H.R. No. 1623



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Mayor Joe Ochoa has served the citizens of Edinburg 
with great integrity and foresight for the past 10 years, 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 native Texan has helped to 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 the year that Mayor Ochoa took office; and
	WHEREAS, He 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, Mayor Ochoa 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, Mayor Ochoa 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 the Honorable Joe Ochoa 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 Mayor Ochoa as an expression of high regard by the 
Texas House of Representatives.

                                                                       Gutierrez
                                                                            Pena

                                                  ______________________________
                                                       Speaker of the House     

	I certify that H.R. No. 1623 was adopted by the House on May 
30, 2003, by a non-record vote.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                     Chief Clerk of the House