FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2002
CONTACT: Lisette Mondello
BORDER TRUCK INSPECTION FUNDS COMING TO TEXAS, HUTCHISON SAYS
Texas Senator Secured Funding in Transportation Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Texas is receiving the vast majority of federal funds for border truck inspection stations, according to U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who secured the money in the 2002 Transportation Department Appropriations bill.
"Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding $40.8 million to Texas to build truck inspection stations along our border with Mexico," said Senator Hutchison, a member of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. Texas is receiving more than three-quarters of the $54 million total in federal funds allocated for border inspection facilities.
"We worked hard to get this funding in the bill. Texas has the most border crossings of any state. We're spending the money where it's most needed– in Texas," Senator Hutchison said.
"Much of my effort in the appropriations process has focused on border infrastructure and on the need to ease commerce and the transportation of goods– but to do so safely and securely. Building these truck inspection facilities will go a long way to ensure that the trucks coming across the border meet our safety standards," she said.
The funds announced today are for the construction of border safety inspection facilities at eight commercial crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. The eight locations are: Los Indios, Los Tomates, Pharr-Reynosa, World Trade Bridge, Columbia/Solidarity, Camino Real International, Ysleta-Zaragoza, and the Bridge of the Americas.
Senator Hutchison had also secured an additional $12 million for Texas in the 2002 DOT Appropriations bill for border inspection facilities.
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