H.R. No. 1621



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Arnoldo F. Benavides has served the citizens of 
Edinburg as a member of the Edinburg City Council and as mayor pro 
tempore with great integrity and foresight, helping to usher in a 
period of unprecedented economic growth, improved educational 
opportunities, new infrastructure projects, and long-awaited 
family entertainment facilities; and
	WHEREAS, This distinguished Texan has helped bring two 
state-of-the-art power plants, valued at more than half a billion 
dollars, to the city of Edinburg, increasing the amount of 
on-demand electrical power available to the entire region; each 
year the community is the site of more construction, and in 2002 
alone the city welcomed over $110 million in new projects, 
representing a significant increase from the $20 million worth of 
projects reported a decade ago; and
	WHEREAS, Councilman Benavides has played an instrumental 
role in attracting to the city new family-oriented entertainment 
venues, including the Edinburg Professional Baseball Stadium, the 
SuperSplash water park, and Carmike Cinemas 20, the most 
technically advanced movie theater complex south of San Antonio; 
moreover, he has helped to raise the stature of the community by 
twice leading it to a prestigious All-America City award, a 
national honor that the city has received three times; and
	WHEREAS, In addition to his work in behalf of local 
businesses, Councilman Benavides has helped the city to obtain more 
than $125 million in new state funds to upgrade U.S. Highway 281, 
which one day will be known as Interstate Highway 69, and to secure 
many more tens of millions of dollars for the enhancement of major 
traffic corridors; a strong proponent of higher education, he has 
worked closely with state officials and University of Texas System 
regents to dramatically upgrade the facilities at The University of 
Texas--Pan American in Edinburg and to create The University of 
Texas Regional Academic Health Center in Edinburg, Harlingen, and 
Brownsville; and
	WHEREAS, Councilman Benavides may reflect with pride on these 
many outstanding accomplishments, and his future achievements will 
no doubt continue to add to his already remarkable legacy as a 
public servant, a legacy that is perhaps best captured by a 
quotation from the writer George Eliot:  "Our deeds still travel 
with us from afar, And what we have been makes us what we are."; now, 
therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas 
Legislature hereby commend Arnoldo F. Benavides on his exemplary 
service to the community of Edinburg and the State of Texas; and, be 
it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for Councilman Benavides as an expression of high regard 
by the Texas House of Representatives.

                                                                       Gutierrez
                                                                            Pena

                                                  ______________________________
                                                       Speaker of the House     

	I certify that H.R. No. 1621 was adopted by the House on May 
30, 2003, by a non-record vote.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                     Chief Clerk of the House