83R19794 BPG-D
By: Nevarez H.C.R. No. 106
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Inadequate staffing and outdated infrastructure and
technology at land ports of entry on the southwestern border harm
the nation's economy and undermine the ability of United States
Customs and Border Protection to fulfill its mission; and
WHEREAS, For the past two decades, the federal government has
concentrated funding for the security of the United States-Mexico
border on deterrence in the regions between land ports, at the
expense of land ports of entry; as a result, the average land port
of entry is now more than 40 years old and in dire need of
modernization, as reported at the December 2008 U.S.-Mexico Joint
Working Committee by the head of the Customs and Border Protection
Land Ports of Entry Modernization Program, who estimated capital
costs for necessary upgrades at $6 billion; and
WHEREAS, Since 1993, the number of border patrol agents
stationed between land ports of entry has more than quintupled, and
the budget has increased ninefold, from $400 million to $3.5
billion; in the same time period, funding for enforcement at land
ports of entry increased only 68 percent, from $1.6 billion to $2.7
billion; and
WHEREAS, While funding for land ports of entry has lagged,
traffic passing through them has increased dramatically, as has the
value of goods traded; the value of imports carried by truck was
26.5 percent higher in 2010 than in 2009, and the value of exports
carried by truck was 24.3 percent higher, according to the U.S.
Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics;
according to the Mexican Secretaria de Economia, in 2011, more than
$250 billion worth of goods were traded between Mexico and the four
southern border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and
Texas; and
WHEREAS, This increased traffic places a great strain on
aging infrastructure and technology and requires massive amounts of
overtime for inspectors charged with screening cars and trucks;
these pressures cause serious and costly slowdowns; according to a
March 2008 draft report for the U.S. Department of Commerce
entitled "Improving Economic Outcomes by Reducing Border Delays,"
wait times averaging one hour at the five busiest land ports of
entry on the southern border resulted in an average economic output
loss of $116 million per minute of delay; in 2008, these delays cost
the U.S. economy nearly 26,000 jobs and $6 billion in output, $1.4
billion in wages, and $600 million in tax revenues annually; by
2017, average wait times could increase to nearly 100 minutes,
costing more than 54,000 jobs and $12 billion in output, $3 billion
in wages, and $1.2 billion in tax revenues each year; the cumulative
loss in output due to border delays over the next 10 years is
estimated to be $86 billion; and
WHEREAS, The federal government provided $720 million for
land ports in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,
but most of those funds were allocated to the small, low-traffic
crossings on the Canadian border; although smaller Texas ports at
Los Ebanos, Falcon Dam, and Amistad Dam received some stimulus
funding, none of the larger Texas ports of entry received funds for
urgently needed improvements; and
WHEREAS, Reports by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office have found that infrastructure and technology at land ports
of entry are inadequate; in order to maintain national security
while expediting the flow of trade, it is imperative that our nation
modernize its land ports of entry and ensure that staffing levels
are adequate to manage an increasingly high volume of international
traffic; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to enact
legislation to provide sufficient manpower, infrastructure, and
technology to ensure the security and efficiency of land ports of
entry on the southwestern border; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.