Rep. Doris Matsui Joins Colleagues to Form Livable Communities Task Force

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, October 19, 2009

CONTACT: Mara Lee

202-225-7163

Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) joined with Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and 18 other colleagues in announcing the U.S. House of Representatives Livable Communities Task Force (LCTF). The Task Force is a coalition of Members of Congress formed around the common goal of promoting policies that will ensure the federal government works with local communities to improve quality of life around the nation. The LCTF will identify ways the federal government can be a stronger partner with local communities to reduce the nation's dependence on oil, protect the environment, improve public health, and invest in housing and transportation projects that create jobs and give people more commuting choices.

"The Livable Communities Task Force will serve as an opportunity for Members of Congress to collaborate and share ideas with the common goal of improving our national well-being," said Representative Matsui. "I would like to thank Chairman Blumenauer for spearheading this project and appreciate all the work he has accomplished thus far on the issue of creating livable communities across our country. I look forward to continuing my work on sustainability issues within this new forum, and will collaborate with my colleagues to collaborate, plan and promote policies that foster safe, economical, and environment-friendly travel alternatives in communities all across the country."

As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, Rep. Matsui has been a leader in the fight against global warming. Matsui has worked to expand access to mass transit, and bring some of Sacramento's successful initiatives to the national dialogue.

"The successes of Sacramento's Blueprint - an example of how a region can support smart growth and reduce emissions by implementing forward thinking land-use policies- are now being built upon in three bills pending before Congress: the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the Boxer-Kerry bill, and the Smart Planning for Smart Growth Act that I introduced earlier this year," stated Matsui. "This Congress's commitment to putting America on a path toward energy independence will allow our children and grandchildren to live in a country that is more sustainable, more economically viable, and more energy-efficient than the country we live in today."

Congresswoman Matsui was recently awarded the 2009 National Bicycle Leadership Award and the American Planning Association's 2009 Legislator of the Year Award for her dedication to smart growth and her leadership on complete streets policies - initiatives that will help make communities across the country as livable as Sacramento.

For more information about The Livable Communities Task Force, please click here.