California Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was honored Sunday by state transportation officials with the National Transportation Leadership Award for the 21st Century.

Boxer received the award at the annual meeting of the American Association of State and Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) held in Palm Desert, California on Sunday. AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley saluted her lifetime efforts in sustainability and climate change, as well as her leadership in advancing the authorization of federal highway transportation programs. Horsley said, "Senator Boxer was our champion in securing $48 billion for transportation in the economic recovery program earlier this year. She is pressing for job creation all across the country, and state DOTs are delivering those jobs."

In her address to AASHTO, Boxer said that her goals for a "new and visionary transportation program" include relieving congestion, improving air quality, and speeding goods movement. Since the current program has been continued for only one month, Boxer said that the Senate is now advancing a six- month bill to provide as much stability as possible for state programs. "It hurts to not have predictability," she said.