MERCEDES, Texas - The Texas Farm Bureau honored U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz with the Service to Agriculture Award for her efforts in supporting local farmers and ranchers.
As vice chair of the House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture, De La Cruz helped secure $280 million in emergency relief for Valley farmers affected by the ongoing water dispute between the U.S. and Mexico as well as negotiate the release of 425,000 acre-feet of water by Oct. 31 – 300,000 of which have already been delivered.
For farmers concerned about labor shortages, De La Cruz introduced the Bracero Program 2.0 Act to streamline the H-2A visa program that would allow temporary agricultural workers from Mexico to enter the U.S. In her speech, she updated members on the bill’s progress, saying that the Trump Administration is listening and making some minor tweaks. The first being a word-change which would base wages on state-level data; the second change will see the Department of Labor review an application concurrently as a petition is being made for certain labor groups.
De La Cruz also touted the total acquisition of $758.5 million to revitalize Moore Air Base in Edinburg and build a sterile fly facility. The facility will produce and release sterile flies into the surrounding communities to combat New World screwworms that have been infecting livestock from South America to Mexico. The investment, plus $21 million more for a similar facility in Mexico, aims to prevent a devastating outbreak of the parasitic screwworms on this side of the border. De La Cruz says that facility should be up and running within the next two months.
De La Cruz closed her remarks by outlining some of the future projects that she is working on.
As talks continue over the 1944 Water Treaty, De La Cruz urged the audience to advocate for the inclusion of the obligations in the treaty to the USMCA. Through this, she hopes to close any loopholes or grey-areas and hold Mexico financially accountable for their water debt. She provided a QR-Code for members to add their name to the official comment as the deal goes into review next year.
Lastly, De La Cruz briefly discussed plans to help bring back the sugar industry to the Valley, which was lost due to the water shortages. When first elected to Congress, she explained how she was saddened by the closure of Santa Rosa, the last sugar mill in Texas, and promised herself to not lose any others. Now that water is being delivered, plans to reopen are underway.
“When I first entered in the 119th Congress two years ago, I sadly came into a devastating situation where we lost our sugar cane industry,” said De La Cruz. “And, I vowed to myself, and I told my staff, ‘not again. We will not lose one more vital agriculture industry under my watch.’”
Brian Jones, Texas Farm Bureau board member and state director for district 13, presented De La Cruz with the award. The event was held at the Payne Auto Group Arena in Mercedes.
