Recognizing Ports-to-plains Alliance

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and recognize the Ports-to-Plains Alliance on 20 years of hard work to ensure a voice for rural communities in America's heartland and for educating others on the importance of building out infrastructure around feeding, fueling, and clothing America's cities in urban areas.

Let me start by recognizing the hard work and the leadership of my dear friend and predecessor who left big shoes for me to fill, and that man is Randy Neugebauer, who is, in my mind, the father of this great initiative.

And we in west Texas and up and down the backbone of this country owe him a debt of gratitude. I extend my deepest thanks and appreciation to Congressman Randy Neugebauer.

For those who aren't familiar, the Ports-to-Plains corridor runs north and south through the center of America's heartland, from my State of Texas to Montana, through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and North Dakota. It is strategically located to create jobs and increase economic efficiency by connecting rural areas to urban America, regional trade centers, and international transportation facilities.

Within the Ports-to-Plains service area, there are three congressionally designated corridors, high-priority transportation corridors, consisting of over 2,300 miles of highway and 38 million citizens.

The Ports-to-Plains region includes States that lead our Nation's energy economy, with 7 of the top 10 States in oil production and 8 of the top 10 States in wind energy generation, producing over $44 million in agriculture goods, or about 22 percent of the United States' total production of agriculture.

The Ports-to-Plains corridor annually generates over $166 billion in trade with Canada and Mexico, which is almost 20 percent of all U.S.

North American trade.

The bottom line is: Middle America provides the food, fuel, and fiber that strengthens and protects our Nation, but that is only true when we can get the product to market. Unfortunately, nearly half of this region consists of two-lane, antiquated roads that cannot safely and reliably handle today's traffic demands, much less future traffic demands.

These roads were never designed to accommodate the kind of traffic and large trucks being used today, mainly by the energy and agriculture industries. The Ports-to-Plains Alliance, through its partnerships, has formed a strong voice for rural America promoting the importance of investing in its highway infrastructure.

I am honored to share the significance of this corridor and its needs by chairing the newly created Congressional Ports-to-Plains Caucus alongside--and this is a bipartisan effort--my House co-chairs Representatives Smith, Gonzalez, Cuellar, and our counterparts in the Senate, Senators Heitkamp and Fischer.

If we are going to continue to feed and clothe the American people and fuel this great economy, we must make the investment in our infrastructure, and we must make that investment in rural America. The return is incalculable, unmeasurable, unquantifiable, and we need to make that investment.

If you want to make America great again, support the people of rural America, support the products of rural America, and God help us support the values of rural America.

God bless America, and God bless America's beating heart in small towns all across this land.

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