Tester: Chances of Wild Horse hours expansion dwindling

Expanding hours at Wild Horse Port of Entry is less likely than it has been in the past, Sen. Jon Tester said.

“The bottom line is that budget cuts have taken their toll,” he said, adding that federal officials insist they don’t have the money they need to keep the port open longer.

Nonetheless, Tester said, he will keep fighting for longer hours.

“The people of north-central Montana are aware of the economic benefits of longer hours,” he said Thursday during a telephone press conference with Montana reporters. “We have to convince the people here (in Washington).

“And quite frankly, we have to convince the Canadians as well,” he added

Several business groups have been pushing for years to get the port opened longer hours. Canadians would be able to stay in the area longer and take advantage of shopping, cultural and other business activities along the Hi-Line and commercial traffic would be able to use the Wild Horse port more easily.

Tester spoke on a variety of issues during the press conference.

They include:

Pacific trade deal

Tester said he has questions about President Barack Obama’s proposed trade deal with 11 Pacific nations.

The pact has been criticized by labor leaders and many progressive Democrats.

Tester, who is back in Big Sandy today working his organic farm, said as a farmer he looks favorably on trade agreements, but he’s sensitive to the argument that as well as exporting food, many trade agreements export American jobs.

“I want to sell food to the Pacific,” he said. “But I want people back home to be able to afford to buy my food.”

Loretta Lynch

Tester had just voted for the confirmation of Obama’s attorney general at the time of the press conference.

He said he was pleased that she had been confirmed and upset that it had taken the Senate so long to get through the process.

Republican leaders refused to take up the Lynch nomination until the Senate acted on a human trafficking bill. Democrats balked on that bill because of a provision that limited abortions. A compromise was reached.

Energy policies

Tester said Congress is working on a balanced energy bill that will look toward development of all aspects of energy.

There will be provisions to develop clean coal, he said, while advancing studies of solar, thermal and wind energy.

This is good for Montana, he said, since the state has abundant supplies of all kinds of energy.

Highway Bill

He said one of his biggest frustrations with Congress is its inability to pass an extension of the highway bill.

“Even if we passed it today, and that is nowhere near happening, the construction season would be half over before we could get projects underway,” he said.

He said the nation’s highway system is crumbling, and Congress is doing nothing to take care of it.

He was especially concerned about highway conditions on tribal lands, and he said there should be provisions in the bill to ensure that reservation officials get at least some of the money they need.