By: Haywood S.C.R. No. 32 SENATE 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 have 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 1-22 WHEREAS, By House Concurrent Resolution 128, Acts of the 74th 1-23 Legislature, the Texas Red River Boundary Commission was created; 2-1 and 2-2 WHEREAS, The term of the commission expires on June 30, 1998; 2-3 and 2-4 WHEREAS, The states of Texas and Oklahoma are working 2-5 together to adopt a boundary compact to present to their respective 2-6 legislatures; and 2-7 WHEREAS, If the Texas Red River Boundary Commission is unable 2-8 to reach a boundary agreement with the Oklahoma Red River Boundary 2-9 Commission on or before June 30, 1998, the work of the commission 2-10 will be lost; and 2-11 WHEREAS, It is to the benefit of the citizens of Texas to 2-12 extend the term of the Texas commission and enable it to continue 2-13 its work toward a joint boundary resolution; now, therefore, be it 2-14 RESOLVED by the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas, That 2-15 the term of the Red River Boundary Commission is hereby extended to 2-16 June 30, 2000; commission members, not to exceed 17 in number, 2-17 shall be appointed by the governor; the commissioners shall be 2-18 representative of private property owners, local government elected 2-19 officials, mineral interests, and the general public; such members 2-20 shall serve without compensation, except for reasonable travel 2-21 reimbursement; staffing for this commission shall be provided by 2-22 the General Land Office, the Office of the Attorney General, and 2-23 the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission; and, be it 2-24 further 2-25 RESOLVED, That the chairman shall be appointed by the 3-1 governor; and, be it further 3-2 RESOLVED, That it shall be the duty of the commission to 3-3 confer and act in conjunction with the representatives appointed on 3-4 behalf of the State of Oklahoma for the following purposes: 3-5 (1) to initially make a joint investigation at the 3-6 joint expense of the two states as to the appropriate method of 3-7 establishing a practicable location of the common boundary between 3-8 the two states with respect to the Red River; 3-9 (2) to investigate, negotiate, and report as to the 3-10 necessity and advisability of a compact between the two states 3-11 defining and locating a practicable, identifiable state line; 3-12 (3) to hold such hearings and conferences in either of 3-13 the two states as may be required and to take such action, either 3-14 separately or in cooperation with the State of Oklahoma or the 3-15 United States, or both, as may be necessary or convenient to 3-16 accomplish the purposes of this resolution; and 3-17 (4) to report to the governor and the Legislature of 3-18 the State of Texas annually no later than January 15 of each year 3-19 its findings and recommendations concerning joint action by the 3-20 State of Texas and the State of Oklahoma; and, be it further 3-21 RESOLVED, That the Red River Boundary Commission shall 3-22 terminate on June 30, 2000; and, be it further 3-23 RESOLVED, That the legislature hereby respectfully request 3-24 the president and the Congress of the United States to meet and 3-25 confer with the commission and the representatives of the State of 4-1 Oklahoma and to assist in carrying out the purposes of this 4-2 resolution; and, be it further 4-3 RESOLVED, That the governor of the State of Texas be and is 4-4 hereby empowered and requested to forward a copy of this resolution 4-5 to the governor of the State of Oklahoma and to request that the 4-6 governor or legislature of that state appoint representatives of 4-7 the State of Oklahoma to confer and act in conjunction with the 4-8 commission for the purposes above specified, with the understanding 4-9 that each state pay all expenses of its representatives; and, be it 4-10 further 4-11 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 4-12 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, 4-13 the speaker of the house of representatives and president of the 4-14 senate of the United States Congress and to all members of the 4-15 Texas delegation to the congress with the request that it be 4-16 officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the 4-17 Congress of the United States of America.