Chet Edwards For Congress - Texas A&M

Outstanding Achievements

Kat — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 14:22:50 -0700

"Outstanding Achievements"

Play video:

“Outstanding achievements.” That’s what A&M’s Earl Rudder Award said about Chet Edwards.

“Chet Edwards has fought effectively for vital A&M research and better jobs, roads and health care for the Brazos Valley.

“And Chet Edwards said no when Washington bureaucrats tried to cut A&M’s homeland security training for thirty thousand police and firefighters.

Chet Edwards

Working for us…because he’s one of us..

“He knows what counts, and what he’s fighting for.

Congressman Chet Edwards: “I’m Chet Edwards, Class of ’74, and I approve this message.”

Fighting for Texas A&M University

Kat — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:32:50 -0700

Congressman Chet Edwards, Class of ’74
Fighting for Texas A&M University

Congressman Chet Edwards, Class of ’74, has worked hard for his alma mater in Congress.

With one out of every four jobs in Brazos County tied to Texas A&M or the A&M System, Chet knows that funding for key research projects is vital to the economy of the Brazos Valley and crucial for the University as it seeks to expand its research programs.

As one of only four Aggies in Congress, Chet has used his seniority and seat on the key Appropriations Committee to secure for Texas A&M $48 million more than the Administration requested in 2005.

Video - Maroon

Kat — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 22:51:07 -0700

"Maroon"

Background Information

Select video:

"When some in Washington wanted to weaken the Army by slashing forty thousand soldiers, Chet Edwards stood up to them and won and kept our Army strong.

It's why the Association of the U. S. Army named Chet Edwards, "Legislator of the Year."

What were the values Chet Edwards learned as a student at A&M?

Hard work and results.

Chet Edwards. Our Congressman."

CHET EDWARDS: "I'm Chet Edwards, Class of '74, and I approve this message."

Edwards honored at luncheon

Kat — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 09:35:54 -0700

July 10, 2006
Edwards honored at luncheon

The Battalion
By Katy Hicks | Battalion staff writer

Lee Peddicord, vice chancellor for research and federal relations, welcomed professors, researchers and elected officials to a luncheon Friday honoring U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, Class of 1974, for his dedication in securing funds for research at Texas A&M.

"This is an opportunity for all of us at the A&M system to say thank you to Congressman Edwards for the wonderful things he does for us in Washington D.C.," Peddicord said.

Edwards has secured more than $115 million in federal funding for projects in various fields including but not limited to energy, defense, health care and nutrition and agriculture, said John White, chairman of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents and keynote speaker at the luncheon.

White said A&M will gain from current research projects. The University's Ocean Drilling Program, for instance, is the largest research program at A&M and is estimated to bring in $500 million over the next two years, he said.

Edwards said he supports research at A&M and that he feels enthusiastic about his abilities to foster the various projects.

"I proudly consider myself a water boy on the Texas A&M research team," Edwards said. "I don't do the research, the faculty are the real players in the game. My job is just to provide a little sustenance from time to time to make sure the real players don't get dehydrated."

Edwards said research is priority and that he finds excitement in learning about the research at A&M.

"Research is going to make our state better and our country better and … if I can continue to play just a small part in opening up the financial resources of the federal government, it would be an honor," he said.

It can be difficult to secure funds for future research due to the increasing national deficit, Edwards said. However, he said he feels confident that the challenges will be overcome through cooperation.

Edwards said he is working on more than $40 million worth of projects that he added on to the house appropriations bill that were not in the A&M administration budget request.

They will continue to push these programs through the Senate until they are passed into law, Edwards said. This money will go to fund homeland security, national defense, energy, health care and agriculture projects, he said.

Ron Lacewell, assistant vice chancellor for the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Edwards' colleague, said Edwards does what he can to help the University.

"(Edwards) does love A&M and works hard to get us research money and he's very effective at it," Lacewell said. "He got the money, there's no question it came directly from him, people need to understand what he does (for A&M)."

