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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Inadequate staffing and outdated infrastructure and |
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technology at land ports of entry on the southwestern border harm |
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the nation's economy and undermine the ability of United States |
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Customs and Border Protection to fulfill its mission; and |
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WHEREAS, For the past two decades, the federal government has |
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concentrated funding for the security of the United States-Mexico |
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border on deterrence in the regions between land ports, at the |
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expense of land ports of entry; as a result, the average land port |
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of entry is now more than 40 years old and in dire need of |
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modernization, as reported at the December 2008 U.S.-Mexico Joint |
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Working Committee by the head of the Customs and Border Protection |
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Land Ports of Entry Modernization Program, who estimated capital |
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costs for necessary upgrades at $6 billion; and |
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WHEREAS, Since 1993, the number of border patrol agents |
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stationed between land ports of entry has more than quintupled, and |
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the budget has increased ninefold, from $400 million to $3.5 |
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billion; in the same time period, funding for enforcement at land |
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ports of entry increased only 68 percent, from $1.6 billion to $2.7 |
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billion; and |
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WHEREAS, While funding for land ports of entry has lagged, |
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traffic passing through them has increased dramatically, as has the |
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value of goods traded; the value of imports carried by truck was |
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26.5 percent higher in 2010 than in 2009, and the value of exports |
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carried by truck was 24.3 percent higher, according to the U.S. |
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Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics; |
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according to the Mexican Secretaria de Economia, in 2011, more than |
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$250 billion worth of goods were traded between Mexico and the four |
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southern border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and |
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Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, This increased traffic places a great strain on |
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aging infrastructure and technology and requires massive amounts of |
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overtime for inspectors charged with screening cars and trucks; |
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these pressures cause serious and costly slowdowns; according to a |
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March 2008 draft report for the U.S. Department of Commerce |
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entitled "Improving Economic Outcomes by Reducing Border Delays," |
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wait times averaging one hour at the five busiest land ports of |
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entry on the southern border resulted in an average economic output |
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loss of $116 million per minute of delay; in 2008, these delays cost |
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the U.S. economy nearly 26,000 jobs and $6 billion in output, $1.4 |
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billion in wages, and $600 million in tax revenues annually; by |
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2017, average wait times could increase to nearly 100 minutes, |
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costing more than 54,000 jobs and $12 billion in output, $3 billion |
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in wages, and $1.2 billion in tax revenues each year; the cumulative |
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loss in output due to border delays over the next 10 years is |
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estimated to be $86 billion; and |
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WHEREAS, The federal government provided $720 million for |
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land ports in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, |
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but most of those funds were allocated to the small, low-traffic |
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crossings on the Canadian border; although smaller Texas ports at |
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Los Ebanos, Falcon Dam, and Amistad Dam received some stimulus |
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funding, none of the larger Texas ports of entry received funds for |
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urgently needed improvements; and |
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WHEREAS, Reports by the U.S. Government Accountability |
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Office have found that infrastructure and technology at land ports |
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of entry are inadequate; in order to maintain national security |
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while expediting the flow of trade, it is imperative that our nation |
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modernize its land ports of entry and ensure that staffing levels |
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are adequate to manage an increasingly high volume of international |
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traffic; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to enact |
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legislation to provide sufficient manpower, infrastructure, and |
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technology to ensure the security and efficiency of land ports of |
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entry on the southwestern border; and, 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 president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |