By Arden Terry | DFW Newsflash | August 2021
DFW Airport—Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg came to North Texas to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Wednesday, Aug. 11.
While in Texas, Secretary Buttigieg, along with Representative Colin Allred, Representative Marc Veasey, and Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, toured the Terminal C construction site at DFW Airport.
Buttigieg also met with the CEO of DFW Airport Sean Donohue, CEO of American Airlines Doug Parker, AFA-CWA president Sara Nelson, and AFPA president Julie Hedrick.
“It’s a great time to be talking about infrastructure,” Allred said. “We just had the Senate pass the President’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. Here in North Texas probably more than any area in the country we need that investment. We’re the most rapidly growing area in the country.”
“What we see [at DFW Airport] exemplifies how investment in infrastructure is an investment in jobs,” Buttigieg said. “It’s an investment in the future.It’s extraordinary the innovation the leadership in DFW has been able to deliver, including the facility we’re in right now, which will be physically transported into place [at Terminal C.]
“Modern infrastructure means smoother operations. There are a lot of things that go into having any passenger, any delivery, get to be where it needs to be on time, but a big part of that is having the best infrastructure in the world. America counted on that for a long time. We have now fallen out of the top ten. We are thirteenth in the world when it comes to our transportation infrastructure. We have the funding for airports to do the operations they need. We have the funding to unclog our supply chains for airports, trucks, rails, or any other form.”
“DFW for us is the second largest economic driver in the state of Texas, and it’s the largest in North Texas by far, and there are literally hundreds of thousands of jobs tied to this airport,” Allred said. “Any investment in DFW is critical for us. Our job on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee now is investing as much of these federal dollars in North Texas as we possibly can. That’s what I’m going to be working on.
“We get a C-minus in terms of a grade for our infrastructure. Texas is not much better. We saw that earlier this year when we had a storm that sent us back into the Dark Ages, so this is critical for us on many different fronts.We need this investment, and it’s going to create jobs. It’s going to help us lead into the future. As one of the areas that is growing the fastest [in the country] we’re one of the areas that needs the most investment, so whether it’s broadband our kids desperately need while they learn at home, or investing in our roads and highways, or public transit, this is a big deal for North Texas.This is a great deal for North Texas.”
