By Lisa Sciortino, Managing Editor of CoatingsPro Magazine

U.S. Congressman Wesley Hunt, who represents Texas’ 38^th district as a Republican, made an in-person appearance to thank corrosion industry professionals for their service to the nation.

Hunt spoke during a special “Coffee with the Congressman” event on Monday, March 16 at the 2026 AMPP Annual Conference + Expo, which is being hosted at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center.  

“You have decided to marry your professional life with a way to serve this great nation so we can live the lives that we’ve grown accustomed to,” said Hunt, a Houston native who is now serving his second term. “We live in a world that overlooks people like you, that overlooks industries like this because it’s easy to do so. But the second that something goes wrong, the second you don’t exist is the second that we cease to exist as a nation, and we cease to have the creature comforts that we have grown accustomed to.”  

He also credited the corrosion industry’s work with the U.S. Department of Defense for allowing the nation to amass “the fiercest fighting force to ever exist on this planet — in large part because of your help behind the scenes. We have to continue that level of dominance because it serves as deterrent for us in the future. We have to continue to ensure that we have a fighting force for the future…. That doesn’t happen without you,” Hunt said. “You’re the reason my helicopter … saved my life on many an occasion. You will save the lives of many Americans in the future.”  

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Hunt is a U.S. Army veteran who spent eight years as an Apache helicopter pilot. Following his military career — which included 55 combat air missions and deployments to Iraq and Saudi Arabia — he earned three master’s degrees from Cornell University.

Hunt, who sits on the House Natural Resources and Judiciary committees, previously chaired the Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Supply Chains. A strong proponent of American energy independence, he quipped, “If Houston, Texas, is the energy capitol of the world, and the entire energy corridor is in my district, well, that makes me the energy congressman of the world.”  

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