Secretary Awards honor DOT's finest--and the best is still ahead of us

This afternoon, we held the 43rd annual Secretary Awards ceremony at DOT Headquarters.  It's our opportunity to honor the men and women across the country who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make the U.S. Department of Transportation and its many programs a success.

Secretary LaHood and other DOT officials honor this year's award recipients. 

Over the last year, these are the folks who have been at the forefront of the Recovery Act, getting dollars out the door to rebuild roads and bridges while putting people back to work. 

They're the ones helping to plan a national high-speed rail network that will transform the way Americans travel. 

And they're the people who are implementing landmark safety regulations that make air travel safer and give consumers new protections when they fly.

I'm tremendously proud of everything the professionals at DOT have accomplished this year.  And I know our best days are still ahead of us. 

Secretary LaHood presents Toya Henry with a Team Award for the DOT Media Center.

As President Obama and Congress work together to pursue new infrastructure initiatives that will rebuild 150,000 miles of roadway, lay and maintain 4,000 miles of railway, and restore 150 miles of runways, our team is ready to handle the responsibility. 

You know, on my way into the office each morning, the first thing I see is a plaque from the Partnership for Public Service.  It recognizes the U.S. Department of Transportation as one of the "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government" in 2010. 

Secretary LaHood and Jill Zuckman give Todd Solomon an Excellence Award for his work with new media.

That's a testament to the men and women we're honoring today, as well as the thousands of other DOT workers who demonstrate excellence every day through their service.

So let me take this opportunity to offer a hearty congratulations to all of this year's award recipients, and a sincere thank you to everyone at the Department here in Washington and across the country.  By working together, I know we'll continue achieving great things.

Comments

[Tracy]

Is there a place we can see a full list of recipients?

[Bernie Wagenblast]

Congratulations to all the award recipients!

[Michael E. Bailey]

The Employees at DoT do an outstanding job and its great that they have beeb recognized for the work they do. We now have to hope that the new Congress will think just as highly of the employees and the Department. But already reports are circulating in the transportation media about some in the new Congress wanting to take a second look at the funding already given to states from California to Florida to build high speed rail and some reports saying that the President's Transportation Bill will be in trouble. Several of the new governors are openly opposed to high speed rail. We need the infrastructure modernization and the manynew jobs that a high speed rail program and a transportation bill would create; but all of that maybe killed before it gets a chance to really get started. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.