Reconnecting America President & CEO John Robert Smith will be addressing the Gulf Coast Passenger Rail Summit in Mobile, Alabama, Aug. 15-16. Smith is the former Mayor of Meridian, Mississippi, and a long‐time leader on behalf of passenger rail. He is co‐chairman of Transportation for America, a former Chairman of Amtrak’s board, and a former member of the transportation committees of the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, as well as former co‐chairman of the National Forum on the Future of Passenger Rail.