Dist. 16 Congressional race gets heated

The campaign for El Paso's District 16 congressional seat, while unclear where the boundaries are, is heating up.

During Sunday's Superbowl game, this ad aired http://vimeo.com/36162566 featuring Congressman Reyes driving around El Paso showing off projects that the helped get funding.

In response to the ad, former El Paso city council member and now Democratic congressional candidate, Beto O’Rouke, released a statement disputing a number of the claims made in Silvestre Reye'sad.

A portion of those disputes, as well as rebuttals, are listed below.

O'Rourke argues that a number of the claims in Reyes' ad are not the actual work of the congressman himself, rather money that would have come to El Paso anyway.

A spokesperson for Reyes said from broader legislation like the American Recovery Act of 2009 to individual earmarks, "The Congressman's responsible for, and to shape legislation that is valuable for El Paso." 

Levees: 

O’Rourke statement: “$220 million was appropriated to the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission on February 17, 2009 as part of the Recovery Act. Only $27.2 million of those funds are being spent in Congressional District 16. This allocation was long overdue: breached levees in Storm 2006 were the result of deferred maintenance. The $220 million was allocated for the whole region along the Rio Grande, not just in El Paso as Congressman Reyes would have you believe. (http://www.ibwc.gov/Files/CF_URG_FCP_Updates_121310.pdf, see slide 3)”

Reyes statement: Congressman Reyes has supported legislation to help secure $220 million to help rebuild the levees.

Congressman Reyes worked closely with the then Democratic House leadership to guarantee that IBWC received $220 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the rehabilitation of approximately 170 miles of levees along the Texas-Mexico border.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was championed and supported by Congressman Silvestre Reyes and Democratic Leadership in the face of unanimous Republican opposition.  With this funding, IBWC will be able to rehabilitate most deficient levees in just two to three year instead of 20 years at previous funding levels.

O’Rouke Statement: The Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) deserves the credit for financing the local share and for applying for the competitive stimulus funds. Without the RMA, we’d have no eastside spaghetti bowl. Congressman Reyes opposed the creation of the RMA, but he was delighted to attend the ribbon cutting and take the credit. (http://archives.newspapertree.com/transportation/reyes_rma_letter.pdf)

Reyes statement: Congressman Reyes has supported legislation to help secure millions for the new Eastside spaghetti bowl.

Nearly 75 percent of the Eastside Spaghetti bowl was funded using federal dollars, a large portion of the funds were made possible by the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act- legislation championed and supported by Congressman Silvestre Reyes and Democratic Leadership in the face of unanimous Republican opposition. 

In comparison, approximately $30 million in local funds were provided by the City of El Paso.  TxDOT estimates that 185 jobs were created.

This is the largest construction project in El Paso funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The interchange will have four ramps connecting Loop 375 to I-10, and will significantly improve traffic flow and relieve congestion in East El Paso.

Plaza Theatre:

O’Rourke Statement: Reyes claims: “Paisano Green Community. Over $8 Million,” and “Sun Metro Bus Transit. Over $125 Million,” and “Plaza Theatre. Over $1.2 Million.”

Most of these federal dollars that Reyes claims as his victory are the result of agencies competing with other communities for grants. They are not earmarks, directed by Reyes’ influence. For example, the Paisano Green community fund came as a result of the Housing Authority applying for the Capital Funds Recovery Competition with a $500,000 pledged loan from the City of El Paso. HACEP was awarded that grant based on merit, not their congressman’s influence. (See press released titled: “HACEP Receives $8.25 Million in Competitive Stimulus Funds for Green Communities: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/mayor/_documents/nl_2009_11/HACEP%20Receives%208%2025%20Million%20From%20Stimulus%20For%20Green%20Communities.pdf and http://www.elpasotexas.gov/muni_clerk/agenda/07-28-09/07280910B.pdf)

            You have only to search congressional earmarks to see that the Congressman directed precious few dollars to these important community initiatives. (http://www.legistorm.com/earmarks.html)

Reyes statement: Congressman Reyes has requested direct appropriations  to help secure over $1.2 million in critical funding for the renovation of the Plaza Theatre.

FY04 Interior Appropriations Bill

$200,000 - El Paso Plaza Theatre Renovation

FY04 VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Bill

$150,000- El Paso Plaza Theatre Renovation

FY03 VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Bill

$900,000- El Paso Plaza Theatre Renovation

O’Rourke statement:  According to Govtrack.us, Silvestre Reyes missed 805 (8%) of 10,344 roll call votes since Jan 7, 1997.  That means he only voted 9,539 times. It also means that Reyes has one of the worst voting and attendance records in Congress, with 95% of Congress coming to work more often than he does. (http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/112/repstats/novote.xml, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400337&tab=votes)

In his 16 years in congress, he has only sponsored and passed six bills and two of those successful bills were to rename federal buildings. (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billsearch.xpd?sponsor=400337)

Reyes statement:  Congressman Reyes has taken over 10,000 votes on legislation on the floor of the House, the Armed Services, Veteran Affairs, and Intelligence Committees.  He has a 92% lifetime voting record and has used his seniority both to directly request and support legislation that has brought billions in resources for El Paso.  He has directly authored and requested language in over 70 appropriations bills alone and that language has become law. 

Mr. O’Rourke uses a web source that does not include information on the hundreds of votes Congressman Reyes has taken in committee.   Appropriation bills carry the name of the Chair of the committee as the lead sponsor and it is not necessary for a bill to have a Congressman’s name to impact their district.  Mr. O’Rourke doesn’t understand that process.  While it may important for Mr. O’Rourke that bills have his name on it, what matters to Congressman Reyes is that El Paso related legislation be included in any legislative vehicle.  At the end of the day, El Paso is what matters, not whose name is on the bill.