LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Xochitl Mora,

Meets President Obama, invites Secretary of Transportation to Laredo and

confirms Energy Efficiency Block Grant

 Washington, DC—Thurs, Jan 21, 2010, 4:45 p.m. —City of Laaredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas, joined by his fellow mayors from across the country, met with President Barack Obama and Vice Joe Biden today in the White House.  A copy of Vice President Biden and President Obama’s remarks can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-and-vice-president-us-conference-mayors. 

 Salinas reacted to the President Obama’s address stating:  “It is wonderful to have a president who understands that while the economy is getting better, we still have a long way to go before we are out of the woods.  President Obama’s understands that keeping city employees in jobs is a step toward economic recovery.  I was happy to hear from Laredo City Manager Carlos Villarreal that City of Laredo staff are already aggressively pursuing each of the competitive grant programs created by the stimulus bill that were referenced by the president in his speech.” 

 “I was also very pleased to learn this morning from the Department of Energy that Laredo is one of the first communities to be awarded an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants which will provide funds to reduce energy use and promote economic development.  If we can help Laredo’s citizens save dollars on energy, we help Laredo recover that much faster,” he added.

 “Finally, I was proud to be able to reinforce points made by our own Congressman Henry Cuellar when he spoke to the Commerce Department, pointing out the need for additional U.S. Census advertising dollars for Laredo,” Salinas concluded.

 Before heading to the White House, Mayor Salinas met with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to highlight Laredo’s transportation needs and to ask that the secretary give special consideration to Laredo in the Department’s TIGER Grants (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) program.  Salinas pointed out that the city has submitted applications for the funds and pointed out that nowhere in the country is transportation mobility more intimately connected with economic development than in Laredo—the nation’s busiest inland port.  The mayor also invited Sec. LaHood to visit Laredo to see first-hand how much investment in border infrastructure could jump start economic development.

 Mayor Salinas hopes to meet with Attorney General Holder tomorrow to ask that Laredo’s vital role in homeland security be considered in the next round of the COPS funding.