Prioritizing El Paso, Texas

Floor Speech

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Ms. ESCOBAR. Madam Speaker, I have the honor of representing El Paso, Texas, a critical hub for commerce and trade with one of the busiest land ports of entry in the country.

Today, I am proud to have voted for the passage of the America COMPETES Act to strengthen supply chains, U.S. competitiveness, and create good-paying STEM jobs at home. It will build on policies championed by congressional Democrats and President Biden that have led to a historic year of job creation, as shown in today's jobs report.

The bill includes my amendments to address many El Paso priorities on local job creation, addressing the climate crisis, and optimizing our ports of entry.

One of my amendments creates a mandatory set-aside specifically for small businesses, the backbone of our local economy, to move into the solar component manufacturing sector.

Additionally, I included amendments that respond to the climate crisis by ensuring that we reduce deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions in developing nations and allow environmental defenders to assist in developing our climate-resilient strategy.

My amendments also address the needs of our ports of entry, El Paso's major artery for trade and commerce.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to have also addressed inflation.

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