Cuellar talks border business

Mission- Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX28) held a press conference this afternoon at the Anzalduas Bridge in Mission along with local leaders.

Topics covered included the launch of a public private partnership pilot program for infrastructure improvements, the recent announcement of funding for additional CBP officers, the recently passed Appropriations Bill for the Department of Homeland Security, and other topics related to the Border.

Mayor of Mission Norberto Salinas, Mayor of McAllen Jim Darling, Mayor of Hidalgo Martin Cepeda, Superintendent of Bridges for McAllen, Hidalgo and Anzalduas International bridges Rigoberto Villarreal and President of South Texas Assets Consortium Sam Vale were also in attendance.

Cuellar spoke of the partnership saying it would allow the private sector to step in and put money in infrastructure.

“It would allow without a doubt to use that as a mechanism to put infrastructure so we can move trade, tourism faster,” added Cuellar”

The private sector and local governments had $7 million to put into the projects to increase border protection and make other improvements.

“Wait time is the biggest complaint we get,” said Cepeda.

The monies would also go to opening up more lanes and improve on those wait times.

Cuellar also touched on the recent announcement of Customs and Border Protection(CBP) receiving $225.7 million to hire 2,000 more officers.

“For the first time the Appropriations Committee did not put new monies for border patrol,” said Cuellar. “There has always been an emphasis on them but for the first time there has been an emphasis on the men and women in blue.”

Cuellar also added that the increase of CBP officers will achieve the goal of facilitating trade, travel and boost economic development.

The first 700 officers will be hired this year and a staff model is currently in the works for the other 1300 officers.

CBP operates 329 points of entry across the U.S., while patrolling nearly 2,000 miles of border with Mexico, 4,000 miles with Canada and 2,600 miles of coastal waters. In fiscal year 2012 alone, CBP processed more than 350 million travelers and facilitated $2.3 trillion dollars worth of trade.

Lastly Cuellar stated he was able to add an extra $10 million to increase the economic existence of Mexico. That extra money would go to infrastructure technologies on the Mexican bridges.

The congressman stressed that both countries must be on the same page when it comes to the technology. If one side has a license plate reader there must be one on the other side and all technology must be up to date so that everything flows.

In closing, Cuellar was presented with a Leadership Plaque by Salinas, Darling and Cepeda