Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR10 Compare Versions

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1	1	S.C.R. No. 10
2	2
3	3
4	4	SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
5	5	WHEREAS, The efficient movement and careful surveillance of
6	6	commercial and noncommercial traffic through the United States'
7	7	ports of entry are vital to this country's economic prosperity and
8	8	security, yet serious bottlenecks are choking customs inspection
9	9	lanes on the Texas-Mexico border; and
10	10	WHEREAS, With its entry into the General Agreement on Tariffs
11	11	and Trade in 1986 and the implementation of the North American Free
12	12	Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994, Mexico has become one of
13	13	the United States' primary trading partners; the strength of that
14	14	partnership is evident in the combined value of United
15	15	States-Mexico export-import trade, which rose from $81.5 billion in
16	16	1993, the year before NAFTA went into effect, to $183.7 billion in
17	17	just the first six months of 2008; and
18	18	WHEREAS, The overwhelming majority of United States trade
19	19	with Mexico--80 percent in 2002--passes through Texas ports of
20	20	entry, and over the past decade and a half these ports have seen a
21	21	dramatic increase in commercial traffic; the number of commercial
22	22	vehicles entering Texas from Mexico rose from 2.7 million in 1994 to
23	23	more than 4.3 million in 2001, and some estimates predict that
24	24	cross-border truck traffic in the Texas-Mexico border region may
25	25	increase by 85 percent between 2000 and 2030; and
26	26	WHEREAS, Neither the present border-crossing facilities nor
27	27	the current systems for inspecting and monitoring cross-border
28	28	traffic were designed to handle the volume of people, vehicles, and
29	29	goods now passing through checkpoints in Texas; compounding the
30	30	challenge posed by an inadequate infrastructure are the
31	31	increasingly detailed inspections, which are designed to reduce the
32	32	flow of illegal substances and to guard against terrorism; as a
33	33	result of these pressures, the length of the wait time at Texas
34	34	ports of entry is soaring; and
35	35	WHEREAS, Delays at the border are detrimental to economic
36	36	activity in the United States, adding to a company's cost of
37	37	shipping and impeding production at maquiladoras, which account for
38	38	the largest segment of United States-Mexico trade and which depend
39	39	on just-in-time delivery service to achieve savings and greater
40	40	efficiency; and
41	41	WHEREAS, Congestion caused by these delays also poses a
42	42	threat to public safety--the sheer scale of commercial traffic
43	43	means that only five percent of trucks entering Texas can be
44	44	physically inspected; in addition, pollution from idling vehicles
45	45	has harmed air quality to a marked degree and endangers the health
46	46	of border residents; and
47	47	WHEREAS, Robust foreign trade fosters domestic prosperity
48	48	and generates federal revenue, and a portion of that revenue should
49	49	be invested in support of customs operations, the smooth
50	50	functioning of which promotes the continued expansion of exports
51	51	and imports; expediting the flow of commercial traffic while
52	52	ensuring appropriately rigorous inspections will require a federal
53	53	commitment to fund improved infrastructure, including the
54	54	construction of additional customs inspection lanes and the
55	55	adoption of technology that will speed the movement of low-risk
56	56	traffic, as well as an increase in customs personnel and customs
57	57	operating hours; and
58	58	WHEREAS, In promoting the secure, swift movement of vehicle
59	59	and pedestrian traffic at United States land ports of entry, the
60	60	border states also have a major role to play; Section 1303 of the
61	61	Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act:
62	62	A Legacy for Users directs the United States secretary of
63	63	transportation to implement a coordinated border infrastructure
64	64	program and serves as a funding source for border area
65	65	infrastructure improvements and regulatory enhancements; and
66	66	WHEREAS, Texas legislators and business people are acutely
67	67	aware of the improvements that need to be made at ports of entry on
68	68	the Rio Grande, if the economic promise of NAFTA is to be fully
69	69	realized by this state and nation; these ports serve as a critical
70	70	gateway to foreign trade, and it is essential that they promote,
71	71	rather than hinder, the flow of that vital resource; now,
72	72	therefore, be it
73	73	RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
74	74	hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
75	75	provide emergency funding and resources to begin immediately
76	76	addressing increasing delays at United States ports of entry on the
77	77	Texas-Mexico border; and, be it further
78	78	RESOLVED, That the congress provide funding for 24-hour
79	79	customs operations and for infrastructure improvements, including
80	80	more customs inspection lanes and more customs inspectors, at
81	81	border crossings between Texas and Mexico; and, be it further
82	82	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
83	83	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
84	84	the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
85	85	senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
86	86	Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
87	87	resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
88	88	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.
89	89	______________________________ ______________________________
90	90	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
91	91	I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 10 was adopted by the Senate
92	92	on April 16, 2009, by a viva-voce vote.
93	93	______________________________
94	94	Secretary of the Senate
95	95	I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 10 was adopted by the House
96	96	on May 24, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, two
97	97	present not voting.
98	98	______________________________
99	99	Chief Clerk of the House
100	100	Approved:
101	101	______________________________
102	102	Date
103	103	______________________________
104	104	Governor