Working to secure funding goes along with what it means to be an Aggie, Edwards said.

"Winston Churchill said 'we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.' That is the spirit of Aggieland, giving back," Edwards said.

House vote may help Disaster City

Kat — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:41:43 -0700

June 7, 2006
House vote may help Disaster City

Bryan-College Station Eagle
By Eagle Staff Report |

The Texas A&M University System's Disaster City may have dodged a bullet, at least for now.
A proposed $15 million cut in federal funding for the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, which operates the program, was averted Tuesday after a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

If the bill can now get Senate approval, the center will receive $22 million in funding as part of the 2006 homeland security budget - the same amount the program received last year. The Bush administration had proposed cutting its annual funding to $7 million.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, who helped residents in campaigning against the cuts, expressed pleasure Tuesday that the substantial cut was averted.

"There should be no greater priority of the federal government than to protect Americans here at home from the threat of terrorism," he said in a press release, pledging to support the funding on a bi-partisan basis "throughout the legislative process."

According to Edwards' office, the proposed decrease in funding would result in a loss of 50 jobs and a dramatic drop in emergency responder training - from 40,000 students per year to 9,000.

Earlier this year, the congressman helped residents draft a letter of protest to the chairman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which he also sits on.

House members passed the homeland security budget Thursday evening with a 388-9 vote.

Fighting for Texas A&M University

Kat — Tue, 30 May 2006 22:10:36 -0700

Strengthening Our Homeland Security & National Defense:

Chet secured:

$22 million for Texas A&M for the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, a 10% increase from last year. The Administration budget had cut this to $7.5 million, which would have resulted in cutting 41 instructors (out of 108) and cutting the number of trained first responders from 38,000 to 8,750.

$2.6 million for research into microencapsulation for vaccine delivery at Texas A&M. Research will seek to allow vaccines to be included in pill form rather than injection, allowing soldiers to carry them into the field.

$3.4 million for development of a trauma registry by Texas A&M and the Army Institute of Surgical Research. The project will develop a research database to track wounded soldiers to enable improvement of health care delivery to soldiers coming back from Iraq.

$1.5 million for the Consortium for Autonomous Satellite Systems, funding research at Texas A&M that will help improve surveillance and communications in military satellite systems by making them lighter, more mobile, and adaptable.

$1.2 million for bioaerosol sampling for U.S. Army Base Protection. This funding will allow Texas A&M to continue development of technology that detects chemical, biological contaminants in the air.

$1 million for Digitization Support to Fort Hood. The University XXI program, a collaborative initiative with Texas A&M University and the University of Texas (Austin) to provide digitization support to Fort Hood. The funds will continue an ongoing program leveraging the software expertise of Texas A&M University for the Army using advanced, information-based technology to provide battlefield advantages to our troops to help them plan missions.

$450,000 in additional funds to Texas A&M for nuclear nonproliferation efforts to conduct research and coordinate efforts with the Department of Energy and Russian universities to curb the proliferation of nuclear materials and weapons across the world.

$500,000 to help preserve Pointe du Hoc, the most historic site of the D-Day Invasion, which is currently at risk due to continuing coastal erosion. Texas A&M researchers have been seeking to survey the site, identify culturally significant resources and preserve the site for historic remembrance. Lt. Col. Earl Rudder led “Rudder's Rangers” up Pointe du Hoc in a key assault of the D-Day invasion.

Fighting for Texas A&M University

Kat — Tue, 30 May 2006 12:27:58 -0700

Supporting Vital Agriculture Research

Chet helped reverse cuts of nearly $6.7 million in federal funds for farming, forestry and animal health research programs proposed in the Administration's 2006 budget. Under the proposal, the funding would have been cut in half in 2006 and completely eliminated in 2007. The reduced level of funding would have resulted in a reduction in staff of 139 employees at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES).

