Hire More Heroes Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, we all know the Chamber is engaged in the
passage of a multiyear highway bill--not just highways, but this deals
with mass transit, transportation infrastructure in general. To me, the
most important thing about what we are doing is the fact we are not
going to do another temporary patch--which we have done, I am told, 33
times--but we actually are going to pass a 3-year highway bill.

To me, the best news, I would say to the Presiding Officer, is now it
looks as if we have the House thoroughly engaged, so it is not just a
question of this bill or nothing. Perhaps, if experience is any guide,
we can come up with something even better by collaborating with our
House colleagues.

I wanted to come to the floor and talk a little bit about the impact
of this bill on my State, the State of Texas, because we are a fast-
growing State. We have about 27 million people there now. People are
moving from around the country to Texas because our economy is growing.
Last year, our economy grew at the rate of 5.2 percent. To compare that
to the Nation, last year the Nation's economy grew at 2.2 percent. What
does that mean? That means there are a lot more jobs and a lot more
opportunities, so people are literally voting with their feet, leaving
the States where there are limited opportunities and coming to States
such as Texas where there are more opportunities. But that means more
congestion, more traffic, and more challenges when it comes to our
roadways, our rural freight routes, and it means challenges for our
economy.

Many States, of course, would be delighted to have the problems we
are having because, frankly, people are moving away from many States,
not to many States. I know the Presiding Officer's State of Oklahoma is
experiencing economic growth and job growth too because we share a
common interest and sector of our economy, the energy economy, which
the rest of the country would do well to learn from the examples in
Oklahoma and Texas as part of our economic success story.

As others have mentioned, one of the chief reasons this bill has so
much enthusiasm behind it is because it gives freedom and flexibility
to the States to plan for infrastructure needs in the future. It
perhaps should go without saying, but a 6-month patch, if we were to
kick this over until December, doesn't give anybody any certainty to
plan these long-term infrastructure projects which take literally not
months but years.

As I said, for a State such as Texas that is growing rapidly--by some
estimates 600 people a day are moving to the State--improving our
roadways and bridges is vitally important for the continued growth of
our economy and increased prosperity for our people, and we have the
practical challenge of handling a growing number of cars and trucks on
our roads. One way this bill gives added freedom and flexibility to the
States is through a provision that would help Texas and other border
States meet their growing infrastructure needs, particularly at the
southern border, with improvements that are not only necessary to get
us and goods from point A to point B, but to keep us safe as well.

Frequently, when we talk about the border, we talk about border
security. That is a very important consideration and, frankly, we have
not committed the Federal resources we should to border security to
make sure we know who is coming into the country and why they are here.
Of course, we know that recently, even in the news, people have
continued to penetrate our border, even those with criminal records,
causing havoc and, indeed, committing crimes against innocent people
such as occurred recently in the terrible incident that happened in San
Francisco.

Our border, border infrastructure, and border security are the front
lines of our defense, to keep our people safe, to regulate who comes
into the country, and to make sure that only legitimate people can
enter.

The question is--as one law professor recently testified before the
Senate Judiciary Committee, when it comes to immigration, there is
really only one question: Are you going to have controlled immigration
or uncontrolled immigration? It is basically that simple.

I am on the floor to talk about transportation and the importance of
this bill in terms of the border infrastructure when it comes to trade
and commerce, but as I mentioned, it also is an important frontline
when it comes to the safety and security of the American people.

We are fortunate in Texas to be the top exporting State in the
Nation. That is one of the reasons our economy has grown faster than
the rest of the country. The agricultural products that are grown
there, the livestock that is raised, and the manufactured goods that
are made are exported to markets all around the world, which creates
good jobs, well-paying jobs at home.

It also takes good infrastructure to move more than $100 billion in
exported goods from Texas to Mexico each year, supporting hundreds of
thousands of jobs in Texas alone. It is estimated, when you look at the
Nation as a whole, that binational trade between Mexico and the United
States supports as many as 6 million American jobs. That is something
we frequently overlook when we talk about our relationship with our
neighbor south of the border and immigration, and that is there are
many benefits to legal trade, traffic, controlled legal immigration,
and, indeed, as I mentioned, $100 billion of exported goods from Texas
to Mexico each year supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.

In this bill, by allowing Texas and other border States more
flexibility in long-term planning of border projects, consumers and
workers can benefit as goods are shipped more efficiently back and
forth. Our border infrastructure is essential to moving massive amounts
of trade, which travel through our ports of entry every day. For Texas
and the United States to remain competitive, the border region must
have the quality infrastructure to truck, train, and ship billions of
dollars' worth of goods efficiently and safely.

Doing nothing to invest in transportation at the border is not a
viable option. A recent report from the Texas State Legislature found
that $116 million in U.S. economic output is lost or forfeited every
single minute. The trucks sit idle at the border with Mexico. They are
literally frozen in place because they are bottlenecked because of
archaic, antiquated infrastructure and lack of appropriate staffing at
the border.

Infrastructure on the border also plays another important role,
preventing things such as illicit drugs and merchandise from entering
the country. In many respects, as I said, our border crossings, the
technology employed there, and the professionals who work there--they
are the first line of defense against bad actors who want to get into
the country illegally or get contraband goods through our ports.

In Texas, better roads and bridges at the border region mean better
economic opportunity and quality of life for our growing border
communities. Fortunately, the border infrastructure provision in this
highway bill would give the Governor in Texas and all other border
States the freedom to assess the biggest transportation problems facing
those States and would also provide essential tools to address them.

By dedicating funds to invest in border infrastructure projects at
the discretion of State Governors, we can make sure our States have the
resources they need to enhance trade and travel and to keep us safe at
the same time.

This is not, of course, a new notion. Throughout my time in the
Senate, I have worked with folks in Texas and elsewhere, people on both
sides of the aisle and on both ends of the Capitol, to try to find ways
to facilitate greater levels of legitimate commerce and travel at our
Nation's ports of entry and throughout the border region.

I am thankful for making this progress in this legislation. I commend
my Texas colleagues--Congressmen Will Hurd and Henry Cuellar, among
others--for working with us and for introducing similar legislation on
border infrastructure in their Chamber. Hopefully, as we now move from
a Senate bill to a House bill that can then be reconciled in a
conference committee, these important improvements will be retained and
be part of a conference report.

The bottom line is that quality infrastructure and making sure our
border is safe and effective is a bipartisan, bicameral issue, and one
that clearly unites people in my State and across the border region of
our southern States.

I am thankful to see this provision included, and I hope it gets
passed soon to give our States the opportunity to dedicate even more
necessary resources to the border.

This provision is an important example of the overall theme of this
bill, giving the States a reliable way forward to plan for their long-
term infrastructure needs. More than anything else, I believe this
legislation is an investment in our future and the next generation.

I thank all of our colleagues for working with us to get this bill
moving forward. We have an important vote tomorrow morning, and then we
have another final passage vote, I believe, on Thursday. In the
meantime, the House is going to send us a 3-month bill, which will give
us the necessary time for the House then to consider their own
transportation bill and then to get us to a conference where we can
reconcile the differences.

As the Presiding Officer and I have discussed before in the past, if
that is any indication, that will give us even greater ability to
influence the ultimate outcome in a way that improves this product in a
bicameral and bipartisan sort of way.

I yield the floor.

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