Bill Text: TX HCR72 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging the president and Congress to continue to protect La Lomita Historical Park.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-12 - Referred to Culture, Recreation & Tourism [HCR72 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HCR72-Introduced.html
86R10698 BPG-D | ||
By: Muñoz, Jr. | H.C.R. No. 72 |
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WHEREAS, Section 231 of the appropriations bill passed by the | ||
U.S. Congress on February 14, 2019, prohibits the use of funds made | ||
available through that act or prior acts for the construction of a | ||
barrier through La Lomita Historical Park in Mission; and | ||
WHEREAS, A religious center for more than 150 years, La | ||
Lomita was visited frequently in the mid-19th century by the | ||
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who traveled the Rio Grande | ||
Valley to perform baptisms, marriage ceremonies, and other rites | ||
for remote communities; the land's owner, a devout Catholic, | ||
welcomed the construction of a chapel in 1865 and bequeathed his | ||
ranch to the Oblate Fathers; a town grew up around the chapel, and | ||
when the city of Mission was founded in 1908, its name was chosen to | ||
honor the religious settlement; and | ||
WHEREAS, After the original church building was destroyed in | ||
a flood, dedicated parishioners replaced it; the present-day chapel | ||
dates to the early 20th century, and in 1964, it was recorded as an | ||
Official Texas Historic Landmark; recognizing the central role of | ||
Catholic missions in the settlement of the region, the entire La | ||
Lomita Historic District is listed in the National Register of | ||
Historic Places; and | ||
WHEREAS, Lovingly restored through the years, La Lomita | ||
Chapel continues to serve as a shrine owned by the Catholic Diocese | ||
of Brownsville; parishioners, area residents, and visitors were | ||
therefore deeply dismayed by the federal government's proposal to | ||
build a massive border wall through La Lomita Park; the diocese | ||
deems such a barrier inconsistent with Catholic teachings, and | ||
while disturbing the sanctity of the site, it would also cut the | ||
chapel off from the community, leaving it isolated between the wall | ||
and the Rio Grande; were the government to assert eminent domain to | ||
seize the land, it would violate both the First Amendment right to | ||
free exercise of religion and the provisions of the Religious | ||
Freedom Restoration Act; and | ||
WHEREAS, Countless Texans have practiced their faith at La | ||
Lomita Chapel over the course of its long history, and Congress | ||
demonstrated its abiding respect for religious freedom by | ||
prohibiting the use of funds for the construction of a barrier | ||
through the surrounding park; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby respectfully urge the president of the United States and the | ||
United States Congress to continue to protect La Lomita Historical | ||
Park; 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. |