85R6960 BPG-D

By: Lucio S.C.R. No. 9

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Zika and other communicable diseases do not stop at international borders, but by working together, the United States and Mexico can establish an effective framework to provide the necessary resources, personnel, and funding to improve the response to threats such as the Zika virus at the local, state, national, and binational level; and

WHEREAS, A template for successful binational cooperation is offered by the North American Development Bank and its sister institution, the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission, launched in 1994 by the federal governments of the United States and Mexico to fund and certify environmental infrastructure projects in the border region; the NADB and BECC are governed jointly by the two countries via a 10-member board of directors composed of high-ranking officials from each nation, a border state representative, and a border resident representative; and

WHEREAS, Cooperation at the highest levels of the U.S. and Mexican governments is key to protecting the health and well-being of people in border communities and throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Zika and other communicable diseases; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby urge the United States Congress to work with the U.S. president, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, and their counterparts in Mexico to explore and negotiate the creation of a binational framework to address the threat of communicable diseases; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That consideration be given to expanding the mission of the NADB and BECC or building on that example to establish new institutions; Congress is also urged to consider entrusting governance of these endeavors to the members of the NADB and BECC board along with the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and their Mexican counterparts; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature urge that such new institutions provide essential support to enhance conditions, improve drainage and other infrastructure, and advance measures that directly or indirectly promote the prevention of communicable diseases in the border region; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature urge that such institutions provide assistance in the form of loans, grants, and in-kind resources to allow local communities, federal entities, and stakeholders to undertake research, surveillance, outreach campaigns, detection, and data exchange and assessment to educate border residents about the spread of communicable disease and to aid areas where disease is being transmitted; 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, 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.