Members of the Congressional Pro-Trade Caucus (CPTC), a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting trade as a tool to spur economic growth and job creation in the United States, hosted a trade policy briefing Wednesday with the Panamanian Ambassador to the United States Jaime Aleman. The meeting was attended by more than a dozen bipartisan members of Congress, including CPTC Chairman Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28). Read more »

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced the success and further expansion of ICE’s Secure Communities strategy to south Texas. Secure Communities utilizes a biometric information-sharing capability to enable ICE to better identify aliens at the time they are fingerprinted and booked on criminal charges. Read more »

Congressman Henry Cuellar and City of McAllen Officials today announced $972,145 for the McAllen Miller International Airport. The total amount comes from the Federal Aviation Administration. The money will be used for design studies, runway rehabilitation, drainage improvements, and wildlife hazard assessments. Read more »

Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, made the following statement regarding the first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight over West Texas on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, by Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine. Today, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the UAV flight occurred over a portion of West Texas Tuesday. Read more »

Congressmen Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) and Michael McCaul (R-Austin) had a first-hand look at new technology that would allow federal agents patrolling the borders to disable the engines of boats and land vehicles from a distance without harm to occupants. The technology, developed by Applied Physical Electronics of Spicewood, TX, has the potential to strengthen border and port security by mitigating the risks involved in initial contact between law enforcement and suspected smugglers. Read more »

Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) voted to extend over $4 billion worth of vitally important tax cuts to hard-working families and supported legislation to fund the Department of Defense though 2011, including funding to create a new South Texas Joint Training Center in Tilden, Texas, for the Texas Air and Army National Guard. Both bills passed the House late Friday before Congress adjourned to recognize Memorial Day. Read more »

On Wednesday, officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) briefed Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) on the unmanned aircraft system expected to patrol the Texas-Mexico border by this fall. The technical briefing reviewed the operational capacities of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), in anticipation of an impending flight approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. Read more »

Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) joined his colleagues in the House Committee on Agriculture for a field hearing in Lubbock, Texas, to review U.S. agriculture policy with Texas farmers and ranchers as the Committee begins the process of writing the 2012 Farm Bill. Congressman Cuellar, who represents over 11,300 farms and ranches in addition to over seven million acres of farmland in his congressional district, is the only Texas democratic member of Congress who serves on the House Agriculture Committee. Read more »

Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism, today announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved a Certification of Authorization (COA) for an unmanned aerial vehicle to patrol a portion of the U.S. Mexico border extending from Arizona to the El Paso region of Texas effective Tuesday, June 1, 2010. This is one of two COAs that have been submitted to FAA to approve the flights of unmanned aerial vehicles along the Texas-Mexico border. Read more »

Today, Members of the Congressional Pro-Trade Caucus, a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting trade as a tool to spur economic growth and job creation in the United States, hosted a trade policy briefing with Han Duk-soo, the Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. The meeting was attended by more than a dozen bipartisan members of Congress who advocated positive dialogue to promote the pending Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Korea, commonly known as KORUS. Read more »