By:  Shapleigh, Lucio                                           S.C.R. No. 21 



SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, The United States and the United Mexican States 
share a border of 2,000 miles from Brownsville, Texas, to San Diego, 
California; the four states of the United States and the six states 
of the United Mexican States along the border are home to more than 
75 million residents, an increase of about 11 million since 1990; 
and
	WHEREAS, A significant percentage of these 10 states' 
population resides in the 44 United States counties and 80 Mexican 
municipalities adjacent to the border, where rapid population 
growth is putting great pressure on an already inadequate 
infrastructure and straining the border region past its economic 
limits and resources, the tragic effects of which have broad 
repercussions on the health of residents in both countries; and
	WHEREAS, Setting the stage for many of the health problems of 
the border is the standard of living of many in the region; more 
than a third of United States border families live at or below the 
federal poverty guideline, and an estimated 350,000 people live in 
colonias, unzoned, semirural communities with no access to public 
drinking water or wastewater facilities; and
	WHEREAS, Such deficiencies in public works have increased the 
risk of exposure to pollution and water-borne contaminants since 
many of the primary sources of water along the border are 
contaminated by sewage and pollution from agricultural and 
industrial sources; according to the United States Health Resources 
and Services Administration, 122 million liters of raw sewage are 
dumped into the Tijuana, New, and Rio Grande rivers daily, and a 
series of studies conducted by several United States and Mexican 
agencies, including the Texas Department of Health, monitored sites 
along the Rio Grande and found chemicals such as PCBs, cyanide, 
mercury, and lead at significant levels; and
	WHEREAS, Beyond the effects of population, poverty, and 
pollution, many of the health concerns endemic to the border region 
are exacerbated by a lack of access to primary care and preventive 
medicine; uneven distribution of hospitals and physicians, 
inadequate transportation, limited immunizations, and a shortage 
of bilingual health care providers contribute to otherwise 
preventable health problems; and
	WHEREAS, Several standard health indicators reflect the 
shortcomings of the health care system along the border; the 
incidence of hepatitis A and tuberculosis is two to three times the 
national average, and measles, HIV/AIDS, and various infectious 
diseases disproportionately threaten the population of the border 
region as compared to the United States as a whole; and
	WHEREAS, Due to these and many other concerns and in an effort 
to provide international leadership to optimize health and quality 
of life along the United States-Mexico border, an agreement between 
the United States secretary of health and human services and the 
secretary of health of the United Mexican States created the United 
States-Mexico Border Health Commission in 2000; and
	WHEREAS, The crises of health along the border are myriad and 
profound, with complications arising from cultural, economic, and 
geographic conditions unique to the region; although the United 
States-Mexico Border Health Commission has made great progress in 
promoting health and reducing health disparities, strategic 
planning and comprehensive study are critical for the commission to 
fulfill its mission to provide the tools necessary for the future 
well-being of the border population; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby memorialize the Congress of the United States to request 
that the United States Department of Health and Human Services fund 
a benchmark study coordinated by the United States-Mexico Border 
Health Commission and conducted by universities from the border 
area of each of the adjoining border states in both the United 
States and the United Mexican States to engage each state's health 
policy with respect to the border health issues and goals outlined 
in Healthy Border 2010/Frontera Saludable 2010, a border-wide 
program of health promotion and disease prevention that defines an 
agenda for improving health in the United States-Mexico border 
region; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the study also address early intervention and 
preventive strategies; water and wastewater issues; immunization; 
behavioral health issues, including nutrition and exercise; 
elimination of health disparities among the border population; and 
response to disaster and disease outbreak; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the 
senate of the United States Congress, to the secretary of the United 
States Department of Health and Human Services, and to all the 
members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request 
that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional 
Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of 
America.