ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Today in a speech to the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, highlighted the importance of investments in infrastructure and education to helping strengthen the economy in New Mexico and create jobs.
Resources he has fought for - including the grant that helped complete an expansion of the Union Pacific Rail facility in Santa Teresa - have fueled economic growth. Udall will speak Wednesday at the grand opening ceremony for the Santa Teresa Intermodal Ramp, which has created 3,000 jobs and was made possible in part through $10 million in federal funding that Udall fought for.
Udall said he will continue to push for investments that will ensure workers are qualified for well-paying jobs; that will improve rail networks, roads and bridges; and that will fund research that can produce marketable products and businesses to build a high-tech economy. Udall has introduced a bill to improve the Department of Energy's technology transfer program , to better facilitate getting cutting-edge research from the lab bench to the marketplace. He is also leading efforts in Washington to fight for federal investment in an optics and photonics hub in the Albuquerque area.
"I will fight for the resources we need and for smart investments that will pay off for New Mexico," Udall said in his remarks. "I know that every day you all do the heavy lifting - creating new business, bringing new jobs for families that want to be here, want to raise their children here in safe, healthy communities."
"We all still have a lot of work to do, but we can meet that challenge, working together, public and private sectors, local, state, and federal governments - all bringing something to the table, making a difference, and investing in New Mexico's future," Udall continued.
The following are Udall's remarks as prepared for delivery:
"Thank you, Liz for that wonderful introduction. I appreciate your kind words. Thank you for all that you do, and for your leadership at the Chamber. Del, you have a tough act to follow.
Thank you all for inviting me. I look forward to this. Every year. I always try to be here if I can - and not so much to talk but to listen, and to hear from you.
You all make tough decisions every day: How to grow your business. How to get-and keep-the best workers. How to best serve your customers and markets. And all those decisions add up to the bigger picture: How to create opportunity for Albuquerque and for New Mexico.
It hasn't been easy. I don't have to tell any of you that. Not after the worst recession since the Great Depression. And it hit our state very hard. Five years ago our nation was losing 600,000 jobs a month. Wall Street tanked. American families saw their savings wiped out. Trillions of dollars - gone.
We are making our way back. Slowly. The U.S. has had 50 straight months of job growth. That's 9.2 million jobs; private sector jobs. New Mexico's unemployment rate has dropped from its high of 8 percent in 2010 to 6.7 percent today. But that isn't down nearly enough, and everyone knows that.
We've also made some progress with the budget and with the federal debt. Simpson Bowles called for $4 trillion in debt reduction over 10 years. We've passed a little over half of this: $2 trillion dollars. And we've cut projected deficits in half. We need to do more once our economy is stronger. But it's a step forward.
Wall Street is doing better than ever, but Main Street still struggles. New Mexico still struggles. We're not moving ahead fast enough, including right here in Albuquerque.
My top priority in Washington is jobs. You have a handout of some of the initiatives I have been working on. We may not always agree. But we have the same goal straight down the line, and that is to grow our economy.
I have met with groups around the state in the past months, talking with folks about how I can work with them to help grow business, strengthen our state's economy for the long term, not just quick fixes.
I spoke at the Economic Forum last month. Many of you were there. And I said then that the federal government is only part of the picture. But it is a very big part. The governor's budget is about $6 billion. And federal spending in New Mexico is about $18 billion - three times as large.
So, we need a government that works, not one that shuts down just to send a message. That isn't win-win. It's lose-lose - all across the board. And so were the automatic sequester cuts - another loser, especially for New Mexico with our national labs and our military bases.
It is very clear: We can't keep lurching from crisis to crisis, that's just roller coaster government. Congress passed an Omnibus Appropriations bill in January, the first appropriations bill since 2012. It provides some certainty, and it rolls back the sequester cuts this year. But we will face the sequester again in Fiscal Year 2016.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I fought hard. And will continue to - for priorities important to New Mexico, our national labs, military facilities, water projects, PILT revenue for rural areas, and so many things that are the basis and background for our economic activity. We got full funding for the B61 Life Extension Progam at the national labs and increased funding for cleanup at LANL and operations at WIPP.
