R E S O L U T I O N 1-1 WHEREAS, Interstate Route 69 has been federally certified by 1-2 the United States Congress as a natural route for the trade that is 1-3 flourishing under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); 1-4 and 1-5 WHEREAS, In its entirety, I-69 is an 1,800-mile multistate 1-6 highway that will connect international border crossings in the Rio 1-7 Grande Valley and the city of Laredo to those in the Great Lakes 1-8 region; the Texas portion of I-69, which is more than 950 miles 1-9 long, consists of various segments of federally designated High 1-10 Priority Corridor 18 and High Priority Corridor 20; and 1-11 WHEREAS, The Texas segment of Corridor 18 will extend I-69 1-12 along north-south oriented U.S. Highways 281 and 77 in the lower 1-13 Rio Grande Valley and connect to U.S. Highway 59 east to Houston 1-14 and north to Texarkana; the Corridor 20 segment will extend I-69 1-15 along U.S. Highway 59 from its starting point at Laredo to Houston 1-16 and thence northward; and 1-17 WHEREAS, A Texas Senate interim committee on NAFTA in 1998 1-18 estimated that the region surrounding U.S. Highways 281 and 77 1-19 generates $41.6 billion in economic activity per year and that 1-20 approximately 5.5 million people live in the 34 counties directly 1-21 on the I-69 route; and 1-22 WHEREAS, The report also states that Texas border crossings 1-23 account for 80 percent of all U.S.-Mexico truck traffic and that 1-24 the northeast ports between Michigan and Maine handle nearly 87 2-1 percent of the truck traffic between the U.S. and Canada; and 2-2 WHEREAS, Interstate Route 69 is truly vital to the ability of 2-3 Texas and the United States to accommodate the burgeoning 2-4 interstate and international trade and to ensure its movement in a 2-5 safe and efficient manner; now, therefore, be it 2-6 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 77th Texas 2-7 Legislature hereby recognize February 21, 2001, as Interstate Route 2-8 69 Day in Texas. Hawley _______________________________ Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 313 was adopted by the House on February 21, 2001, by a non-record vote. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House