|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr., D-McAllen, updated constituents Monday morning on what he’s been working on in Congress lately.
In a news conference at Harlingen City Hall, Gonzalez highlighted three bills he’s filed with bipartisan support. The first is the Safe Zone Act, which he called “really important to our region” because it offers an alternative to how migrant processing currently is carried out. The legislation calls for the creation of “safe zone” processing centers at least 1,500 miles from the U.S. border in a country other than Mexico.
Instead of making the dangerous trip to the U.S. border to be processed, migrants would be processed in the safe-zone centers. If deemed eligible to enter the United States to await an asylum hearing, migrants would fly to their U.S. destinations from whatever country they’re processed in.
“We now have bipartisan support,” Gonzalez said. “We’re talking to the administration. They are doing something similar but it’s not as efficient and it’s not the law, so we continue having folks showing up to the border, and folks not even going through the application process. We hope that by next year we can actually have a fully functional system in a third country where we can process asylum seekers in partnership with the country.”
Gonzalez said it would “take a lot of pressure off our southern border” and cut out the criminal organizations that smuggle and prey on migrants.
“It allows people to travel safer,” he said. “At the end of the day we have to look at ways for people to come to this country in an orderly way.”
Gonzalez also touted the Hire Act, which he filed with U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio. The legislation would create guest-worker programs allowing migrants to work in the United States on temporary rotations of 9-15 months, Vicente Gonzalez said.
“Clearly we have a labor shortage, and if you follow most of the migrants who come into this country, within about two to three weeks they’ve been absorbed into our economy,” Gonzalez said. “We have 150 fishing boats that are parked out here with no workers, so it’s a problem that’s widespread. It’s in our agriculture industry. It’s in our fishing industry. It’s in manufacturing, construction (and) it’s in the hospitality business.
The United States is at 97% percent employment and “anyone who wants a job can find one,” he said.
“But in order to continue to grow our economy we need labor,” Gonzalez said. “I have farmers in my district that are losing their harvests on the ground because of lack of labor. This bill would eliminate some barriers and allow a smoother process to be able to hire people temporarily. This is also a bipartisan bill. It has support from both sides of the aisles, and it has some folks who are against on both sides of the aisle as well.”
He added that the proposals “make a lot of sense … for the American people and certainly for folks who are living on the southern border.”
A third bill is titled the Gold Card Act, which Gonzalez filed with U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lake Dallas. It would limit how much time insurance carriers have to approve a medical procedure. Currently, it’s 30 days — too long to leave patients in limbo, Gonzalez said.
“Sometimes they’re really, really important procedures,” he said. “I think insurance carriers have been allowed to get away with a whole lot. We have a lot of support on both sides of the aisle and a lot from our medical community across the country, and I think it’s a bill that has a direct positive impact on people’s health, especially seniors that are waiting for procedures to be approved by their insurance companies.”
With bipartisan backing, all three bills “have a real legitimate shot at getting past the finish line,” Gonzalez said.
He also highlighted earmarks for District 34 that he was able to secure, including $2.4 million for drainage projects in Harlingen, and funds to renovate Harlingen-San Benito VFW Post 2410.
“During my time in Congress I’ve done several VFWs,” he said. “We’ve turned some of these VFWs into fantastic community centers. Most of them haven’t been touched, because of lack of funding, since WWII.”
Gonzalez said he was also able to get just under $2 million for equipment for the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office and communications system equipment for the Brownsville and Harlingen police departments. Other earmarks include $3.5 million for the Nolana Extension in eastern Hidalgo County, nearly $1 million for a retention pond in Edcouch to address flooding, and $1 million maintenance at the Port of Brownsville.
“And something that’s really important and near and dear to my heart is taking care of the resaca system here in Cameron County,” he said. “I think it’s something that makes Cameron unique and beautiful. So we got $2 million for Brownsville’s resaca system so they can continue to maintain it and dredge … and keep it place that people can enjoy in the communities.”
Gonzalez said he was also able to secure $1 million for the South Texas College nursing program in order to address the ongoing nursing shortage in the region.
“We’re trying to train more nurses in a more expedited way,” he said. “We’re also starting a new program where we’re going to be giving apprenticeships to new nurses, where they begin working in hospitals and working toward the degree while staffing hospitals. Right now most of the hospitals in South Texas are understaffed. … At the end of the day it does have a direct impact on outcomes.”
“We got $1 million for San Benito’s water treatment plant,” Gonzalez said. “That came right out of the Inflation Reduction Act. Now we’re starting to see tangible results in our communities.”
He also touted the Biden administration’s move to get drug companies to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs for seniors on Medicare at $35 per month, and limits seniors’ total out-of-pocket medical expenses to $2,000 annually.
“That’s something that I think we’re really proud of,” Gonzalez said. “Lastly, as we go into this new session after the summer break, we’re all trying to avoid a government shutdown.”
The biggest priorities for him in the coming budget fight are to protect Medicare, Social Security and veteran healthcare from tampering, he said.
“Those three programs cannot be cut in any way,” Gonzalez said. “There are some proposals to privatize and there are some proposals to raise age limits. We oppose both of them. There’s a proposal right now trying to raise the age of Medicare from 65 to 67, and for Social Security from 65 to 69. That would be tragic. It would impact a lot of people across the country. We need to make sure that the programs are never touched in negotiation when we’re talking about our budget.”
