I-27 Numbering Act of 2023

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ARRINGTON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding, and I am thrilled to, once again, join forces with my close friend, ally, and champion for rural America, Henry Cuellar, to do some good not only for Texas or for the food, fuel, and fiber capital of the world, which is west Texas, but to provide energy dominance and agriculture security and independence for this great Nation of ours. That is no small thing for the hardworking, God- fearing, freedom-loving people in rural America.

Madam Speaker, I am not just talking about west Texas, where Henry and I are from; I am saying all up and down the backbone of the United States of America and heartland communities all the way from the largest inland port in Laredo, as the gentleman mentioned, to the Canadian border.

The ag and energy corridor is critical for our food security and energy independence, and it will more seamlessly and cost effectively and safely move that critical product to export terminals and markets around the world, giving our farmers, ranchers, and energy producers a much-needed advantage.

Mr. Cuellar and I worked together on many of the elements that I see as essential to the future prosperity of rural America. I always say, rural America is not just the energy basin and breadbasket, it is the backbone of America's traditional values.

Madam Speaker, again, I thank Mr. Cuellar for being such a loud and proud champion for these forgotten men and women. The formula is straightforward; namely, we need freer markets, less taxes and regulations. We need fairer trade deals for our producers and manufacturers.

Mr. Cuellar and I worked hand in hand on USMCA; a much better deal for these United States of America and especially the workers here, the best workers in the world here in the United States. It is a reliable farm bill safety net which we are working on. We have to get the next farm bill done so that we can provide stability in the ag economy and then, finally, critical infrastructure.

Mr. Cuellar and I have worked on new payment models for rural hospitals that provided greater access for these hardworking folks. Now we have got this artery from Laredo through my hometown of Plainview.

I grew up, Madam Speaker, not even a mile from I-27. To think that this project has come to fruition, at least on the Texas and New Mexico side, if we can connect those dots all the way to Canada, I think we are going to bless generations of not only folks in Laredo and the greater west Texas area, but we are going to bless Americans all over this country.

We have the lowest spend in terms of discretionary spending for families on food and a big part of that is our producers, but another piece is critical infrastructure.

Madam Speaker, I say hats off to Henry Cuellar, my Democrat co-lead. I thank Senators Cruz and Cornyn, the leads in the Senate. I also thank August Pfluger, Ronny Jackson, Teresa Fernandez, Troy Nehls, Lance Gooden, and then, of course, the folks from Ports-to-Plains led by John Osborne and James Beauchamp from Midland-Odessa who leads MOTRAN. We have a lot of partners here to make this a success, but what a great day for rural America.

Madam Speaker, in closing I just say, God bless my partner and friend, Henry Cuellar, and God bless those freedom-loving people working hard to feed and clothe the American people in rural America.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source