Working Hard for Madison County
Working Hard for Madison County
- In 2007, Chet secured $117,000 to replace the roof at St. Joseph's Hospital in Madisonville. And, as a member of the Rural Health Care Coalition, Chet is working to protect rural hospitals from hurtful budget cuts.
- Chet secured $100,000 to install lighting at Madisonville’s athletic fields, so the facilities can be used for Little League games and other community activities in the evenings. As the father of two young sons, Chet strongly supports projects that encourage children to be active outdoors.
- Chet is fighting to save vocational education funding and opposes taking tax dollars away from public schools to subsidize wealthy private schools.
- Chet supports legislation that will bring affordable high-speed Internet access to our rural communities.
City, hospital receive federal funds for repairs
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
City, hospital receive federal funds for repairs
Madisonville Meteor
By Dave Lewis | Meteor staff writer
Madison County residents will be seeing visible proof of their tax dollars at work this coming year with federal funds coming here to help repair the roof at Madison St. Joseph Health Center and to resurface Collard Street.
According to an announcement Thursday, Dec. 27, from the office of U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, $117,000 has been earmarked to renovate the roof and emergency room at Madison St. Joseph, a 57-year-old non-profit facility.
Brazos Valley tallies $41 million in earmarks
Saturday, December 29, 2007
BV tallies $41 million in earmarks
The Bryan College Station Eagle
By JANET PHELPS |Eagle Staff Writer
More than $41 million will be poured into Brazos Valley projects next year, thanks to earmarks by U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.
President Bush criticized special project money as "wasteful government spending" when he signed the $555 billion bill Wednesday that funds the Iraq war into 2008 and keeps government agencies running through September.
The money will go to 16 projects in Brazos, Robertson, Madison and Grimes counties. The projects range from high-profile aerospace engineering and biofuel research at Texas A&M University to a small, church-based drug prevention program.
Edwards said Friday he was proud of the federal money he secured for local projects because it's an effective way to encourage local growth.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to make appropriations, he said, and earmarks allow local leaders to identify and receive funding for projects they see as important.
"I believe [locally initiated projects] make more sense than letting some bureaucrat in the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C., make decisions about what projects to fund," he said. "I would challenge anyone to criticize agricultural research at A&M or emergency response training that help make our cities safer."
A majority of the $41.6 million will go to Texas A&M, including $985,000 for biofuels research and $705,000 for aerospace engineering projects that are used by NASA for lunar and Mars exploration.
Ken Peddicord, director of Texas A&M's Texas Engineering Experiment Station, said the funding is an important step in advancing research into new energy sources.
Texas A&M's BioEnergy Alliance -- a partnership between the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station -- has developed groundbreaking research in alternative fuels such as sorghum that do not come from food sources, he said.
"This money allows the program to strike off in new directions, to move away from corn and ethanol," he said.
St. Joseph Health System also received money for repairs to its Madisonville hospital.
Gentry Woodard, director of legislative affairs and grants for the St. Joseph Health System, said employees at the 57-year-old hospital have volunteered on weekends to make repairs themselves.
Edwards said the staff dedication is one reason he allotted $117,000 to pay for repairs to the roof and emergency room upgrades.
"It was terribly important to that community," he said.
The earmarks come on top of the 2008 defense appropriations bill that was signed into law in November, in which Edwards secured $6.8 million for Texas A&M defense projects and $2.6 million for Lynntech Inc.
Other local earmarks include:
- $392,000 to repave County Road 172 in northern Grimes County.
Chet on the Radio: For Madison County
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Chet Edwards has been there for Madison County when it matters most.
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Congressman Edwards visits Madisonville
July 11, 2006
Congressman Edwards visits Madisonville
Madisonville Meteor
By Tina Baiter | Meteor staff writer
U.S. Congressman Chet Edwards visited Madisonville on Friday, July 7, to talk with county officials and people from the community about funding for a project to widen Hwy 21 and about funding for a new roof at the hospital.
“When I first started coming to Madison County...people talked about transportation and healthcare as two priorities,” Edwards said. “Madison County doesn't ask for a lot from me. You do pay federal taxes...so I've worked to see we get some of your tax dollars back.”
In June, Edwards announced that he secured $1 million to widen Highway 21 under the 2007 Transportation Appropriations Bill, which has passed the House of Representatives.
He also announced he secured $165,000 to construct a roof for Madison St. Joseph's Health Center under the 2007 Labor, Education, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill, which passed the House Appropriations Com-mittee. That money has not yet passed the House's approval though.
“This is a perfect example of a partnership of local and county governments working to get with the federal government,” Edwards said. “It was just a privilege for me to be your voice in congress. This (funding for Hwy 21) was my first request on the Transportation Appropria-tions Bill this year.”
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