I am so proud of Ernie and all of the Garver folks that made this happen. I couldn't be more excited for the City of Harlingen, our chamber, and all the teamwork that went together with the company of Garver.
As I was sitting there listening to Ernie (Flores of Garver) and Mayor (Norma) Sepulveda, I was thinking about myself growing up. My parents came from Mexico, and I was the first one to go to college, and I went to TSTC right here next door because I knew that could get me a better paying job.
So I showed up one day and I said I just want to take classes. I heard this was (a) good (college). This was before they started all those GearUp programs and teaching about college and career awareness in the schools and so I'm aging myself now. But, you know, they got me started. They asked me all these crazy questions about financial aid and degree programs and all this stuff I had never heard about. All I knew was I was there to take classes. But this is exactly what it's about. It's about bringing opportunity to the families in the Valley.
Unfortunately, when I first got into office, statistically we were the poorest in the nation, the (Rio Grande) Valley. Imagine that, in the entire country. And now, with all the companies like yours and others coming into the Valley, we are giving that opportunity to our families to help get them out out of poverty, whether it's through technical programs, bachelor's degrees, master’s, or even doctorate degrees. I'm thankful to my community because being that first generation college student who didn't think she had the potential, I was able to rise because of my community, and I am now working on my doctorate.
So I'm very thankful to the community and how everybody here unites with our families to bring the economic development and all the resources that are very much needed in the Valley. I tell my colleagues in Dallas, Austin, Houston. I tell them in the Valley we are very different than you all. Some of my colleagues represent homes that are worth 25 million dollars. Just one home where they have an underground car garage that fits 20 cars. I barely have a carport. So when I'm talking to them, I have to represent you all and your needs.
Some of the biggest things that are very important to us when we're connecting with Garver is the drainage, the infrastructure, the water that we need in the Valley. And and so I was very blessed as a first-time state representative - I won in 2022, and then in 2023 - when a person came to me that works at the drainage district and said, "Janie, I want you to see what is out there. I want you to understand drainage.” And he showed me different places. I was in Drainage District No. 4, Mr. Guerra. Y'all know him, an amazing guy, and so I got to see firsthand (all the challenges).
As a nine nine year old, I was in a flood, so I understand what floods are like because our home got flooded, and I remember having to get rescued, and we had to go to a shelter. And I was nine years old. My little brother, my little sister were still living at home, and Dad charged me with being able to flag down somebody to rescue us because I was the only one who knew English. And so here I was as a nine-year-old, awake in the middle of the night, waiting for a rescue truck to come and rescue us. So because of that too, I understand the importance of drainage. Our drainage got fixed thankfully because of funding that the city was able to get in San Benito back in the ‘90s to fix the drainage issue. So I'm a huge supporter of being that advocate for you all to bring down the funding that's needed. And thankfully, with the cities like Mayor Sepulveda, her team, and others that join forces, we're one region, right? We're a region here in the Valley. My area starts from the Port of Brownsville and goes all the way to Raymondville, so part of Cameron, all of Willacy. But if we extend it to Hidalgo County, Starr County, we're one, right?
And we have to keep uniting to bring that funding that's needed for the infrastructure. That’s very important, not only for our families, but also for the companies that are coming in because they need drainage, they need water, and that's the only way that we're going to be able to attract them down here.
So thank you all so much for all the hard work that you all do and that you have done in bringing those dreams to reality to our families, for representing the Valley and knowing the importance of investing in the Valley and keeping those jobs here. Unfortunately, people used to leave the Valley to go work in the oil oil fields, and now we can keep them here because you're providing those jobs that are very important to us. So thank you for investing in us. Thank you for investing in our future.
And I see Brian (Macmanus) here too. Brian was another one that educated me. He said, "Come, I want to show you everything you need to know about water, in my irrigation district.” He said, "Janie, there's a bill that we're working, that Senate is working on that has to do with water infrastructure. But guess what? We don't just need new water companies or to expand water companies. We also need to fix the old pipes.” He said, we have leaks, and so I'm thinking, like the leaks you have at your house. But no, somebody sends me a video, and it's basically like a fire hydrant that's spewing millions of gallons of water. And so, I am very blessed to have you all as a team. And thank you all for for bringing these jobs, for working on our infrastructure. God bless you all, and may God always provide you the guidance and wisdom that you need.
Editor's Note: The above remarks were delivered from the podium by state Rep. Janie Lopez of San Benito at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Garver's new Water Design Center in Harlingen.
