|
|
|
|
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of the federal government |
|
to fully maintain the security of the Texas-Mexico international |
|
border; and |
|
WHEREAS, The federal government has neglected its duty to |
|
fully maintain the security of the Texas-Mexico international |
|
border; and |
|
WHEREAS, An unprotected border facilitates drug smuggling |
|
and human trafficking and opens the door to spillover violence from |
|
criminal cartels; moreover, the ease with which members of |
|
terrorist organizations can enter the country poses a grave threat |
|
to homeland security; and |
|
WHEREAS, The federal government's failure to prevent illegal |
|
entry has shifted much of the responsibility to the State of Texas; |
|
consequently, budget writers must weigh the costs of border |
|
security against the expense of other state services; during the |
|
2012-2013 fiscal biennium, Texas spent $222,068,318 on border |
|
security operations, and in the 2014-2015 fiscal biennium, |
|
$467,872,482; and |
|
WHEREAS, The executive branch and the United States Congress |
|
have consistently delayed meaningful action on border security, |
|
forcing Texas to expend significant resources to keep the |
|
international border with Mexico secure and placing an undue burden |
|
on the state's taxpayers; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby express its dissatisfaction with the federal government's |
|
inadequate efforts to secure the Texas-Mexico international |
|
border; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That the 84th Texas Legislature respectfully urge |
|
the Congress of the United States to reimburse the State of Texas in |
|
the amount of $689,940,800 for bearing the financial burden of the |
|
federal government's responsibility to secure the Texas-Mexico |
|
international border from 2012 through 2015; 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 president of the Senate and to the speaker of the House of |
|
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
|
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
|
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
|
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 5 was adopted by the Senate |
|
on March 24, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 25, Nays 6. |
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
|
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 5 was adopted by the House |
|
on May 23, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 99, Nays 32, one |
|
present not voting. |
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
|
|
|
Approved: |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Governor |