By Lucio, et al.                                      S.C.R. No. 21
         77R5193 MKS-D                           
                                CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, Border health conditions not only pose an immediate
 1-2     risk to those who live along either side of the United
 1-3     States-Mexico border, but also are a health concern for all of the
 1-4     United States, and unaddressed health concerns in this region will
 1-5     only continue to worsen as the border population and its mobility
 1-6     increase, thereby escalating the risks to other areas of exposure
 1-7     and transmission of disease; and
 1-8           WHEREAS, While the State of Texas has attempted to address
 1-9     many of the health issues facing the border population in Texas,
1-10     binational cooperation at the federal level is essential to
1-11     addressing these health concerns; and
1-12           WHEREAS, In 1999, the Texas Legislature called for an
1-13     in-depth study of the public health infrastructure and barriers to
1-14     a cooperative effort between Texas and Mexico; results of the study
1-15     indicate that differences in technology and limitations on the
1-16     exchange of technology, disparities in methods of collecting data
1-17     and confidentiality provisions that restrict information sharing,
1-18     and cultural differences that affect interaction between local and
1-19     state health departments all combine to inhibit collaboration on
1-20     health issues of mutual concern; and
1-21           WHEREAS, An example of the consequences of such barriers to
1-22     cooperation occurred in 1999, when an outbreak of dengue fever in
1-23     South Texas was traced back to Mexican cities and was thought to
1-24     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
2-27     life for residents of the border region as well as reduce the
 3-1     public health risks in the spread of disease; and
 3-2           WHEREAS, Establishing an agreement between the United States
 3-3     and Mexico will show a commitment to the issue of public health and
 3-4     acknowledge that the spread of disease is an international problem
 3-5     without boundaries; now, therefore, be it
 3-6           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
 3-7     hereby urge the Congress of the United States to initiate the
 3-8     development of an agreement or treaty with Mexico to address health
 3-9     issues of mutual concern; and, be it further
3-10           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
3-11     copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
3-12     the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
3-13     the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of
3-14     the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
3-15     resolution be officially entered in the  Congressional Record as a
3-16     memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.