Congressman Cuellar Hosts Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart at World Trade Bridge

October 22, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 22, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) and the city of Laredo welcomed Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25) for a tour of the World Trade Bridge as well as the Laredo airport and other parts of the city.

Congressman Cuellar invited Congressman Diaz-Balart to Laredo to see and learn about the World Trade Bridge in his capacity as chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD). Congressman Cuellar is also a member of the subcommittee. With Congressman Diaz-Balart’s support, Congressman Cuellar was also able to include language in this fiscal year’s THUD appropriations bill to encourage improvements to the Laredo airport’s air traffic control tower.

“It was wonderful to show Congressman Diaz-Balart around my hometown of Laredo,” Congressman Cuellar said. “I particularly enjoyed showing him the World Trade Bridge and all the commerce it supports as well as the local airport tower that he helped me include in the THUD appropriations bill. It is great for people to see the effect trade has had on Laredo as well as the infrastructure we have to offer.”

Laredo is home to the busiest inland port in the country. Forty percent of the land commerce traffic between the U.S. and Mexico passes through the port of Laredo, and the World Trade Bridge is the busiest bridge between the two countries with 12,000 trucks passing over it daily.
In addition to their visit to the World Trade Bridge and the airport, Congressmen Cuellar and Diaz-Balart met with city officials at City Hall to discuss appropriations language Congressman Cuellar, in working with Chairman Diaz-Balart, was able to successfully include in the THUD appropriations bill, including:

• designating land ports of entry as projects to which transportation infrastructure project funds can be appropriated,
• encouraging the U.S. Department of Transportation to partner with Hispanic serving institutions and historically black colleges and universities for sharing research and information regarding minority-owned businesses and
• encouraging the authorization committee to consider expanding the freight network system and to identify a freight network that connects to high-volume land ports of entry.

LAREDO, Texas, Riley Brands ((202) 226-0507)