good morning and welcome to the ports to Plains Alliance annual conference I'm sorry I can't be with yall in person today but I hope that y'all are having a terrific event as we continue to promote Economic Security and prosperity through North America's energy and agricultural Heartland thanks to your advocacy together we are strengthening our International Transportation infrastructure to boost our economy through trade all across Texas and all across the United States this is good for Texas and good for the entire country several years ago leaders of the ports to Plains Coalition came to meet with me in my office in DC and asked me to lead the fight to get ports to planes enacted in the law I was proud to do so and in the past couple of years we've won major bipartisan victories I teamed up with Ben Ray Luhan Democrat from New Mexico to pass legislation designating i27 the ports to Plaines corridor from Laro All the Way North through West Texas through P the Panhandle through New Mexico ultimately all the way up to Canada we worked together we got it passed through the Senate and we got it signed into law this historic win coupled with my bipartisan legislation to streamline the construction of four international bridge projects in Laredo and Brownsville and Eagle Pass together will help ensure that Texas continues to grow as a strong and reliable hub for us trade and transportation throughout my time in the Senate and especially my time as the ranking member of the Senate committee on Commerce science and transportation my number one priority has been jobs jobs jobs the reason for that is simple it's the number one priority of Texans all across our state everywhere you go in the Lone Star State Texans want more jobs higher wages more opportunities and Texas consistantly delivers there's a reason why people all across the country are coming to Texas it's where the jobs are and i27 will deliver just that by producing 178,000 jobs in Texas and adding $17 billion to the Texas economy we've come a long way through your hard work but there's always more to be done I remain committed to working alongside the ports to Plains Alliance and all of our partners to ensure the completion of the entire ports to Plains trade Corridor you have my word that I will continue to work alongside you the leaders and The Advocates from the cities and the towns and the states all along the corridor to upgrade the highways along the Route as soon as possible I firmly believe that this network within our interstate highway system holds the key to unlocking a brighter economic future for the entire region by boosting the efficiency of American trade and commerce and strengthening our Partnerships with Mexico and Canada thank you to everyone here for your drive and your commitment to expanding economic opportunities all across the nation I look forward to continuing to work with each of you as we increase International Trade opportunities throughout North America thank you God bless you and God bless the United States of America