Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, in conjunction with the Community Development Block Grant program, announced that the Pecan Valley Drive Bridge in Marble Falls will receive $350,000 for a bridge replacement project. The Pecan Valley Drive Bridge was severely damaged due to recent flooding in the hill country. “I want to commend the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs for dealing with this important issue in a timely manner,” said Conaway. “The Pecan Valley Drive Brid...
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Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) spent the last part of the Memorial Day recess on a Congressional Delegation trip to Panama and Colombia, along with House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA). The purpose of the trip was to discuss trade opportunities and to visit International narcotics and law enforcement programs.The delegation spent the first part of the trip in Bogota, Colombia before heading to Panama. While in Bogota, they met with Colom...
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Last week, Congressman Mike Conaway (TX-11) sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to work to resolve the current backlog of passport requests to ensure safe international travel for U.S. citizens. The letter, which was signed by 17 members of the Texas delegation, comes on the heels of new rules requiring a passport to travel by air in the Western Hemisphere, which has significantly increased the demand for passport issuance. “Our offices have received many f...
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Today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Frontera Health Care Network (FHN) received a federal grant in the amount of $566,667 for a health care center. The Frontera Health Care Network provides primary and preventative health care services to the residents of Concho, Mason and Menard counties. This grant was awarded by HHS through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).“I am impressed with FHN’s extraordinary efforts to bring these much needed servi...
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Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the final version of the War Supplemental, which provides funding for our troops, as well as $3 billion in disaster funding for farmers and ranchers. The revised supplemental establishes benchmarks intended to condition the future U.S. strategy in Iraq based on the performance of the Iraqi government. It also requires the President to report to Congress by July 15th and September 15th on whether these benchmarks are being met. Congressm...
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Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Democrat-led “price gouging” bill, which defines the act of price gouging as raising the price of gasoline to a level considered “unconscionably excessive,” without clearly defining what that means. The language included in the bill (H.R. 1252) can be interpreted in various ways, providing no guidance to suppliers but threatening jail sentences of up to 10 years in addition to huge fines for violation of this vague law. Following the passage ...
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Today, the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry approved a package of proposals for the 2007 farm bill to be taken up later this summer in full committee. This was the second subcommittee of six to consider language and forward recommendations to the full committee. “Overall I am very pleased with the proposals that the subcommittee approved,” said Conaway. “The language approved today by the subcommittee would grant dairy product buyers and sellers the right to enter into voluntary, lo...
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Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to unanimously pass H.R. 1425, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4551 East 52nd Street in Odessa, Texas, as the `Staff Sergeant Marvin `Rex' Young Post Office Building'. On August 21, 1968, while in battle in Vietnam, Staff Sgt. Young sacrificed his life to save the lives of his friends and comrades. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and sacrifice. “I met Rex when we both were at...
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Yesterday, Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) attended a meeting with Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to discuss the immigration deal that members of the Senate proposed last week. Following the meeting, Conaway made the following statement: “I have serious concerns regarding the Senate's recently proposed immigration and border security legislation. This legislation fails to address some serious reforms, and I was able to express my apprehensions to Senator Kyl, one of the lead Republican negotiators in th...
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Congressman Conaway recently introduced H.R. 1770, the “Corrosion Prevention Act of 2007.” This bill will provide businesses a tax credit for costs associated with preventing or mitigating corroding metals.“The goal of this legislation is to reduce the threat of toxic pollution in our environment, along with the potential effects that this pollution can have on public health,” said Conaway. “Many industries use storage tanks to hold toxic materials such as MTBE, benzene, toluene, and heavy metal...
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