Press Release
Congressman Cuellar Hosts Eagle Ford Shale Consortium Delegation for a Multi-Agency Meeting in Washington, D.C.Five federal agencies met with Consortium representatives to discuss funding and legislative issues
Washington,
June 21, 2012
Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), joined by the office of Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), hosted a multi-agency meeting in Washington D.C. with a delegation from the Eagle Ford Shale Consortium to discuss a broad range of issues related to the development of the communities impacted by the Eagle Ford Shale. Topics discussed included opportunities for federal support of workforce development and housing as well as possible grant opportunities. "In addition to playing an ever-increasing role in building our local economy and creating opportunities for South Texans, the Eagle Ford Shale is taking on national importance as a key contributor to our energy sector and the economic growth of our nation,” said Congressman Cuellar. “By bringing the delegation together with key federal agency decision makers, we are furthering our goal of making South Texas one of the drivers of domestic energy production. I want to thank Leodoro Martinez and the other members of the delegation for attending this meeting and working with me to make sure that the Consortium is leveraging every federal resource available to promote the expansion of Eagle Ford Shale." The Eagle Ford Shale Consortium, led by Chairman Leodoro Martinez, gave a presentation providing an overview of the Eagle Ford Shale to United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development, Department of Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Energy and the Economic Development Agency. The meeting covered a wide range of topics, including providing training to energy workforce employees, ensuring the availability of affordable housing for the thousands of workers hired by Eagle Ford Shale and infrastructure improvements for roads that are supporting massive trucking traffic. "I want to thank Congressman Cuellar and Senator Cornyn for bringing these federal agencies to the table for a collaborative discussion about ensuring that as the Eagle Ford Shale continues to develop, we use this growth to foster both the immediate goal of creating jobs and the long term goal of creating a solid economic base for communities in the Eagle Ford footprint," said Executive Director for the Middle Rio Grande Development Council and Eagle Ford Shale Consortium Chairman Leodoro Martinez. The Eagle Ford Shale Consortium is comprised of stakeholder representatives from a cross-section of community members from the South Texas area. The Consortium exists to serve the public’s interest in matters of economic and community development, community education, job creation, workforce education and development, natural resources and other related subjects. The Eagle Ford Shale formation is a hydrocarbon-producing formation that covers 20 Texas counties. Last year alone, the Eagle Ford Shale Formation had an economic output of $25 billion dollars and sustained over 47,000 full time jobs. ###
Congressman Henry Cuellar is a member of the U.S. House Homeland Security and Agriculture Committees. Job creation, accessibility to constituents, education, economic development and national security are his priorities. Congressman Cuellar is also a Vice Chairman of the Steering and Policy Committee, Senior Whip and member of the Blue Dog Coalition. |