|
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, Trade between Texas and Mexico plays a vital role in |
|
the economic prosperity of the Lone Star State; and |
|
WHEREAS, Each year, Texas sends about 36 percent of the |
|
state's total exports to Mexico, and in 2015, exports to Mexico |
|
totaled nearly $92.5 million; goods exported to Mexico include |
|
computer and electronic products, petroleum and coal products, |
|
chemicals, machinery, and transportation equipment, all of which |
|
are produced by industries that supply hundreds of thousands of |
|
jobs to the Lone Star State; and |
|
WHEREAS, Since the ratification of the North American Free |
|
Trade Agreement in 1994, the export of U.S. goods to Mexico has |
|
risen 325 percent, while imports into the United States from Mexico |
|
have increased 458 percent; in 2012, Americans spent $277.5 billion |
|
for goods from Mexico, and Mexico is America's third-largest |
|
supplier of oil, after Canada and Saudi Arabia; additionally, |
|
nearly half of the tomatoes and two-thirds of the mangoes consumed |
|
in the United States come from Mexico; and |
|
WHEREAS, The importance of this trade to Texas border cities, |
|
including Brownsville, Hidalgo, Laredo, and El Paso, is tremendous, |
|
and disruption to international commerce would be economically |
|
devastating; by placing a priority on working with the natural |
|
landscape of the area and building barriers such as levees, the |
|
federal government could preserve the immeasurable benefits of the |
|
healthy trade environment while protecting the border; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mexico is the largest trading partner of Texas and |
|
the third-largest of the United States, and it is imperative that |
|
our federal government take proactive steps to strengthen ties with |
|
Mexico and build bridges of economic opportunity that will benefit |
|
Texas and the entire nation; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby urge the United States Congress to recognize the importance |
|
of trade between Texas and Mexico and foster international |
|
commerce; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That Congress and federal agencies focus border |
|
efforts on working within the natural landscape of the region |
|
instead of obstructing trade with a border wall; 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. |