H.B. 630 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


H.B. 630
By: Hilderbran
Transportation
Committee Report (Unamended)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The 173d Airborne Brigade was activated in Okinawa in March 1963.  General
William Westmoreland chose the paratroopers of the elite, all volunteer,
173d Airborne Brigade to serve as the first Army combat unit in Vietnam.
The 173d became General Westmoreland's Fire Brigade, a highly mobile unit,
arguably the most feared by the North Vietnamese Army by the end of 1967.
The Brigade distinguished itself in many ways earning fourteen campaign
streamers and four presidential Unit Citations and produced a Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the recently retired General Hugh Shelton.
Thirteen Medals of Honor and six thousand Purple Hearts were awarded
before the unit stood down in 1972 after six years of service in Vietnam.
Seventeen hundred Brigade names are on the Vietnam Memorial Wall.  The
Brigade reputation led to its reactivation in Southern Europe two years
ago as the Fire brigade of the region. 

The Texas Chapter of the 173d Airborne Brigade's international society of
the 173d Airborne Brigade, today promotes healing of soldiers and
families, funds scholarships and lends personal and monetary assistance to
deserving charities. 

The purpose of HB 630 is to honor the Texans who were members of the 173d
Brigade and to those who sacrificed their lives during the Vietnam
conflict. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or
institution. 

ANALYSIS

HB 630 adds section 225.0274 to Subchapter B, Chapter 225 of the
Transportation Code.  This bill changes the name of Highway 173, between
its intersection with State Highway 16 near Kerrville and its intersection
with State Highway 16 in Jourdanton, to 173d Airborne Brigade Memorial
Highway.  The department shall also design and construct memorial markers
indicating the highway number. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2003.