|
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, Laredo has taken on ever-increasing national |
|
security responsibilities since the advent of the North American |
|
Free Trade Agreement in 1994, but it is ineligible for federal |
|
Targeted Infrastructure Capability grants because such grants are |
|
based primarily on population criteria rather than threat |
|
assessment; and |
|
WHEREAS, The gateway for the nation's main NAFTA corridor, |
|
Laredo has four international bridges and carries 50 percent of all |
|
NAFTA-related trade through Texas; as of 2015, the city ranked as |
|
the number one inland port in the country with over $284 billion in |
|
trade, and hazardous materials constitute almost half of the cargo |
|
that travels through the Laredo corridor by land and rail; the city |
|
also has more than 5,000 acres of warehouse space, at least a |
|
quarter of which contains hazardous materials vulnerable to |
|
terrorism; and |
|
WHEREAS, The volume of hazardous materials transiting |
|
through Laredo presents enormous potential for a disaster, and |
|
first responders must be prepared for a chemical spill or hazardous |
|
materials release; moreover, 15,000 visitors cross into the city |
|
every day, at a time when drug-related violence on the other side of |
|
the border is increasing; frontline emergency personnel also |
|
respond to incidents on the Rio Grande, which is the chief source of |
|
drinking water for many border communities, and to any bomb threats |
|
reported on the international bridges, as well as to an ever-rising |
|
number of other emergency calls in a growing community; and |
|
WHEREAS, The Department of Homeland Security currently |
|
awards its Targeted Infrastructure Capability grants largely on the |
|
basis of metropolitan population, and with an estimated population |
|
of about 255,000, Laredo does not meet the criteria for grants such |
|
as the Urban Area Strategic Initiative or Port Security awards; and |
|
WHEREAS, Laredo is smaller than other major United States |
|
ports, and it has a much more limited budget for local agencies; |
|
federal funds are desperately needed to ensure that emergency |
|
responders can manage international threats to critical |
|
infrastructure safely and efficiently; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to revise |
|
Department of Homeland Security funding formulas for Targeted |
|
Infrastructure Capability grants to emphasize threat assessment |
|
for strategically located border communities, rather than |
|
population; 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 the speaker of the House of |
|
Representatives of the United States Congress, to the secretary of |
|
the Department of Homeland Security, and to all the members of the |
|
Texas delegation to 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. |