Busalacchi said such a partnership worked well in developing the nation's highway and aviation networks, and the same commitment should be devoted to high-speed rail, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported. He added that passenger rail in the United States lags far behind many Asian and European countries in terms of government investment.

Now that there is federal funding in the pipeline ($8 billion provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), "the challenge facing all of us is to build the right projects, use the available funds wisely, and plan for the future," Busalacchi testified.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Corrine Brown, D-FL, concurred that the United States has to step up to match the efforts of foreign governments when it comes to rail spending.

"By 2020, China will have laid nearly 16,000 miles of high-speed track capable of carrying the fastest trains in the world," Brown said. "So far, the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed route alone has created about 110,000 jobs and is playing an enormous role in China's economic recovery."

During the hearing, Brown urged the Federal Railroad Administration to devote the recovery funding to only a few major projects. She said FRA should "chose two to three systems that will truly work. If we spread the money around in too many systems, the money will not work the way it's supposed to."

Rep. Bill Shuster, R-PA and ranking minority member of the subcommittee, concurred with Brown.

"If the funds are spread too thinly among the $57 billion worth of applications, as the chair alluded to, and awarded to too many places, I fear it may end up failing to focus on the development of a few key high-speed lines," he said to a panel of witnesses that included FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo.

Rep. John Mica, R-FL and ranking minority member of the full House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, decried the current state of the Northeast Corridor and suggested money should be directed there first. Amtrak currently serves the Boston-to-Washington corridor with the Acela Express fast train, but it averages only 83 mph and is not considered a true high-speed system as exist in several European and Asian countries.

"We have to look at the corridors that deserve service," Mica said. "I'm telling you that I will raise the roof on the Capitol building if we do not develop high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor."

The Government Accountability Office agreed with Mica, noting that the massive aviation delays in the Northeast Corridor make it a good candidate for high-speed rail investment.

"High-speed rail is more likely to attract riders in densely and highly populated corridors, especially where existing transportation facilities, such as highways or airports, are congested," Susan Fleming, GAO's director of physical infrastructure issues, said in written testimony provided to the subcommittee.

All written testimony from this hearing, along with a video, is available at tinyurl.com/HRPHMS-HSR.