By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
Protecting Laughlin Air Force Base is one of his top priorities, State Representative Eddie Morales said at the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon Wednesday.
“When I was first elected, I knew Laughlin was important to the region, but I didn’t know how important,” he said during the 45 minute presentation to Chamber members August 11.
Morales represents House District 74, that Del Rio is in and is larger than 10 states.
“When I was elected I saw the billion with a b of the impact of Laughlin and I knew it was something we had to protect,” he said.
“I want to do everything possible to make sure that we don’t ever get to the point where it makes that list of possible base closures,” Morales said. “So, whatever efforts that we can make to make sure that the improvements keep taking place so that we can never be on that list, the better for us.”
The Texas Comptroller’s office estimates Laughlin’s economic impact at $2.1 billion to the region.
Three different times during the speech, he pointed to Laughlin.
At one point, he jokingly told the audience that he’d been to Laughlin and crashed a plane, referring to a simulator he’d “flown” during his initial visit to the base.
Later, he pointed to Senate Bill 2115, known as the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, which prevents countries like Iran, North Korea, Russia and China from being able to connect to the Texas power grid.
“We believe that this bill will be able to stave off the project that you all have going here, that could have a negative effect,” he said, referring to the proposed wind farm owned by Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin who has bought 140,000 acres in northern Val Val Verde County.
Laughlin was one of many topics he hit on during the 45-minute presentation.
Other topics he touched on more than once were state budget, public education, water districts and Texas’s power grid.
Contact the author at joelalangton@gmail.com.
