Transportation labor has high hopes for President Obama’s recently confirmed Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood.

AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Ed Wytkind said that the former seven-term Republican Congressman from Illinois is a “strong leader,” and that “Americans should feel confident that the President has placed the nation’s vast transportation system and infrastructure in the hands of a highly skilled and capable public servant with a distinguished record of service.”

Wytkind went on to say: "Secretary LaHood inherits an enormous responsibility.  Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling; the rights and jobs of transportation workers have been neglected and undermined; and the safety and security of the system are severely challenged.”

During his years in Congress, LaHood built a strong bipartisan reputation, and he was co-founder of the Congressional Bipartisan Caucus.  Sen. John McCain praised LaHood, saying: "He has always fought for the best interests of our nation—recognizing that bipartisan compromises often provide the best solutions to the problems facing our country.”

The Transportation Department is a major focal point for President Obama’s economic recovery package.

"Through the economic recovery package and major authorization and spending bills, Secretary LaHood will oversee crucial transportation investments that will help revive the economy, put millions of Americans back to work, and lay to rest eight years of neglect and inaction that have harmed our national interest,” concluded TTD’s Wytkind.

"We look forward to working with the President and Secretary LaHood to restore our transportation system as an engine of economic growth and job creation."

LaHood is the only Republican in the Cabinet who is not a holdover from the Bush Administration.