Sen. Cruz Praised for Ports-to-Plains Legislative Victory in Big Spring, Texas

BIG SPRING, Texas. – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today spoke about his efforts to designate the portion of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor from Laredo, Texas up through New Mexico, as a future addition to the interstate highway system at the Ports-to-Plains Alliance annual conference. Afterwards, he held a press conference where he was joined by Ports-to-Plains Chairman John Osborne, San Angelo Mayor Brenda Gunter, Howard County Judge Kathryn Wiseman, and Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish.

This year, Sen. Cruz won a bipartisan victory when he worked to build a coalition of Republicans and Democrats to pass two major amendments. The first was the Cruz-Warnock amendment extending I-14, running from the Permian Basin all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. That amendment passed unanimously into law, and it will help bring oil, gas, and crops from west Texas all the way east to the Atlantic.

The second amendment, the Cruz-Lujan amendment, designated I-27, part of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor, as a future addition to the interstate highway system. This amendment also passed the Senate this year with bipartisan support and will positively impact 26 counties in Texas. It will lead to upgrades to critical parts of the highway system, and it will improve roadways that Texas farmers and ranchers need to get their products to market faster.

About his work to designate a part of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor as a future interstate, Sen. Cruz said:

“I was proud to champion this initiative to extend I-14 and designate I-27, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor, as a future addition to the interstate highway system. This is a $55 billion project that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and will bring tens of billions of dollars of additional GDP to the state of Texas. It was a great bipartisan victory for Texas, and I was proud to bring it across the finish line.”

Ports-to-Plains Alliance Chairman John Osborne said:

“This has just been a fantastic set of meetings these last couple of days, highlighted this morning by our very own Sen. Ted Cruz coming and speaking with us, talking about the importance of trade and commerce—not just within Texas but more importantly with our greatest trading partner, Mexico, and up and down the Ports-to-Plains Corridor. We had a great session listening about how our I-27 designation bill got passed and I cannot say thank you enough to Sen. Ted Cruz for championing that effort.”

San Angelo Mayor Brenda Gunter said:

“Sen. Cruz has been instrumental in the fight for the Ports-to-Plains and the economic vitality of our state. I was proud to stand with him today and join the efforts to secure our state’s economic future.”

Howard County Judge Kathryn Wiseman said:

“I welcome Sen. Cruz so much to our city and our community, and I want to thank him for his work securing the Ports-to-Plains and the infrastructure that we will need to reach from Mexico to Canada. I’m so excited about it. Thank you.”

Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish said:

“I want to welcome the Senator to Big Spring and welcoming him to West Texas. This is Cruz country. We are honored that he has chosen to join with us here at the Ports-to-Plains conference. This Ports-to-Plains Corridor goes from Laredo to Canada, from Mexico to North Dakota. This project is a massive project that’s going to take all of us to work on it. The Senator knows that, and the Senator has done an incredible job in bringing together folks from both sides of the aisle. He recognizes that this is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democratic issue. This is an issue for all of us.” 

Background:

1. Sen. Cruz worked with a Democrat colleague to designate the Interstate 14 extension as a high priority project, a major victory that will benefit the entire Permian Basin region. 
2. He successfully led a bipartisan, bicameral effort to designate the I-27 Ports-to-Plains corridor as a “Future Interstate,” which will make Texas eligible to receive additional federal funds to complete the I-27 highway expansion project. 
3. Sen. Cruz authored Ports-to-Plains legislation and built a bipartisan coalition to make the I-14 extension and Ports-to-Plains a reality.
4. Earlier this year, Sen. Cruz and Sen. Rafael Warnock (D-GA) secured authorization of the I-14 project as an amendment to the infrastructure bill.
5. Shortly thereafter, Sens. Cruz and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) secured authorization of the Port-to-Plains as an amendment to the omnibus appropriations bill for FY22.
6. Together, these bipartisan amendments successfully authorized the Ports-to-Plains highway from Laredo to Lubbock, and into New Mexico, and expanded I-14 to stretch from Texas to Georgia.
7. Ports-to-Plains will bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of GDP to Texas.
8. Watch Everything Lubbock interview with Sen. Cruz about Ports-to-Plains here. 

 

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