By Lorenzo Salinas

l.v.salinas@panews.com

 

BEAUMONT — A congressional representative gave tides of good goings in his appearance at a local club meeting.

Randy Weber was the guest at Beaumont Rotary Club’s regular meeting on Wednesday at the MCM Elegante Hotel. He spoke about the strength of Southeast Texas’ port and the economic growth under the current administration.

“Your motto is ‘Service above self’ and I’m always impressed with the Rotary Club,” Weber said in his opening. “I appreciate so much of what you do and the service you provide.”

Weber is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas, which includes the Gulf Coast area from Freeport to Beaumont.

“This is a great, great district,” Weber said. “Every time my wife and I get to travel around the district, we’re reminded of what a great district it is.”

When Weber referenced Hurricane Harvey and the impact it had on Southeast Texas, he lauded the efforts of not only Southeast Texans but members of the Cajun Navy as well.

“I saw the Cajun Navy do things I didn’t know could be done,” he said. Later, he borrowed a phrase from an associate of his and said: “Harvey brought the downpour, but Texans brought the outpour.”

It was in reference to the tremendous output of charity and volunteer services that Texans — and others — brought to the afflicted areas along the Gulf Coast.

Weber spoke well of the emergency and community responses of Jefferson County.

“It is an unbelievable amount of coordination you guys have going on,” Weber said.

For other topics, Weber brought up the specter of midterm elections on Nov. 6 by alluding to his and his wife’s wedding anniversary, which also happens to fall on the same day.

He steered clear of any political talk in regards to an election that is predicted to have a higher than normal turnout. Instead, he recalled a limousine ride he took with President Donald Trump during the Santa Fe school shooting in May.

They talked about Southeast Texas’ prominent place as a port of trade and commerce for the rest of the country.

“I reminded him how important we are to energy, industry and trade…” Weber said. “Energy here is huge; trade is huge here and the port is huge here.”

Weber reinforced the notion of the president’s accomplishments so far in office, including almost 300 bills that Weber said the president has signed into law.

“Mr. Trump is absolutely the real deal,” Weber said. “There are more jobs now than people looking for work. This is after he rolled back 16 job-killing regulations.”

Weber mentioned the $30 billion in disaster relief aid the state of Texas has received so far from Congress. He estimated that that number would rise to about $50 billion when everything was said and done.

An individual from the audience, Jean Arnold, asked Weber about the status of the trade war with China. Weber echoed the president’s response.

“He said, ‘We already had a trade war and we lost. We lost it a long time ago.’”

Weber said the president would get other countries back in line to America’s standards, and “get them back on trade, but fair trade.”

“Mexico… the European Union came around… and Canada is coming around on NAFTA,” Weber said. “Trump is getting trade deals in place. The president understands that … I think we’re going to be good. Just stay tuned.”

Weber is also a small-business owner and holds membership in a number of congressional committees such as the Science, Space and Technology committee, the Energy Subcommittee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.