Transportation | Congressman Ted Poe, Serving the 2nd District of Texas

Transportation

Our transportation systems drive the American economy by moving people and goods quickly across our large nation. Today, there is increasing demand for more efficient and speedier modes of transportation to satisfy the needs of today's traveler and shipper. This demand puts a great amount of pressure and strain on our transportation infrastructure which is struggling to keep up. From commuters stuck in traffic jams in their cars on our nation's roads and highways, passengers facing long airline delays, to businesses facing regulatory obstacles in moving their products represent just some of the challenges that require solutions. I am uniquely aware of these problems and challenges as having served as a Member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in the 109th and 110th Congress.

The 2nd District relies heavily on nearby George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the nation's 6th busiest airport, the highways that connect the sprawling suburbs of Houston, the nation's 4th largest city, and the inland waterways such as the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Jefferson County and the Houston Ship Channel, which leads to Southeast Texas' dominance in the energy, chemical, and shipping industries.

Since coming to Congress, I have been successful in securing millions of dollars and steering them towards vital projects in the 2nd District. These include funds to help mitigate noise for homeowners who are impacted by the flights into and out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, $22 million to assist the Greater Houston Partnership to help improve the quality of life and beautify Houston through the planting of large-scale landscaping along Houston-area highways, needed funds to help connect Highway 90 to the 610 Loop which gives eastern Harris County and Liberty County residents better access to downtown Houston, and vital money necessary to the Port of Beaumont to relocate and expand rail lines which has helped the Port become the largest mover of military equipment to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have also worked to help secure expedited completion toward the deepening and widening of the Sabine-Neches Waterway which would allow greater ship traffic and possibly expand business opportunities into the liquified natural gas market for the Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Sabine Pass areas that will create and attract more jobs into this area.

I continue to be deeply involved in several transportation matters affecting the 2nd District, the state of Texas, and the nation as a whole. Among these are The FAA's desire to consolidate many of its air traffic control functions nationwide which has led to their intention to transfer the Terminal Radar Approach Control or TRACON facility in Beaumont to Houston. Many in the Jefferson County community expressed their concern to me about how this decision will primarily affect service and safety. As such, I sponsored a bill, H.R. 2443, the Federal Aviation Administration Facility Consolidation Moratorium Act in the 110th Congress, which would have suspended the FAA's ability to transfer until a future date and ensure the FAA is receiving proper input from affected stakeholders. The bill had 82 bipartisan cosponsors.

Safety was also the reason I sponsored and was able to pass an amendment in the House of Representatives that extends drug and alcohol testing to mechanics performing maintenance work on U.S. airplanes at foreign aircraft repair stations outside the U.S. I was shocked to hear that with more and more U.S. air carriers flying overseas, that the repair work done on these planes was not of the same required standards as here in the U.S. Because of this amendment, Americans can be assured that the planes they travel in were inspected by a mechanic that was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of repair.

I continue to be concerned and have received much comment from my constituents on the U.S. Department of Transportation's desire to have a cross-border trucking program with Mexico under NAFTA. I am the cosponsor of both H.R. 1756, the NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007, and H.R. 1773, the Safe American Roads Act, which passed the House of Representatives last Congress. Both bills would suspend the Department of Transportation from moving forward with such a program until they could assure safety, English language proficiency, and other security guidelines are met. I am disappointed the Transportation Department is continuing to move forward with a program at the defiance of Congress who emphatically said "no". Bottom line is no 18 wheeler should be allowed to be on any American road unless that truck is safe, subject to the same stringent standards as U.S. trucks must abide by, and the driver is competent with federal, state, and local traffic laws and can speak and understand signs in English.

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