Chet Edwards For Congress - McLennan County

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County

Kat — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:51:11 -0700

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County

Chet Edwards has worked hard for McLennan County and his hometown of Waco, using his seniority and seat on the House Appropriations Committee to bring some of our tax dollars back home.

Since the November 2004 election, Chet has secured $44 million in investments over Administration budget requests for defense jobs, better roads, protecting the Waco VA Hospital, cleaning up Lake Waco and other key priorities for McLennan County.

Chet and his family at the Westfest Parade.

Kat — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:11:52 -0700

This was Chet’s 25th Westfest parade!

September 2, 2006

Click on an image to enlarge


Chet, Lea Ann and their two sons riding in the annual Westfest Parade on Saturday, Sept. 2nd	Chet meeting with local residents.	Onlookers waved Chet fans all along the parade route.

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County I

Kat — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 09:49:47 -0700

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County I
Fighting to Save the Waco VA Hospital

Chet secured $3 million for PTSD research in 2005 that will involve the Waco VA, Baylor University and Fort Hood.

Chet worked with Senator Hutchison to declare the Waco VA a Center of Excellence for Mental Health and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Chet worked with Senator Hutchison to pass legislation prohibiting the VA from reducing the mission of any of the facilities under study by the CARES Commission.

Strengthening our National Security and Protecting Jobs at Home

Chet secured $21.6 million for Waco's L-3 for work on key defense and homeland security projects, including $16 million for refurbishing the P-3 aircraft, which is an important tool for border patrol and drug interdiction efforts, $4.1 million for upgrades to the E-6B aircraft and $1.5 million to upgrade communications systems on the Navy's Special Projects Aircraft.

Chet secured $1.3 million for McDowell Research Corporation for work on advanced fuel cell technology.

Chet secured $1 million for ACT I, to improve detection of biological and chemical contaminants in our troops' drinking water supplies.

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County II

Kat — Tue, 30 May 2006 16:35:53 -0700

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County II

Economic Development through Better and Safer Roads

Chet secured $2.4 million to expand Ritchie Road from Hewitt Drive (FM 1695) to US 84 in Waco. These funds will construct a four lane urban roadway, along with reconstructing a bridge over the railroad on Ritchie Road. The expansion of Ritchie Road will serve a rapidly growing residential area and aid in relieving increasing traffic congestion along Hewitt Drive while improving safety in the area.

Chet secured $1.6 million to widen FM 1637 from FM 3051 (Waco) to FM 185 (China Spring). This project will widen the four lane urban divided roadway on FM 1637 to serve the rapidly growing residential and retail development by enhancing safety, increasing mobility, and relieving congestion.

Chet secured $1.6 million to construct Loop 574 from BU77 to I-35 in McLennan County. The funds will construct the last segment of a four lane roadway necessary to create Business Highway 6 which will provide improved access from southeastern McLennan County to Downtown Waco, Cameron Park and Zoo, Waco Regional Airport, and the southeastern portion of the Brazos River corridor.

Chet secured $4 million for the City of Waco to replace aging transit vehicles. Due to increases in ridership over the last six years, the current buses will not meet the demand for the services they provide. These funds will go to replace 13 buses and purchase five additional new buses. The funds replace aging transit vehicles with alternative fuel buses the city will be better prepared to meet state and federal clean air requirements.

Chet on the Radio: For Waco and McLennan County

Kat — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:29:53 -0700

Who’s making a difference for us? Chet Edwards

Click the "play" button

Who’s making a difference for us? Think about this.

It’s Chet Edwards who’s stood up to bureaucrats in Washington, and is leading the fight to keep the Waco VA hospital open. Chet Edwards made a promise to honor our nation’s veterans, and he’s keeping that promise, no matter what.

And Chet Edwards is fighting to strengthen Fort Hood to defend our nation, and to clean up Lake Waco for our families. And while others talk about homeland security, Chet Edwards is doing something about it.

Chet Edwards won the fight to build border surveillance aircraft at L-3 in Waco, protecting our local jobs, and securing our borders from drug traffickers and terrorists.

McLennan County is home to Chet Edwards. Chet Edward’s roots here run deep. He’s one of us. He knows what counts, and what he’s fighting for. And that's exactly why those of us in Chet Edwards for Congress, are proud, to have paid for this message.

Congressman Edwards: This is Chet Edwards, running for Congress, and I approve this message.

5/6/06 - Chet Edwards attends Cinco de Mayo @ Mission Waco

Kat — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:56:19 -0700

May 5, 2006: Chet Edwards attends Cinco de Mayo @ Mission Waco

On May 5, 2006, Congressman Edwards celebrated Cinco de Mayo with Mission Waco with dancing, food and music.

Click on an image to enlarge

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County III

Kat — Tue, 30 May 2006 23:00:14 -0700

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County III
Fighting for Fort Hood

Chet secured $6.6 million for the Fort Hood Central Shipping/Receiving Point, an important security measure, to ensure goods brought onto Fort Hood must enter through a central security location.

Chet secured $6.8 million for the new Fort Hood Fitness Center.

