent $17 billion and haven't laid any track. The New York Times found the project is not on track to be completed this century and will be $100 billion over budget.

They initially told us that there would be a high-speed train from L.A. to San Francisco by the year 2020. Now, even the modest initial segment from Bakersfield to Merced is going to miss its 2033 deadline. Even if the train were to magically come into existence today, it would be decades-old technology.

It is time to end this embarrassment for our State once and for all and use our transportation dollars in ways that will actually benefit the quality of life of Californians.

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