$2 million for Texas A&M for the Renewable Energy, Sustainability and Profit from Animal Waste program. A&M, in partnership with the Texas Agriculture Experiment Station, will work to develop efficient and economical methods to convert animal waste into energy.

$2 million for designing fruits, vegetables and other food plants for prevention of life-threatening diseases in an effort to determine the effects of diet in disease prevention.

$1.574 million to address the environmental challenges and air quality concerns associated with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). <

$4 million for Efficient Irrigation for Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin, to develop more efficient irrigation systems for agricultural and urban landscape uses.

$400,000 for the National Wildlife Research Center, an ongoing research program to address emerging infectious disease issues associated with wildlife populations and the effect on human health and animal-based industries along the southern U.S. border.

$550,000 for the Hispanic Leadership in Agriculture program which is intended to improve the participation of Hispanic Americans in the assessment, design, delivery and evaluation of educational programs and economic development opportunities offered by the USDA.

$1 million for the Center for North American Studies, which is conducting research on the effects of NAFTA as it relates to the environment, labor, animal health and pesticide use.

$1.9 million for the Livestock and Dairy Policy Program, an on-going project conducted at the Agriculture and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M University in collaboration with Cornell University. This program assesses and analyzes the policy changes in the Farm Bill for the various commodity groups.

$860,000 for the Regionalized Implications of Farm Programs, an on-going project conducted through the AFPC at Texas A&M in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri and Iowa State University and the Farm Sector Financial Analysis branch of ERS/USDA.

$5 million for Shrimp Aquaculture Research, an on-going collaborative program between Texas, Arizona, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi and South Carolina. This program has been committed to developing advanced disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment methods, genetic improvement, long-term breeding, water quality and environmental protection and bio-secure production systems for both coastal and inland aquaculture production locations.

$1 million for the Range Revegetation for Ft. Hood, a joint project between the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) and Fort Hood to revegetate 30,000 acres where heavy artillery traffic has disturbed soils and left the land barren.

$200,000 for the National Center for Electron Beam Food Safety Research, an initiative in support of a joint private, public and university partnership to study the application of electron beams in the processing of food to make products safer and more nutritious.

$2 million for the Economic and Environmental Sustainability of the U.S. Beef Industry, a new priority initiative between the Texas and Missouri Agriculture Experiment Stations to strengthen the global competitiveness of the U.S. beef industry through the development of unique and innovative technologies, which will enable producers to select cattle that are genetically superior in converting forage and crop feed resources into beef.

$1 million for the Joe Skeen Institute for Rangeland Restoration, an on-going collaborative research program to help correct critical degradation of public lands, especially desertification of rangelands through research and education.

$500,000 for TWRI to protect water supplies in Tarrant County, an ongoing program between the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Tarrant Regional Water District.

$150,000 for Dairy and Meat Goat Research. This program is located at the Prairie View A&M University campus and is designed to promote the dairy goat industry worldwide.

$100,000 in funding for the Leon River Restoration Project. This project, performed by Texas A&M, is a pilot initiative to demonstrate restoration techniques in the Leon River watershed, while improving wildlife habitat and agricultural production.

Fighting for Texas A&M University

Kat — Mon, 29 May 2006 22:43:56 -0700

Fighting for Other Key A&M Programs:

$15 million to Texas A&M for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Through this project, scientists from Texas A&M will begin examining cores from deep below the seafloor. This has the potential to be one of the biggest federal programs at A&M over the next few years and is one of the university's top priorities.
$1 million to Texas A&M Space Engineering Institute to continue engineering outreach in conjunction with NASA.
$600,000 in additional funding for the Offshore Technology Research Center at Texas A&M for research and development of technologies to access energy sources in deep water.

