Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HCR88 Compare Versions

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1	1	85R10332 BPG-D
2	2	By: Raymond H.C.R. No. 88
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5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, Laredo has taken on ever-increasing national
7	7	security responsibilities since the advent of the North American
8	8	Free Trade Agreement in 1994, but it is ineligible for federal
9	9	Targeted Infrastructure Capability grants because such grants are
10	10	based primarily on population criteria rather than threat
11	11	assessment; and
12	12	WHEREAS, The gateway for the nation's main NAFTA corridor,
13	13	Laredo has four international bridges and carries 50 percent of all
14	14	NAFTA-related trade through Texas; as of 2015, the city ranked as
15	15	the number one inland port in the country with over $284 billion in
16	16	trade, and hazardous materials constitute almost half of the cargo
17	17	that travels through the Laredo corridor by land and rail; the city
18	18	also has more than 5,000 acres of warehouse space, at least a
19	19	quarter of which contains hazardous materials vulnerable to
20	20	terrorism; and
21	21	WHEREAS, The volume of hazardous materials transiting
22	22	through Laredo presents enormous potential for a disaster, and
23	23	first responders must be prepared for a chemical spill or hazardous
24	24	materials release; moreover, 15,000 visitors cross into the city
25	25	every day, at a time when drug-related violence on the other side of
26	26	the border is increasing; frontline emergency personnel also
27	27	respond to incidents on the Rio Grande, which is the chief source of
28	28	drinking water for many border communities, and to any bomb threats
29	29	reported on the international bridges, as well as to an ever-rising
30	30	number of other emergency calls in a growing community; and
31	31	WHEREAS, The Department of Homeland Security currently
32	32	awards its Targeted Infrastructure Capability grants largely on the
33	33	basis of metropolitan population, and with an estimated population
34	34	of about 255,000, Laredo does not meet the criteria for grants such
35	35	as the Urban Area Strategic Initiative or Port Security awards; and
36	36	WHEREAS, Laredo is smaller than other major United States
37	37	ports, and it has a much more limited budget for local agencies;
38	38	federal funds are desperately needed to ensure that emergency
39	39	responders can manage international threats to critical
40	40	infrastructure safely and efficiently; now, therefore, be it
41	41	RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
42	42	hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to revise
43	43	Department of Homeland Security funding formulas for Targeted
44	44	Infrastructure Capability grants to emphasize threat assessment
45	45	for strategically located border communities, rather than
46	46	population; and, be it further
47	47	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
48	48	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
49	49	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
50	50	Representatives of the United States Congress, to the secretary of
51	51	the Department of Homeland Security, and to all the members of the
52	52	Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution
53	53	be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
54	54	the Congress of the United States of America.