By Finnell H.C.R. No. 106 Line and page numbers may not match official copy. Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E. HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, The south bank of the Red River constitutes the 1-2 boundary between the States of Texas and Oklahoma; and 1-3 WHEREAS, The exact determination of where the south bank of 1-4 the Red River is located is extremely difficult to ascertain and 1-5 subject to widely divergent opinion; and 1-6 WHEREAS, The south bank of the Red River is not a permanent 1-7 location, but is constantly changing; and 1-8 WHEREAS, The federal government claims ownership of the south 1-9 half of the Red River within a 116-mile stretch between the 98th 1-10 Meridian and the mouth of the North Fork of the Red River; and 1-11 WHEREAS, The Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Tribes claim 1-12 entitlement to 62-1/2 percent of the revenues derived from oil and 1-13 gas production from these lands; and 1-14 WHEREAS, The changing location of the south bank and the 1-15 difficulty in determining its location at any given time has 1-16 created problems in the enforcement of laws, collection of taxes, 1-17 economic development, and the establishment of property ownership; 1-18 and 1-19 WHEREAS, It is to the mutual advantage of the states of Texas 1-20 and Oklahoma to agree on and establish a practicable boundary 1-21 between both states; and 2-1 WHEREAS, By House Concurrent Resolution 128, 74th Legislative 2-2 Session, the Texas Red River Boundary Commission was created; and 2-3 WHEREAS, The term of the commission expires on June 30, 1998; 2-4 and 2-5 WHEREAS, The States of Texas and Oklahoma are working 2-6 together to adopt a boundary compact to present to their respective 2-7 legislatures; and 2-8 WHEREAS, If the Texas Red River Boundary Commission is unable 2-9 to reach a boundary agreement with the Oklahoma Red River Boundary 2-10 Commission on or before June 30, 1998, the work of the commission 2-11 will be lost; and 2-12 WHEREAS, It is to the benefit of the citizens of Texas to 2-13 extend the term of the Texas commission and enable it to continue 2-14 its work toward a joint boundary resolution; now, therefore, be it 2-15 RESOLVED by the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas, That 2-16 the term of the Red River Boundary Commission is hereby extended to 2-17 June 30, 2000; commission members, not to exceed 17 in number, 2-18 shall be appointed by the governor; the commissioners shall be 2-19 representative of private property owners, local government elected 2-20 officials, mineral interests, and the general public; such members 2-21 shall serve without compensation, except for reasonable travel 2-22 reimbursement; staffing for this commission shall be provided by 2-23 the General Land Office, the Office of the Attorney General, and 2-24 the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission; and, be it 2-25 further 3-1 RESOLVED, That the chairman shall be appointed by the 3-2 governor; and, be it further 3-3 RESOLVED, That it shall be the duty of the commission to 3-4 confer and act in conjunction with the representatives appointed on 3-5 behalf of the State of Oklahoma for the following purposes: 3-6 (1) to initially make a joint investigation at the 3-7 joint expense of the two states as to the appropriate method of 3-8 establishing a practicable location of the common boundary between 3-9 the two states with respect to the Red River; 3-10 (2) to investigate, negotiate, and report as to the 3-11 necessity and advisability of a compact between the two states 3-12 defining and locating a practicable, identifiable state line; 3-13 (3) to hold such hearings and conferences in either of 3-14 the two states as may be required and to take such action, either 3-15 separately or in cooperation with the State of Oklahoma or the 3-16 United States, or both, as may be necessary or convenient to 3-17 accomplish the purposes of this resolution; and 3-18 (4) to report to the governor and the Legislature of 3-19 the State of Texas annually no later than January 15 of each year 3-20 its findings and recommendations concerning joint action by the 3-21 State of Texas and the State of Oklahoma; and, be it further 3-22 RESOLVED, That the Red River Boundary Commission shall 3-23 terminate on June 30, 2000; and, be it further 3-24 RESOLVED, That the legislature hereby respectfully request 3-25 the president and the Congress of the United States to meet and 4-1 confer with the commission and the representatives of the State of 4-2 Oklahoma and to assist in carrying out the purposes of this 4-3 resolution; and, be it further 4-4 RESOLVED, That the governor of the State of Texas be and is 4-5 hereby empowered and requested to forward a copy of this resolution 4-6 to the governor of the State of Oklahoma and to request that the 4-7 governor or legislature of that state appoint representatives of 4-8 the State of Oklahoma to confer and act in conjunction with the 4-9 commission for the purposes above specified, with the understanding 4-10 that each state pay all expenses of its representatives; and, be it 4-11 further 4-12 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 4-13 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, 4-14 the speaker of the house of representatives and president of the 4-15 senate of the United States Congress and to all members of the 4-16 Texas delegation to the congress with the request that it be 4-17 officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the 4-18 Congress of the United States of America.