$900,000 for Institute for Science and Technology Policy at the Bush School at Texas A&M. The Institute is part of the Bush School and works to balance economic and environmental policy dealing with climate change.
$400,000 for the Rural Health Care Initiative at the Texas A&M Health Science Center. This project is aimed at improving health care access and quality in rural areas.
$57.92 million for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), to allow for a timely acquisition and outfitting of the new Scientific Ocean Drilling Vessel. IODP is the successor to the highly-effective Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), which examined sediments and rocks far below the seafloor for nearly 20 years.

$300,000 for Juvenile Justice Program at Texas A&M University. Texas currently confines nearly 10,000 juvenile offenders in its 15 state-operated juvenile institutions, 9 state-operated halfway houses and 23 private residential programs at a yearly cost of over $240 million. It is unknown with any degree of certainty why some youths who serve sentences in youth facilities successfully reenter conventional society while others remain involved in crime. Texas A&M will to systematically monitor youths released from a sample of facilities in the state of Texas to identify the profiles of circumstances that produce socially beneficial re-entry outcomes. This information will be used to develop a program design that will specify what kinds of programs in conjunction with what kinds of circumstances (pre-entry and post-incarceration) work to reduce recidivism among previously institutionalized Texas youth.

$300,000 for the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT). The ALERRT program, administered by Texas State University in conjunction with Texas A&M University trains law enforcement officers (who are typically the first to respond to acts of violence in our schools, hospitals, shopping malls or other heavily populated public places) to act quickly in an effort to save lives and prevent injuries.

Texas A&M chosen to preserve ...

Kat — Thu, 18 May 2006 13:16:21 -0700

May 18, 2006
Texas A&M chosen to preserve World War II battle site

Cleburne Times Review
By Matt Smith | Staff writer | CNHI News Service

Lt. Col. Earl Rudder, who led the D-Day assault on Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, France, went on to become president of Texas A&M University in 1959. So it seems fitting that the university has been charged with the preservation and mapping of the historic World War II battle site.

The American Battle Monuments Commission, a federal agency established by Congress in 1923 to oversee America’s overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials, awarded A&M a $434,000 contract last week to carry out both missions, ABMC public affairs director Michael G. Conley said.

German forces fortified Pointe du Hoc, a sheer, 100-meter cliff overlooking Omaha and Utah beaches, with heavy artillery to repel any Allied assault attempts. It was there on June 6, 1944, that Rudder led the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion up the cliff under enemy fire to neutralize German firepower before Allied forces undertook the main thrust of the D-Day landings.

Using ropes and ladders, Rudder’s troops suffered heavy casualties and Rudder was twice injured before his team reached the top and secured a temporary command post in a German bunker.
The valor earned the soldiers the moniker Rudder’s Rangers.

The site, which Conley said remains sovereign French soil that is leased to the United States in perpetuity and at no cost, became an important war monument site and tourist destination following the war.

Years of coastal and wind erosion took a toll, however, and threatened the cliff’s stability to the point that the ABMC closed the site’s observation post in 2001.

“It was really neat,” Conley said, “because you could look out over the cliff and the ocean from there and have the same perspective the Germans had. Now, it’s a disappointment because the building is still there. You can still look at it, you just can’t go in anymore. It’s not safe.”

He compared the situation to being able to look at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis without being able to go inside.

As conditions worsened, the need to preserve Pointe du Hoc and record its history became paramount, Conley said, leading to A&M’s involvement.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D- Waco, helped secure the funding.

“Pointe du Hoc is hallowed ground that should stand for generations to come as a sacred symbol to the world of the American GIs’ unwavering courage in World War II,” Edwards said. “I commend the A&M team for its hard work in making the winning proposal for this historic site. As an Aggie, I know that this project will be a labor of love for Texas A&M, not just another job.”

Edwards worked to appropriate funds for the project, Conley said.

Under the contract, A&M will perform two tasks: try to save the cliff by determining its stability and deterioration rate and recommend a remedy, and to study the area’s history.

“We hope to confirm that the cliff is stable,” Conley said. “Our primary objective is to save it and, hopefully, open the observation post back to the public.”

