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By: Shapleigh S.C.R. No. 21
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2003; March 19, 2003, read
first time and referred to Committee on International Relations and
Trade; April 22, 2003, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0, 1
present not voting; April 22, 2003, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.C.R. No. 21 By: Shapleigh
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.
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