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78R7965 CME-D

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



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 U.S. states and six 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 23 U.S. counties and 39 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S.-Mexico border, an agreement between the U.S. 
secretary of health and human services and the secretary of health 
of the United Mexican States created the United States-Mexico 
Border Health Commission (USMBHC) 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 USMBHC 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 secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services direct the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission 
to coordinate a benchmark study conducted by universities  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 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.