Conley admits that both propositions remain big ifs. Robert Warden, an associate professor of architecture and associate director of the Center for Heritage Conservation at A&M who will join 12 graduate students and several professors at the site this summer, shared those sentiments.

“Nature takes it’s toll and some would say this is natural occurrence and not worth pouring money into to save,” Warden said. “At this point we don’t know what’s causing the erosion, whether it’s wind, wave action or groundwater, or if anything can be done about it. That’s what we hope to determine.”

The project’s second objective — called “historically mapping” the area — involves collecting chronological and topographical information.

“As you can imagine there is a lot of confusion over what happened that day,” Warden said. “We want to collect and clarify those accounts as much as possible.”

Oddly enough, a desire to clarify what happened that day led to the university’s involvement explained Richard Burt, an assistant professor of construction science.

“I read a book on Pointe du Hoc and you couldn’t follow, from the reading and limited maps included, what happened that day very well,” Burt said. “I thought there must be a better account somewhere but could not find one and was shocked such an important site had never been properly recorded.”

Burt said he was unaware of erosion problems threatening the site until informed by a colleague, history professor Jim Bradford.

Burt’s interest led to visits by A&M professors and students to research the area over the past two summers.

Burt spoke of measuring and mapping bomb craters and trenches used by the Germans and recalled walking and climbing the 1.5 mile trek of rocky shore with a graduate student one Sunday morning to stand at the base of the cliff.

“You can just imagine those guys standing at the bottom that day, straight off a boat, soaking wet and trying to climb that wall with guys shooting down at them,” Burt said. “It looks a lot higher and steeper from that view.”

Another A&M group will return June 2 to carry out the contract’s dual aims.

The trip should prove worthwhile, even should Pointe du Hoc’s erosion prove irreversible, Burt said, since compiling a complete-as-possible record of D-Day events at the site remains equally crucial both for posterity and to honor those present that day.

“I’ve been alone in bunkers where people died,” Burt said. “It’s spooky and makes you constantly stop and think the whole time you’re there and realize there was incredible bravery on both sides that day.”

New Ag Bill Would Give A&M $20 Million

Kat — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 22:10:07 -0700

November 6, 2005
New Ag Bill Would Give A&M $20 Million

Bryan-College Station Eagle
By KRISTY GILLENTINE |Eagle Staff writer

A bill recently passed by Congress would bring more than $20 million to Texas A&M University for agriculture programs.

The final 2006 Agriculture bill now is headed to the White House for President Bush's signature.

The bill includes funding for 17 agricultural programs at Texas A&M, including $1.5 million for air quality research and $2 million to study the effects of healthy foods and diet on disease prevention, said U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco

Also included in the legislation is $200,000 for food irradiation research to make food safer by detecting biological contaminants and pesticides, $500,000 to revegetate 30,000 acres at Fort Hood eroded by military training exercises and $860,000 to study the impact of local farm programs on their regional economies.

Edwards, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, said these agricultural programs are part of what makes Texas A&M a center of excellence for agriculture policy in America.

"The bottom line is that A&M agriculture research continues to play a key role in ensuring that Americans have access to the safest low-cost food supply in the world," he said in a written statement.

The bill also reverses cuts of nearly $6.7 million for Texas A&M farming, forestry and animal health research programs proposed under the administration's 2006 budget proposal, which would have cut 2006 funding in half and eliminated funding in 2007, Edwards said.

The reduced level of funding would have resulted in a 139-employee staff reduction at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, officials said.

Elsa Murano, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences, said the funding will be used to reach three general research goals: sustaining natural resources, enhancing the competitiveness of agricultural industries and improving human health and well-being.

"The funds we have been granted by Congress will enable us to vigorously pursue several key projects in these three areas, enabling us to serve our constituents [the residents of Texas] through discovery and advancement of knowledge gained," Murano said.