Money is tight and will remain so. So one thing I talk about is our need for more partnerships, more collaboration, to stretch scarcer resources between governments, between the private and public sector. And that means less hand-wringing and more hand-shakes.
We have great examples of this already: The New Mexico Consortium, the Collaborative Research and Development Council, and right here at Innovate Albuquerque.
They are doing great work, making federal dollars go as far as possible, making the most of the research at our labs and universities, helping build our private sector economy. And we need more of it because innovation is key with our labs, our universities, with great entrepreneurs. We have a lot to build on.
New Mexico can be a leader in high-tech, commercializing cutting edge research from labs is crucial. It should be a top priority with DOE, and it hasn't been. That's why I'm building support for my new tech transfer bill, making the DOE more coordinated, more accountable, and increasing access to venture capital.
Last month, I was at the new Bio-Science Lab at the Santa Fe Business Incubator. It helps start-up companies in bio-science and bio-tech. The lab received a $1.25 million EDA grant. Every member of the New Mexico delegation supported this because we know it's the kind of investment that pays off and pays back.
That's also why we are all pushing for the Advanced Photonics Manufacturing Consortium. It should be one of the President's manufacturing hubs. That could mean up to $1.3 billion in federal investment for optics and light-based technologies. Right here in Albuquerque.
As I said last month at the Economic Forum, there are no quick fixes, no magic bullet. But we have many strengths: The best scientists in the world, tremendous natural resources, great entrepreneurs. We have to create a climate that supports them in every way we can.
I've pushed for STEM education so our workers have those skills in math, science and technology. New high tech jobs won't do much good if we don't have workers who can fill them. And I will continue to push for tax cuts for small businesses and the middle class.
We also need to invest in research and development and infrastructure. If we had worked more at the federal, state, and local level with an infrastructure plan, I don't think we would have seen the kind of job losses that we have seen. The World Economic Forum ranked the U.S. second in the world in infrastructure in 2001. Now we are 19th. We should be moving ahead not falling behind.
Those investments make sense. We have plenty of examples right here in New Mexico.
Tomorrow, I will be in Santa Teresa for the opening of the new Union Pacific rail facility. That is a $400 million project. It will strengthen our trade with Mexico, which is growing by leaps and bounds - from $50 million just 15 years ago to over $800 million now.
The Santa Teresa port needed upgrades, needed to expand. I strongly supported an $11 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help pay for that project. Those are federal dollars at work, that really do work.
New Mexico is open for business with the great new Union Pacific rail yard, with an expanded port. These expansions in Southern New Mexico will create opportunities for growth across the state. We need to build on that. It's tremendous growth. More business comes with that growth, and more jobs. But we also need more infrastructure. The roads in and out of Santa Teresa are overwhelmed just to move the traffic already there.
Federal dollars are a big part of New Mexico's transportation budget - almost half - and 70 percent of the money for highways and bridges. I'm on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which just reported out a new transportation bill. It will create thousands of jobs, improve road safety, give states and communities more certainty and more say in transportation decisions. And it protects the transportation trust fund, which runs out of money this August...if Congress does not act. We can't let that happen.
So, this is a big deal, and I hear from folks all over our state how important this is: To widen and repave roads, fix bridges, improve intersections, expand freight rail, and give more help to rural communities to invest here at home.
I will fight for the resources we need and for smart investments that will pay off for New Mexico.
And I know that every day you all do the heavy lifting - creating new business, bringing new jobs for families that want to be here, want to raise their children here in safe, healthy communities.
We all still have a lot of work to do. But we can meet that challenge, working together, public and private sectors, local, state, and federal governments, all bringing something to the table. Making a difference and investing in New Mexico's future.
Thank you again for inviting me here today. Now, I want to hear from you. And I'm happy to take your questions."
