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 »

Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) today announced that a landmark veteran caregiver bill passed by Congress two weeks ago is now law. The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act provides unprecedented new benefits to veteran caregivers including training, counseling, health care and financial assistance. President Obama signed the bill into law late Wednesday. Read more »

Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) today joined southern border lawmakers and top security officials from the United States and Mexico to discuss the state of affairs between the two countries on Cinco de Mayo, a day which marks the historic triumph of the Mexican people over the French Army in the battle of Puebla in 1862. Congressmen Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) and Harry Teague (D-NM) hosted the Capitol Hill meeting between the group of border lawmakers and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mexico Interior Secretary Fernandez Gomez-Mont, Mexico Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan, ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton and CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin. Read more »

Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) today released the following statement in response to a Commerce Department report released Friday that shows the U.S. economy grew swiftly in the first quarter of 2010, calling it a good sign as the nation continues on a path of economic recovery. According to the report, the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a rate of 3.2 percent between January and March. Consumer spending makes up approximately 70 percent of the nation’s GDP. Read more »

Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) this week helped pass a landmark bill to help millions of veterans and their caregivers. The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act enhances female veterans’ benefits, improves military mental health services and provides unprecedented new benefits to veteran caregivers including training, counseling, health care and financial assistance. Read more »

Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) today announced that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is mailing 4.4 million postcards to the nation’s small businesses to inform them of tax cuts included in health care reform. Postcards will be delivered over the next two weeks to over 292,500 small businesses across Texas. Read more »