Bill Text: TX HCR123 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging the United States Congress to revise Department of Homeland Security funding formulas for Targeted Infrastructure Capability grants to include a separate threat assessment for strategically located border communities, irrespective of population.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-17 - Referred to International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs [HCR123 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR123-Introduced.html
83R10152 BPG-D | ||
By: Raymond | H.C.R. No. 123 |
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WHEREAS, Since the advent of the North American Free Trade | ||
Agreement in 1994, Laredo has contended with growing | ||
responsibilities for national security, but still remains | ||
ineligible for federal Targeted Infrastructure Capability grants | ||
because the city falls short of the population criteria on which the | ||
grants are primarily based; and | ||
WHEREAS, The gateway for the nation's main NAFTA corridor, | ||
Laredo has four International Bridges and is in the process of | ||
applying for a Presidential Permit to build a fifth; the city is the | ||
busiest inland port in the United States, with nearly 3 million | ||
tractor-trailer crossings and more than 400,000 rail crossings | ||
annually as of 2008; in addition, the Laredo Airport, a former U.S. | ||
Air Force Base, handled more than 429 million pounds of freight in | ||
2010 alone; and | ||
WHEREAS, Half of all NAFTA-related trade through Texas enters | ||
via Laredo, and half of that trade involves hazardous materials; | ||
each day, the city's first responders face the possibility of a | ||
chemical spill or hazardous materials release; the city also has | ||
over 60 million square feet of warehouse space, at least a quarter | ||
of which contains hazardous materials and is vulnerable to | ||
terrorism; more than 15,000 visitors cross into Laredo every day, | ||
and the police department confronts an escalating threat from | ||
violent international drug traffickers, who frequently possess | ||
caches of state-of-the-art weapons along with sophisticated | ||
communications systems; and | ||
WHEREAS, Relatively isolated on its side of the border, | ||
Laredo is approximately 150 miles from the nearest United States | ||
community with the capability to assist in an emergency situation, | ||
and its police, fire, and public health personnel are the primary | ||
emergency responders for the entire region; since the attacks of | ||
September 11, 2001, the police department has provided increased | ||
security for many facilities, among them all the ports of entry and | ||
interstate commerce corridors IH-35 and U.S. Highway 59; moreover, | ||
Laredo provides primary first response for incidents on the Rio | ||
Grande, and as the river is the chief drinking water source for | ||
Laredo, Nuevo Laredo, and other communities in the valley, swift | ||
response to any contamination is extremely critical; and | ||
WHEREAS, With an estimated population of about 240,000, | ||
Laredo is a much smaller city than other major United States ports; | ||
its own budget is accordingly limited, and at the same time, its | ||
size has been an impediment in the pursuit of federal assistance; | ||
increased federal funding is desperately needed to strengthen | ||
readiness where local agencies with strained budgets are not | ||
adequate to protect our nation's critical infrastructure and | ||
address international threats; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to revise | ||
Department of Homeland Security funding formulas for Targeted | ||
Infrastructure Capability grants to include a separate threat | ||
assessment for strategically located border communities, | ||
regardless of population; 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 officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to | ||
the Congress of the United States of America. |