Cruz at Ike Dike sites tour: 'This is a plan that is prudent, is fiscally responsible, saves lives and protects jobs'

About a month after the U.S. Senate voted in favor of the construction of the Ike Dike, a group of Texas legislators led by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday looked at possible sites where the 70-mile-long barrier could be erected, per a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.

The station reported that Houston-area lawmakers, U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (R-Friendswood) and State Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville) joined Cruz during the tour along the hurricane-prone coastline. 

The Ike Dike takes its name from the Category 2 storm that lashed Galveston Island and surrounding areas on Sept. 13, 2008, and is designed to protect communities and the nation’s largest petrochemical complex.

According to KHOU, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate need to reconcile their versions of the legislation that features plans for the Ike Dike.

Also, the measure requires President Joe Biden’s signature to become law, which Weber hopes will occur at least before the end of the current Atlantic hurricane season, KHOU reported.

“When the refineries shut down for a skeleton crew during Hurricane Ike, gas in Ohio spiked 60 cents a gallon,” the congressman recalled to the station. “What we do here has massive impact.”

According to Cruz, while the project could take as long as 20 years to construct, its timeline will hinge on what he calls “appropriation battles.”

“I can tell you in Congress, it’s my intention to continue leading the fight because I think this is a plan that is prudent, is fiscally responsible, saves lives and protects jobs,” the junior senator said, KHOU reported.

The Ike Dike comes with a cost of approximately $31 billion, to which the federal government will cover 65 percent and the remaining 35 percent will be handled by the Gulf Coast Protection District, an entity established by state lawmakers, per the station.

KHOU reported that the legislators also met with leaders from the  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District.

Galveston Mayor Dr. Craig Brown agreed with the lawmakers that the Ike Dike is essential to the region, Houston FOX affiliate KRIV reported.

"We're the gateway for one of the largest refinery systems and shipping systems in the world," Brown, who secured reelection in May, said, according to KRIV. "Here in Galveston, that has connotations for this area, the entire nation and the world."