Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HCR146 Compare Versions

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1	1	82R26492 CBE-D
2	2	By: Gonzales of Hidalgo, Farrar, Hardcastle, H.C.R. No. 146
3	3	Alonzo, et al.
4	4
5	5
6	6	HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
7	7	WHEREAS, Inadequate staffing and outdated infrastructure and
8	8	technology at land ports of entry on the southwestern border harm
9	9	the nation's economy and undermine the ability of United States
10	10	Customs and Border Protection to fulfill its mission; and
11	11	WHEREAS, For the past two decades, the federal government has
12	12	concentrated funding for the security of the United States-Mexico
13	13	border on deterrence in the regions between land ports, at the
14	14	expense of land ports of entry; as a result, the average land port
15	15	of entry is now more than 40 years old and in dire need of
16	16	modernization, as reported at the December 2008 U.S.-Mexico Joint
17	17	Working Committee by the head of the Customs and Border Protection
18	18	Land Ports of Entry Modernization Program, who estimated capital
19	19	costs for necessary upgrades at $6 billion; and
20	20	WHEREAS, While funding for land ports of entry has lagged,
21	21	traffic passing through them has increased dramatically, as has the
22	22	value of goods traded; the value of imports carried by truck was
23	23	26.5 percent higher in 2010 than in 2009, and the value of exports
24	24	carried by truck was 24.3 percent higher, according to the U.S.
25	25	Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics;
26	26	in 2010, Texas not only led the country in surface trade with Mexico
27	27	with $114.5 billion, but it became the first state to ever have more
28	28	than $100 billion in trade with Mexico by surface modes of
29	29	transportation in a single calendar year; and
30	30	WHEREAS, This increased traffic places a great strain on
31	31	aging infrastructure and technology and requires massive amounts of
32	32	overtime for inspectors charged with screening cars and trucks;
33	33	these pressures cause serious and costly slowdowns; according to a
34	34	March 2008 draft report for the U.S. Department of Commerce
35	35	entitled "Improving Economic Outcomes by Reducing Border Delays,"
36	36	wait times averaging one hour at the five busiest land ports of
37	37	entry on the southern border resulted in an average economic output
38	38	loss of $116 million per minute of delay; in 2008, the average
39	39	annual cost of these delays to the U.S. economy was nearly 26,000
40	40	jobs and $6 billion in output, $1.4 billion in wages, and $600
41	41	million in tax revenues; by 2017, average wait times could increase
42	42	to nearly 100 minutes, costing more than 54,000 jobs and $12 billion
43	43	in output, $3 billion in wages, and $1.2 billion in tax revenues
44	44	each year; the cumulative loss in output due to border delays over
45	45	the next 10 years is estimated to be $86 billion; and
46	46	WHEREAS, With increased funding for enforcement in the
47	47	terrain between land ports, drug cartels and others have shifted
48	48	their trafficking operations; the probability of apprehending an
49	49	individual attempting an illegal crossing in these areas is now
50	50	about 70 percent, according to a report by Scott Borger of the
51	51	Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of
52	52	California-San Diego entitled "Estimates of the Cyclical Inflow of
53	53	Undocumented Migrants to the United States"; by contrast, at land
54	54	ports of entry, enforcement officers apprehend only about 30
55	55	percent of those engaged in major crimes, such as human
56	56	trafficking, drug smuggling, and possession of illegal weapons,
57	57	according to the Department of Homeland Security's Annual
58	58	Performance Report for Fiscal Years 2008-2010; and
59	59	WHEREAS, Reports by the U.S. Government Accountability
60	60	Office have found that infrastructure and technology at land ports
61	61	of entry are inadequate; in order to maintain national security
62	62	while expediting the flow of trade, it is imperative that our nation
63	63	modernize its land ports of entry and ensure that staffing levels
64	64	are adequate to manage an increasingly high volume of international
65	65	traffic; now, therefore, be it
66	66	RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
67	67	hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to enact
68	68	legislation to provide sufficient manpower, infrastructure, and
69	69	technology to ensure the security and efficiency of land ports of
70	70	entry on the southwestern border; and, be it further
71	71	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
72	72	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
73	73	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
74	74	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
75	75	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
76	76	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
77	77	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.