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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Residents of Harlingen are gathering in Austin on |
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March 6, 2013, to celebrate Harlingen Day at the State Capitol; and |
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WHEREAS, From the time in 1904 when Lon C. Hill chose a site |
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alongside the St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway as the |
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location for a new town, Harlingen was destined to become a |
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crossroads of commerce; the first train passed through the rugged |
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settlement that railroad workers called "Rattlesnake Junction" on |
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July 4, 1904; tales of Texas Rangers and customs patrol agents |
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taking target practice next to the rail depot soon gave Harlingen |
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its next nickname of "Six-Shooter Junction"; and |
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WHEREAS, Between the 1910s and 1930s, trains brought |
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thousands of Midwestern farmers to Harlingen to set up operations |
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in the fertile Magic Valley, where they found they could grow at |
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least two crops a year, and the city at one point had the largest ice |
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plant in Texas, which worked to keep countless railcars of produce |
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cold as they headed north; the city has also been a state and |
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national center for cotton farming for 60 years, and since 1953, the |
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Harlingen Cotton Committee has ceremonially auctioned the first |
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bale of cotton grown each year in the United States; and |
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WHEREAS, During World War II, the city was home to Harlingen |
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Army Airfield, a facility that grew and evolved into Harlingen Air |
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Force Base; the base eventually became Valley International |
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Airport, the Rio Grande Valley's busiest cargo and passenger |
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commercial airport, which, together with the city's bridge to |
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Mexico and the port that connects it to the Intracoastal Waterway, |
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serves to further underscore the community's importance as a center |
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for trade; and |
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WHEREAS, Also important to Harlingen is the United Launch |
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Alliance plant, which supplies components to the Atlas V rocket and |
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is the second largest taxpayer in the city; employing 200 |
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residents, it recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in the |
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community; and |
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WHEREAS, Since 1999, Harlingen has been home to the Regional |
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Academic Health Center, a branch campus of The University of Texas |
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Health Science Center at San Antonio; Valley Baptist Medical Center |
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serves as the RAHC's primary teaching hospital while Su Clinica has |
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been the center's main ambulatory teaching site since 2002; |
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altogether more than 1,000 medical students and 60 internal |
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medicine residents have trained there, many of whom now practice in |
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hospitals and clinics across the Rio Grande Valley; there is strong |
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support for expanding the RAHC into the South Texas School of |
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Medicine, and already the center has benefited from investments of |
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more than $200 million from UT and an additional $50 million from |
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the City of Harlingen, VBMC, and Su Clinica; and |
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WHEREAS, Harlingen is also headquarters to the U.S. |
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Department of Veterans Affairs Valley Coastal Bend Health Care |
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System, which provides for the health care needs of veterans in the |
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region; the VA has been one of the RAHC's primary teaching partners, |
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sponsoring internal medical residents and committing to the |
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sponsorship of 25 residents for the proposed medical school; in |
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addition, the VA moved its outpatient clinic and |
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160,000-square-foot ambulatory and surgical facility to Harlingen |
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in order to be close the RAHC; and |
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WHEREAS, Area residents have long understood the importance |
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of education, and the city is home to two outstanding educational |
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institutions, Texas State Technical College and the Marine Military |
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Academy; on the academy's campus, visitors may view Dr. Felix W. de |
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Weldon's full-size plaster model of his famous Iwo Jima memorial in |
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Washington, D.C.; and |
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WHEREAS, In 2013, Harlingen is hosting its 20th annual Rio |
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Grande Valley Birding Festival, one of the premier such festivals |
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in the nation, bringing visitors from around the world; the area's |
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semitropical climate, natural resources, and friendly people make |
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it a destination for travelers, including "winter" Texans and other |
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outdoor enthusiasts; the community's attractions include the mural |
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and heritage trails in the historic downtown district and numerous |
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sports fields and parks, and shoppers from across the state and over |
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the border come to the Harlingen Bass Pro Shop, with its wide array |
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of supplies for hunting, fishing, boating, camping, and other |
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outdoor activities; and |
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WHEREAS, This thriving city of 70,000 is led by mayor Chris |
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Boswell and city commissioners Danny Castillo, Robert A. Leftwich, |
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Michael Mezmar, Basilio "Chino" Sanchez, and Victor Leal, and under |
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their guidance the city's crime rate has dropped consistently from |
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2008 to 2013, including a 20 percent drop in violent and property |
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crimes, making it a safe place to live, work, and play; and |
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WHEREAS, Harlingen is a dynamic community that draws on its |
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rich history even as it works to build an exciting future, and its |
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residents may indeed take great pride in the city they call home; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize March 6, 2013, as Harlingen Day at the |
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State Capitol and extend to the visiting delegation sincere best |
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wishes for an enjoyable and memorable visit. |