84R12293 BPG-D
By: Tinderholt H.C.R. No. 73
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Our food and water supplies, communications,
banking, hospitals, law enforcement, and countless critical
functions depend on the electric grid, but the federal government
has failed to ensure its security; and
WHEREAS, Numerous national publications have reported on the
great danger to the electric grid from an electromagnetic pulse, or
EMP; national experts regard a potential attack on our electric
grid system, whether natural or manmade, as a grave threat to our
American way of life; and
WHEREAS, The risk of an EMP attack has been acknowledged
since the 1960s, and the congressional EMP Commission warned in its
2004 and 2008 reports that terrorists or state actors using
relatively unsophisticated missiles armed with nuclear weapons
could stage such an attack; in 2009, the congressional Commission
on the Strategic Posture of the United States, led by former
Secretaries of Defense William Perry and James Schlesinger, urged
immediate action to protect the electric grid; and
WHEREAS, Although the federal government has thus far
neglected to take action, Texas is fortunate to have its own power
grid; the state is thus capable of hardening its own electric system
to ensure reliable electricity in a hostile environment for
residents, businesses, and state and local government, as well as
for U.S. military bases; and
WHEREAS, Even if an EMP threat never materializes, protecting
the grid would provide substantial economic benefits; as the
federal government closes military bases around the country, Texas
bases would likely survive closure, due to their enhanced energy
security; moreover, companies considering relocation or expansion
would clearly find the assurance of secure power immensely valuable
and look to the Lone Star State; and
WHEREAS, The protection of the electric grid is essential to
the security and continued prosperity of our state and nation, and
Texas is prepared to do its part to ensure that citizens can rely
completely on the power system that sustains our society; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to provide
Department of Homeland Security funds for the protection of the
state's electric grid; 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, to the secretary of
the Department of Homeland Security, 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.