1-1     By:  Ehrhardt (Senate Sponsor - West)                 H.C.R. No. 94

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 3, 1997;

 1-3     April 8, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on State

 1-4     Affairs; April 24, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:

 1-5     Yeas 13, Nays 0; April 24, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                         HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 1-7           WHEREAS, The American people have been threatened by

 1-8     terrorists' actions against citizens, government, and private

 1-9     property, with many of these terrorist activities being carried out

1-10     with explosive materials; and

1-11           WHEREAS, In passing the Antiterrorism and Effective Death

1-12     Penalty Act of 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-132), the United States

1-13     Congress closed several loopholes in the effective administration

1-14     of justice against terrorist activities; in particular, mandating

1-15     that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) conduct a

1-16     study on the feasibility of tagging, or rendering inert, several

1-17     products related to the production of explosive materials; and

1-18           WHEREAS, The same act of congress also required the use of

1-19     detection agents in plastic explosives, increased penalties for

1-20     conspiracies involving the use of explosives, and provided

1-21     assistance to law enforcement personnel to combat the threat of

1-22     terrorism both domestically and abroad; and

1-23           WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Texas is aware of

1-24     the research and implementation efforts of other countries that may

1-25     provide useful information to protect lives and property through

1-26     the careful and successful use of taggants; and

1-27           WHEREAS, The BATF is being assisted in its effort to study

1-28     the technical options and feasibility by the National Research

1-29     Council (NRC), and to provide this assistance, the NRC has

1-30     established a "Committee on Marking, Rendering Inert, and Licensing

1-31     of Explosive Materials"; now, therefore, be it

1-32           RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas

1-33     hereby commend the United States Congress for recognizing the

1-34     threat to public health and security from the misuse of explosives;

1-35     and, be it further

1-36           RESOLVED, That the legislature pledge its full support to the

1-37     efforts now underway by the BATF and the NRC to study the economic,

1-38     practical, and technical feasibility of tagging, or otherwise

1-39     rendering inert, explosive materials; and, be it further

1-40           RESOLVED, That the legislature strongly support the active

1-41     participation of stakeholder interests, including representatives

1-42     of affected manufacturers and law enforcement personnel, in the

1-43     conduct of the BATF and NRC studies; and, be it further

1-44           RESOLVED, That the legislature urge the participants of the

1-45     NRC study to carefully consider the experiences of other countries

1-46     and how those experiences may relate to the NRC study; and, be it

1-47     further

1-48           RESOLVED, That the legislature looks forward to the results

1-49     of the BATF and NRC studies, both the interim report, which is due

1-50     April 1997, and the final report, which is due February 1998, to

1-51     advise the State of Texas in establishing reasonable and effective

1-52     controls on explosive materials and thereby contribute to the

1-53     enhanced protection of all Texans; and, be it further

1-54           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official

1-55     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to

1-56     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of

1-57     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of

1-58     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this

1-59     resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a

1-60     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.

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