Protecting Local Water Quality

Chet obtained authorization for $10 million for environmental infrastructure projects on the Bosque River that will promote improving water quality in Lake Waco and the Bosque watershed. Some examples of projects that could be funded are buffer strips, wetlands, lagoon upgrades, wastewater treatment plant upgrades and dairy modifications.

Chet secured $1 million in additional funds for Animal Waste Removal Program at Texas A&M, in partnership with the Texas Agriculture Experiment Station, to develop efficient and economically methods to convert animal waste into energy. Developing an economical method to produce energy from animal waste will help alleviate some of the pollution problems caused by animal waste in the Bosque River and Lake Waco.

Chet secured $700,000 for a Baylor study of Lake Whitney salinity levels, the first step in considering Lake Whitney as an alternative source of drinking water for Central Texas.

Chet secured $350,000 for City of Lorena wastewater capacity improvements. These funds will help provide first time sewer connections for lower to moderate-income residents that are not connected to the municipal system.

Chet introduced the Central Texas Water Recycling Act of 2005 to conserve water resources by recycling treated wastewater in McLennan County. The bill, if approved, would amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the federal government to help the City of Waco and other communities pay for a wastewater treatment facility under the McLennan County/Waco Regional Satellite Reuse Project.

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County IV

Kat — Tue, 30 May 2006 19:41:06 -0700

Working Hard for Waco & McLennan County IV
Making Our Communities Safer and Supporting Law Enforcement

Chet secured $500,000 to update the Waco Police and Fire Departments’ Emergency Dispatch System. This funding will update the Waco PD’s 20-year-old dispatching system and install a more effective dispatching system, which will help officers to respond to emergency calls more quickly and efficiently. The funds will also enable the Waco Fire Department to implement a computer-aided dispatch system to respond faster to distress calls.

Chet secured $500,000 to replace the Waco Police Department’s field data system. These funds will update the system used by the Waco PD to provide information to police officers in the field, providing them with needed information relating to emergency situations.

Chet secured $150,000 in Edward Byrne Discretionary Grants for hiring additional police officers at the Lacy Lakeview and the Bellmead police departments.

Baylor, Waco donate funds for historic site

Kat — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:11:51 -0700

March 23, 2006
Baylor, Waco donate funds for historic site

Baylor Lariat
By LAURA FRASE | Baylor Lariat reporter

Baylor and the city of Waco each donated $100,000 to the Waco Mammoth Site, they announced Wednesday at a news conference at the Mayborn Museum Complex.

The gifts matched a $200,000 donation secured by Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, in 2005 from the Save America's Treasures grant program, said Sarah Levine, director of marketing at the Mayborn Museum Complex.

Save America's Treasures is a foundation dedicated to preserving monuments of America's history.

The money will be used to preserve and make the site more accessible to the public.

In April 1978, two Waco men discovered bones in the woods about five miles west of the Baylor campus. The bones were a little too large to be cow bones.

They turned their finding over to the Strecker Museum, and the "mystery" bones were identified as Columbian Mammoth bones.

Twenty-eight years later, Baylor, the city of Waco and the Save America's Treasures grant program are taking their first steps to update developments that will allow the public to visit the site.

"The Waco Mammoth Site is quite a treasure, not just for Waco, but really for the world," Levine said. "This money is just needed to protect the site and develop it to a public access place."

Because of ongoing research at the site since its discovery, the public has been discouraged from visiting. The site is located five miles west of campus.

"Several years ago, Baylor University and the city of Waco made the decision to focus all efforts on long-term preservation of the Waco Mammoth Site. With that in mind, we closed the site to any visitation except for our ongoing research and maintenance of the site," Dr. Ellie Caston, director of the Mayborn Museum Complex, said.

John Bongino, a Dothan, Ala., graduate student, is doing research at the Waco Mammoth Site and is excited about the developments.

"The site is in desperate need of an updated shelter because it's exposed to natural elements," Bongino said.

Bongino studies the soils and sediments at the site to figure out what kind of environment the mammoths lived in, as well as what could have killed them.

"There is a continuous study taking place out at the site. Every little bit that is discovered opens up a whole new set of questions," Levine said.

A lot of effort has gone into the development of the site, Levine added.

There is no time frame at this point for the site to be open to the public because more donations are needed, but a foundation has recently been set up to accept donations, she said.

"Once these preservation efforts are completed, our goal is to open the site to the public as soon as possible," Caston said.

Editorial: Nearing Take-off

Kat — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 12:32:01 -0700

November 22, 2005
Editorial: Nearing Take-off

Waco Tribune Herald
By Editorial Staff | Tribune-Herald

One of Waco's obvious needs in economic development is to develop an identity and go after targeted industry. With a key boost from Washington, it is in the position to do just that.

Thanks to efforts by U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, the final transportation bill passed by the House last week includes $1.25 million to help construct the Waco International Aviation Park near the Texas State Technical College campus.

We're talking about 327 acres tied together by an extended taxi-way to connect aviation-related businesses.

When completed and fully occupied the aviation park could employ 2,000, say local officials.

Waco has a huge “demo” to show its potential with the growth of L-3 Communications. It also has a key work-force provider with TSTC.

What portends to be one of the biggest economic development initiatives in Waco history has been cleared for take-off.