Chet Edwards For Congress

Defending our Homeland

As a member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, Chet is a leader in the Congress on improving our homeland security programs to protect America.

• Chet's recent work on the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee has led to: 5,700 additional border patrol agents, $1.69 billion for cargo inspection at our nation's ports, and $400 million for security grants at U.S. ports.




• Chet has led the fight to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union so that highly-enriched uranium does not fall into the hands of terrorists.

March 24, 2008

Local company develops Army devices

The Bryan College Station Eagle

By HOLLY HUFFMAN |Eagle Staff Writer

American soldiers may some day soon be able to immediately detect chemical and biological threats through the use of small portable hand-held devices that currently doesn't exist in the field.

And rather than lug around 80 pounds of disposable batteries, military troops may have rechargeable units to power their computers and night vision equipment.

December 28, 2007
Chet Edwards secures $376,000 for local police

Navasota Examiner

Congressman Chet Edwards announced that he secured $376,000 to help the Navasota Police Department upgrade their communications and computer systems under the final 2008 Appropriations Bill, which passed the House late Monday, the Senate Tuesday, and is expected to be signed into law by the President.

"I believe we have a deep obligation to protect our families from criminals and to support our law enforcement officers who put themselves at risk to protect our communities. This new equipment will help keep our officers safe while they work to protect our families, and I want to congratulate Mayor Bert Miller, Police Chief Shawn Myatt, and local law enforcement for their strong leadership in this effort," said Edwards, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

BV tallies $41 million in earmarks

The Bryan College Station Eagle

By JANET PHELPS |Eagle Staff Writer

More than $41 million will be poured into Brazos Valley projects next year, thanks to earmarks by U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

President Bush criticized special project money as "wasteful government spending" when he signed the $555 billion bill Wednesday that funds the Iraq war into 2008 and keeps government agencies running through September.

The money will go to 16 projects in Brazos, Robertson, Madison and Grimes counties. The projects range from high-profile aerospace engineering and biofuel research at Texas A&M University to a small, church-based drug prevention program.

Edwards said Friday he was proud of the federal money he secured for local projects because it's an effective way to encourage local growth.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to make appropriations, he said, and earmarks allow local leaders to identify and receive funding for projects they see as important.

"I believe [locally initiated projects] make more sense than letting some bureaucrat in the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C., make decisions about what projects to fund," he said. "I would challenge anyone to criticize agricultural research at A&M or emergency response training that help make our cities safer."

A majority of the $41.6 million will go to Texas A&M, including $985,000 for biofuels research and $705,000 for aerospace engineering projects that are used by NASA for lunar and Mars exploration.

Ken Peddicord, director of Texas A&M's Texas Engineering Experiment Station, said the funding is an important step in advancing research into new energy sources.

Texas A&M's BioEnergy Alliance -- a partnership between the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station -- has developed groundbreaking research in alternative fuels such as sorghum that do not come from food sources, he said.

"This money allows the program to strike off in new directions, to move away from corn and ethanol," he said.

St. Joseph Health System also received money for repairs to its Madisonville hospital.

Gentry Woodard, director of legislative affairs and grants for the St. Joseph Health System, said employees at the 57-year-old hospital have volunteered on weekends to make repairs themselves.

Edwards said the staff dedication is one reason he allotted $117,000 to pay for repairs to the roof and emergency room upgrades.

"It was terribly important to that community," he said.

The earmarks come on top of the 2008 defense appropriations bill that was signed into law in November, in which Edwards secured $6.8 million for Texas A&M defense projects and $2.6 million for Lynntech Inc.

Other local earmarks include:

• $392,000 to repave County Road 172 in northern Grimes County.

September 28, 2006
L-3 could get millions to maintain surveillance planes

Waco Tribune Herald
By Mike Copeland |Tribune-Herald staff writer

A Homeland Security appropriations bill contains $70 million to keep surveillance planes flying, and much of that money could end up at L-3 Communications in Waco.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, announced this week that the final appropriations bill for 2007 contains $70 million for the service life extension program, or SLEP, that calls for maintenance of P-3 planes.