Hundreds of attendees gathered at the Graham County Republican Committee’s annual Lincoln Day Luncheon at Eastern Arizona College.
Towards the end of the luncheon, Congressman Juan Ciscomani spoke.
The main reason for the meal and speech on President’s day was the $34.1 million in federal funding Ciscomani was able to secure. Ciscomani also spoke about his immigration process, becoming a citizen and problems with funding allocations by local Democratic officials.
“You know there are people in Congress who have been there for ten, fifteen or twenty years, and they have never passed a single bill. In three years, we have passed over twelve at the House,” said Ciscomani at the luncheon.
He mentioned that the federal money is to be rightfully poured into these communities in Graham and Greenlee counties.
From this year’s Appropriation bills passed by the House in January, $34.1 million dollars was secured for 15 different projects across five counties in Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District.
Five of the projects are in Pima County and three of them are in Graham and Greenlee counties.
After the luncheon, Eastern Arizona College held a press conference with local supervisors and mayors from both counties.
“And we are here for one specific reason and that is to celebrate the resources and highlight the resources that are coming into our community,” said Ciscomani.
One million dollars went to a new road in the town of Pima, 1.2 million went to a water line project for Graham county and 1.9 million went to renovate the main street in the town of Duncan.
A majority of these problems are tied to the remote nature of the counties being left out and abandoned.
This is especially prevalent in the town of Duncan in southern Greenlee county, where there roads haven’t been paved in 48 years.
“I remember as a kid that brand new pavement. So, that's how long it's been,” said Duncan mayor Titus Alexander Blake.
The roads near the new Pima High school location in Graham County are also in need of upgrades.
“One of the challenges that high school has brought to us in Pima is we need a safe and effective entrance to that school,” said Pima mayor Brian Paull.
Pima will also be getting its first stoplight to help the flow of traffic in town.
Graham County’s fairgrounds near Safford have been fortunate to use the federal funding to replace 50-year-old pipes. The original system to bring water down to the fair grounds was a “Herculean effort”, according to Graham County manager Dustin Welker.
“We're entering into this next critical phase, which is building out a completely new water distribution system throughout the fair grounds. That's what this $1.2 million provides,” said Welker.
Each town and city official drafted up a project proposal, and according to Ciscomani there were 64 projects. Due to budgeting and resource feasibility, the package was whittled down to 15.
AZPM asked Ciscomani in the press conference about the allocations of the money across all the projects.
“So, it has to do with the need of [the project] and how we can justify it,” said Ciscomani.
Each of the fund recipients are responsible to talk to their local officials regarding the next steps and approvals in 2026.
“These resources will go to the state of Arizona, and it's going to be up to the state to work with the local municipalities and counties to distribute that,” stated Ciscomani. “So, much more of that to come.”
Ciscomani is running for re-election in November, and hopes to put more money into communities like those in Graham and Greenlee counties.
