Texas 2023 - 88th 1st C.S.

Texas Senate Bill SCR1 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version Filed 06/01/2023

                            By: Creighton S.C.R. No. 1


 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 WHEREAS, Transnational cartels are exploiting weak and
 unsecure points along the United States Southern Border to expand
 their criminal enterprises and terrorize Americans; and
 WHEREAS, 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl were seized by
 U.S. authorities in 2022, enough to kill every American man, woman,
 and child; and
 WHEREAS, The State of Texas is charged with protecting its
 citizens and is empowered to defend itself against invasion under
 Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution;
 WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution
 states that the Governor of Texas "shall be Commander-in-Chief of
 the military forces of the State" and has the power to organize
 armed forces to "repel invasions"; and
 WHEREAS, The United States Federal Government is charged, in
 the United States Constitution, to "provide for the common defense"
 and protect its States "against invasion" under the Preamble and
 Article IV, Section 4, respectively; and
 WHEREAS, The State of Texas has spent $4 billion on border
 initiatives in the 2021-2022 biennium, investing in
 state-of-the-art detection equipment, a border wall, and calling up
 tens of thousands of members of National and State Guard units;
 WHEREAS, Operation Lone Star's multi-agency effort has led to
 over 352,000 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 23,000
 criminal arrests; and
 WHEREAS, Both human and drug trafficking by transnational
 cartels have created a security threat and humanitarian disaster by
 terrorizing residents of the United States and the State of Texas;
 and
 WHEREAS, Four United States citizens were kidnapped by a
 cartel abroad in early March, two of them brutally murdered.
 Unfortunately, the tragic incident was not isolated, and violence
 permeates any area these transnational cartels inhabit; and
 WHEREAS, The continual violation of Texas's sovereignty and
 territorial integrity has resulted in reports of residents of Texas
 being assaulted, threatened with violence, and robbed; now,
 therefore, be it
 RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas
 hereby declare an invasion by transnational cartel terrorists under
 Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution and Article
 IV, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution; and, be it further
 RESOLVED, That the Legislature ask Governor Abbott to
 accelerate the construction of a wall along the Southern Border,
 utilizing Eminent Domain where necessary, to prevent the entrance
 of transnational cartels into the state; and, be it further
 RESOLVED, That the Legislature demand that the U.S. Congress
 recognize its obligation under the U.S. Constitution to "provide
 for the common defense" by voting to deploy U.S. military forces to
 combat transnational cartels; and, be it further
 RESOLVED, That the Legislature demand that the federal
 government allocate more financial support to Texas' border
 security wall and reimburse Texas for past expenditures on security
 efforts to repel invaders at its Southern 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 members
 of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this
 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.