McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Texas lawmakers are pushing different measures in Congress that would hasten the permitting process to expand or build new international bridges with Mexico.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday that he has bipartisan support in the House and Senate for an amendment he wrote into the National Defense Authorization Act requiring the State Department and the White House to rule on international bridge permit construction requests within 60 days each.
Permits would not have to wait for environmental reviews to be completed before new bridge construction or renovations could begin in the South Texas counties of Maverick, Webb and Cameron, according to the amendment.
Leaders want to build these new international bridges:
The Flor de Mayo International Bridge in Brownsville.
The 4/5 Bridge in Rio Bravo, southeast of Laredo.
The Puerto Verde Global Trade Bridge in Eagle Pass.
They also want to expand two bridges in Laredo: the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge for non-commercial traffic, and the World Trade Bridge for truckers to 16 lanes, including 10 northbound lanes from Mexico.
The World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, is the No. 1 port for commercial truck traffic on the Southwest border. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo)
Cruz’s amendment would give the State Department 60 days to issue a recommendation to the president about whether the president should issue a permit for the four projects. The president would then have 60 days to grant or deny the permits. This is similar to what happened in prior administrations where presidential permits could be issued contingent on the successful completion of environmental reviews.
Cruz says he believes he has the votes for it to pass as early as next week.
“This is a huge win for South Texas. For months, I’ve worked hand in hand with my Democrat and Republican colleagues to ensure that this critical provision for Texas was included in legislation that could pass Congress and be signed into law. Construction of these four new and expanded cross-border bridges are vital for our state’s economy,” Cruz said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar at a news conference on July 24, 2023, in Laredo, Texas, advocating presidential permits be expedited for new and expansion of international bridges in South Texas. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo)
“These Rio Grande bridges will help farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and small businesses throughout Texas. They will support international trade, fix supply chain bottlenecks, and support economic development and security for Texas border communities,” he said.
In July, Cruz traveled to the World Trade Bridge in Laredo with a bipartisan delegation, including U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
At that time, the group touted the need for streamlining the bridge permitting process under the Biden administration.
Cuellar this week told Border Report that he has also put similar language into a pending 2024 House Appropriations bill that would allow for expedited permitting for construction of new and existing bridges anywhere on the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders.
His proposal would also allow construction to be ongoing while environmental reviews are occurring. But he said if environmental problems are found, then construction would stop.
The measure, however, likely won’t be voted in the House until next month as lawmakers have pushed back voting on 2024 budget bills.
Cuellar told Border Report it’s important to increase trade routes with Mexico.
He said U.S. trade with Mexico last year accounted for $863 billion in goods and services and predicts that would top $1 trillion within the next five years.
But he said more lanes connecting the two countries need to be added.
“One way or the other, we’re gonna get this done,” he said.
Cuellar expressed frustration with the Biden administration, which recently waived 26 environmental laws to expedite construction of the border wall in Starr County, in his district.
Now, he wants them to consider expediting the construction of bridges, too.
“As I told the administration, you all waived 26 environmental laws to build that darn border wall. But you can’t even work with us to expedite — not to waive — the environmental law, NEPA, for bridges?” he said. “This is just a matter of trying to expedite it, where we do it at the same time.”
Cuellar says environmental reviews already have been done on the World Trade Bridge during construction and recent expansion projects.
Plans for the $40 million expansion have been ongoing since 2021.
The bridge is the largest commercial port of entry on the Southwest border, and so far this fiscal year, has logged about 250,000 commercial vehicles per month, up 7% from Fiscal Year 2023, according to the City of Laredo bridge data.
However, truckers often report hours-long wait times as they try to haul loads between the two countries.
“Bridges are very important for the Valley. Bridges are very important to Laredo bridges are so important to the U.S.-Mexico border and the Canadian border,” Cuellar said.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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