H.R. No. 526

	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, On February 21, 2017, proud residents of the Texas
	Panhandle are visiting Austin for Panhandle Day at the State
	Capitol, a celebration of the rich heritage of this important
	region of the Lone Star State; and
	WHEREAS, The striking landscape of the Panhandle ranges from
	the vast grasslands and open sky of the Llano Estacado to the
	breathtaking vistas of Palo Duro Canyon and the Caprock Escarpment
	to the gently undulating rolling plains of the southeast; the
	ancient Paleo-Indians once lived here, as did members of later
	Native American cultures, and in 1541, when the explorer Francisco
	Vázquez de Coronado passed through the area, he found a rich
	rangeland, thick with buffalo; and
	WHEREAS, The Panhandle's distinctive shape results from
	boundaries that were established by the Compromise of 1850, and in
	the decades after the Civil War, pioneering cattlemen such as
	Charles Goodnight, James Adair, and Thomas Sherman Bugbee
	established enormous ranching empires; the arrival of the railroad
	in the late 1880s hastened the development of wheat and cotton
	farming, and the discovery of oil and natural gas in the 1920s
	further boosted and diversified the region's economy; and
	WHEREAS, Today, the Panhandle continues to prosper from
	farming and from the oil, gas, and wind industries, and
	cattle-raising remains a multibillion-dollar business, with more
	feedlots in the region than anywhere else in the nation; Amarillo,
	the Panhandle's largest city, is home to such large employers as
	Xcel Energy, Tyson Foods, Bell Helicopter, Pantex, and several
	health care systems, as well as to the Texas Cattle Feeders
	Association; Pampa, the second-largest city, is a thriving center
	for petroleum and livestock, and Dalhart boasts the annual XIT
	Rodeo and Reunion and the Hilmar Cheese Company; Sunray is home to a
	Valero refinery, while Dumas and Hereford are known for cattle
	feeding and beef processing enterprises; Panhandle serves as county
	seat of Carson County and is home to Panhandle Elementary School, a
	2016 National Blue Ribbon School, and Borger is the site of a
	Phillips 66 refinery and an Agrium nitrogen plant; and
	WHEREAS, The educational needs of the Panhandle's residents
	are served by the nationally recognized Texas Tech University
	Health Sciences Center and West Texas A&M University, as well as
	such first-rate junior college institutions of higher learning as
	Amarillo College, Frank Phillips College, and Clarendon College;
	and
	WHEREAS, The Panhandle features a variety of notable cultural
	and recreational attractions; Amarillo supports the Lone Star
	Ballet and the Amarillo Symphony, and the city's many museums
	include the American Quarter Horse Heritage Center and Museum, the
	Don Harrington Discovery Center, the Texas Air and Space Museum,
	the Amarillo Railroad Museum, the Amarillo Museum of Art, and the
	Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian; the Panhandle-Plains
	Historical Museum in Canyon houses more than two million artifacts
	that evoke the heritage of the region, while Palo Duro Canyon State
	Park hosts the outdoor musical drama Texas, which portrays the
	struggles and triumphs of area settlers in the 19th century; Dumas
	draws visitors from across the region for its Dogie Days every June,
	and Stratford, the county seat of Sherman County, hosts its popular
	Jamboree each July; and
	WHEREAS, The people of the Texas Panhandle are blessed to
	live in a region of abundant natural resources and windswept
	beauty, and they may indeed take great pride in the important
	contributions they have made and continue to make to the history,
	culture, and prosperity of Texas; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas
	Legislature hereby recognize February 21, 2017, as Panhandle Day at
	the State Capitol and extend to those attending the celebration
	sincere best wishes for a memorable and meaningful event.
	Price
	Straus Goldman Oliverson
	Allen Gonzales of Williamson Ortega
	Alonzo González of El Paso Paddie
	Alvarado Gooden Parker
	Anchia Guerra Paul
	Anderson of Dallas Guillen Perez
	Anderson of McLennan Gutierrez Phelan
	Arévalo Hefner Phillips
	Ashby Hernandez Pickett
	Bailes Herrero Price
	Bell Hinojosa Raney
	Bernal Holland Raymond
	Biedermann Howard Reynolds
	Blanco Huberty Rinaldi
	Bohac Hunter Roberts
	Bonnen of Brazoria Isaac Rodriguez of Bexar
	Bonnen of Galveston Israel Rodriguez of Travis
	Burkett Johnson of Dallas Romero, Jr.
	Burns Johnson of Harris Rose
	Burrows Kacal Sanford
	Button Keough Schaefer
	Cain King of Hemphill Schofield
	Canales King of Parker Schubert
	Capriglione King of Uvalde Shaheen
	Clardy Klick Sheffield
	Coleman Koop Shine
	Collier Krause Simmons
	Cook Kuempel Smithee
	Cortez Lambert Springer
	Cosper Landgraf Stephenson
	Craddick Lang Stickland
	Cyrier Larson Stucky
	Dale Laubenberg Swanson
	Darby Leach Thierry
	Davis of Dallas Longoria Thompson of Brazoria
	Davis of Harris Lozano Thompson of Harris
	Dean Lucio III Tinderholt
	Deshotel Martinez Turner
	Dukes Metcalf Uresti
	Dutton Meyer VanDeaver
	Elkins Miller Villalba
	Faircloth Minjarez Vo
	Fallon Moody Walle
	Farrar Morrison White
	Flynn Muñoz, Jr. Wilson
	Frank Murphy Workman
	Frullo Murr Wray
	Geren Neave Wu
	Gervin-Hawkins Nevárez Zedler
	Giddings Oliveira Zerwas
	______________________________
	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.R. No. 526 was adopted by the House on February
	21, 2017, by a non-record vote.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House