Jackson Lee presses for bullet train in Texas

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, talks after program with keynote speaker U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder at Wheatley High School, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012, in Houston. U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder was invited by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to be the keynote speaker at the program for the commemoration of both Black History Month and Barbara Jordan's 75th birthday. Jordan was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate and the first southern black female elected to the U. S. Congress. She was a native of Houston's Fifth Ward and alumnus of Wheatley High School. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle ) less Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, talks after program with keynote speaker U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder at Wheatley High School, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012, in Houston. U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder was ... more Photo: Melissa Phillip Photo: Melissa Phillip Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Jackson Lee presses for bullet train in Texas 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Officials in Japan and South Korea told Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee that they are interested in helping Texas build a high-speed rail line between Houston and Dallas.

The Houston Democrat said the foreign officials described their interest to her during an official congressional visit to Japan, South Korea and China.

"This is absolutely the right direction America should be moving toward," said Jackson Lee, who traveled between Osaka and Tokyo on Japan's world famous high-speed rail system.

Jackson Lee said she had fought hard to secure $15 million in initial funding for Texas' high-speed rail line from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The potential high-speed rail route between Houston and Dallas will include only one or two stops in between.

She said she was working to arrange visits to Houston by the foreign officials so they could "see firsthand our needs and plans for an expanded rail transportation system."

Jackson Lee spoke to the Houston Chronicle while changing planes in Los Angeles en route home to Texas. She said she hoped to press the Obama administration to support high-speed rail in Texas as well as in the Northeast Corridor and California.

Building a line in Texas would not require the government to invoke eminent domain, Jackson Lee said, adding that she would oppose authorities exercising that controversial power.

"When people see the value of high-speed rail - the efficiency, the capital it brings in, the jobs it creates - they will be impressed," Jackson Lee said.

Officials in Houston will make the next push for federal funding in 2013, Jackson Lee said.

stewart.powell@chron.com