1-1 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-2 WHEREAS, Border health conditions not only pose an immediate
1-3 risk to those who live along either side of the United
1-4 States-Mexico border, but also are a health concern for all of the
1-5 United States, and unaddressed health concerns in this region will
1-6 only continue to worsen as the border population and its mobility
1-7 increase, thereby escalating the risks to other areas of exposure
1-8 and transmission of disease; and
1-9 WHEREAS, While the State of Texas has attempted to address
1-10 many of the health issues facing the border population in Texas,
1-11 binational cooperation at the federal level is essential to
1-12 addressing these health concerns; and
1-13 WHEREAS, In 1999, the Texas Legislature called for an
1-14 in-depth study of the public health infrastructure and barriers to
1-15 a cooperative effort between Texas and Mexico; results of the study
1-16 indicate that differences in technology and limitations on the
1-17 exchange of technology, disparities in methods of collecting data
1-18 and confidentiality provisions that restrict information sharing,
1-19 and cultural differences that affect interaction between local and
1-20 state health departments all combine to inhibit collaboration on
1-21 health issues of mutual concern; and
1-22 WHEREAS, An example of the consequences of such barriers to
1-23 cooperation occurred in 1999, when an outbreak of dengue fever in
1-24 South Texas was traced back to Mexican cities and was thought to
1-25 have been brought from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to Laredo, Texas; and
2-1 WHEREAS, Despite the implications for an outbreak across the
2-2 border, Mexican health officials were limited in their ability to
2-3 confirm cases of the mosquito-borne illness, and provisions in the
2-4 Mexican Constitution restricted them from sharing the results of
2-5 tests performed on Mexican citizens with Texas' health officials;
2-6 and
2-7 WHEREAS, Similar instances have occurred where incidences of
2-8 tuberculosis, salmonella, and malaria around the United States were
2-9 found to have started in the Texas-Mexico border region; and
2-10 WHEREAS, It is in the interest of the United States to
2-11 control the spread of diseases, beginning in the places where they
2-12 originate, and poverty and poor health conditions along the United
2-13 States-Mexico border region provide a large incubation ground for
2-14 diseases; however, the efforts of one state or country alone will
2-15 not address conditions that are present on both sides of the
2-16 border, or legal issues that create incompatibilities between
2-17 approaches, making a cooperative binational effort vitally
2-18 important; and
2-19 WHEREAS, The United States and Mexico have worked in concert
2-20 in forming NAFTA and related side agreements that address
2-21 environmental infrastructure issues, creating the Border
2-22 Environment Cooperation Commission and establishing the North
2-23 American Development Bank; the success of these joint ventures
2-24 suggests that forming similar international agreements to improve
2-25 the public health infrastructure and finding ways to address the
2-26 exchange of technology and information will improve the quality of
3-1 life for residents of the border region as well as reduce the
3-2 public health risks in the spread of disease; and
3-3 WHEREAS, Establishing an agreement between the United States
3-4 and Mexico will show a commitment to the issue of public health and
3-5 acknowledge that the spread of disease is an international problem
3-6 without boundaries; now, therefore, be it
3-7 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
3-8 hereby urge the Congress of the United States to initiate the
3-9 development of an agreement or treaty with Mexico to address health
3-10 issues of mutual concern; and, be it further
3-11 RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
3-12 copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
3-13 the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
3-14 the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
3-15 the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
3-16 resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
3-17 memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 21 was adopted by the Senate
on March 15, 2001.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 21 was adopted by the House
on May 23, 2001.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor