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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, South Texas is on the front line of the battle |
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against the fever tick, a pest that threatens to inflict |
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catastrophic losses on the beef industry should it continue to |
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spread beyond a permanent quarantine zone established along the Rio |
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Grande in 1943; and |
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WHEREAS, Historically, the fever tick ranged across the |
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entire southeastern United States, reaching as far north as |
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Maryland and Pennsylvania; the tick can carry and transmit a |
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parasite that causes cattle tick fever, which kills up to 90 percent |
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of infected cattle; in 1893, the Texas Animal Health Commission was |
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founded to fight this scourge, and in 1907 the United States |
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Department of Agriculture established the National Cattle Fever |
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Tick Eradication Program; by then, the tick had already caused |
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direct and indirect economic losses estimated to equal more than $1 |
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billion in today's dollars; and |
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WHEREAS, The eradication program had successfully contained |
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the fever tick to an 852-square-mile quarantine zone by 1943; the |
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tick was never eliminated in Mexico, however, and personnel from |
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the USDA Tick Force have maintained a high level of vigilance to |
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fight continuous reintroduction; after the pest was detected beyond |
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the zone in 2007, five temporary preventive quarantine areas were |
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established, covering more than one million acres in Starr, Zapata, |
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Jim Hogg, Maverick, Dimmit, and Webb Counties; and |
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WHEREAS, In March 2008, the Texas Department of Agriculture |
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requested some $13 million to fight the spread of fever ticks; the |
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USDA released $5.2 million, and in January 2009 it committed |
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another $4.9 million in emergency funds, but sustained funding over |
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the long term is essential; moreover, the National Fever Tick |
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Eradication Strategic Plan, developed and approved by the USDA in |
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2006, has never been implemented and funded, and Dr. Bob Hillman, |
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the state veterinarian and executive director of the Texas Animal |
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Health Commission, has warned that fever ticks are a national |
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livestock threat that requires an all-out assault; and |
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WHEREAS, The fever tick has gained substantial ground in this |
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state, but the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Animal |
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Health Commission, and the USDA Tick Force continue working |
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diligently with cattle owners to save a key component of the Lone |
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Star State's agricultural economy and prevent the battlefront from |
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extending to other states; if the fever tick is not contained, the |
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cost to the cattle industry could easily approach $1 billion a year |
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and lead to rising food costs for consumers; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby memorialize the Congress of the United States to make |
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eradication of the fever tick in South Texas a priority and continue |
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to provide appropriate funding and resources for this effort; and, |
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be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the |
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senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the |
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Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution |
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be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to |
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the Congress of the United States of America. |
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