[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 63 (Monday, April 25, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2418-S2419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-157. A concurrent resolution adopted by the House of 
     Delegates of the State of West Virginia urging the United 
     States Congress to provide funding for the West Virginia 
     National Guard to sustain and enhance its capabilities in its 
     role in a regional catastrophe and to modernize the 
     antiquated avionics of its fleet of C130s and other aircraft 
     to meet global airspace requirements for 2020; to the 
     Committee on Armed Services.

                   House Concurrent Resolution No. 20

       Whereas, In the event of a regional catastrophe, West 
     Virginia's east-west highways, including 1-68 and 1-64 are 
     links to the major exit corridors from the FEMA National 
     Capital Region (NCR) westward and, assuming that a regional 
     catastrophe will likely include Baltimore to the north of the 
     NCR and Richmond to the south of the NCR, westward evacuation 
     utilizing these highways is highly likely and is, in fact 
     anticipated; and
       Whereas, The routes through West Virginia will traverse 
     rural areas that do not have infrastructure adequate for what 
     could be a mass of evacuees in the worst-case scenario; 
     experience in regional emergencies, such as Superstorm Sandy 
     in 2012, illustrates some shortcomings in planning that is 
     less focused on regions and more on states; and
       Whereas, West Virginia is perfectly (and geographically) 
     postured to support any emergency or disaster response to the 
     NCR, including mass evacuation westward; and
       Whereas, FEMA regions do not necessarily represent grouping 
     of states likely to be involved in some scenarios; FEMA 
     region III contains the NCR and West Virginia as its western-
     most edge and in a major catastrophe, Regions V, with Ohio, 
     Indiana, and Illinois, VII with Missouri, and IV with 
     Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina are likely to be 
     involved in some combinations; and
       Whereas, The National Guard, through the use of Emergency 
     Management Assistance Compacts, can operate across state 
     lines to provide vital response capability in security, 
     transportation, medical, housing, communications, command and 
     control, and others based on its dual role in military 
     preparedness and state civil support; and
       Whereas, Military Force Structure assigned to the National 
     Guard must be considered by Federal Military planners for the 
     dual use they can encounter; National Guard Organizations 
     require personnel, equipment, organization, training, 
     leadership and funding to maintain federal military standards 
     and to be prepared to respond to a domestic emergency or 
     disaster; and
       Whereas, Regional catastrophic planning is dependent on 
     National Guard assets, capabilities and responsiveness; 
     consequently, it is also critical that federal military 
     planners assess the impact of their force structure changes 
     on regional capability needs as I well as those that are 
     state specific; and
       Whereas, The C-I30 H3 ``Hercules'' aircraft assigned to the 
     130th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia National Guard at 
     Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia will eventually 
     become obsolete without system modernization to the 
     communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) components; 
     National Air Traffic Control (ATC) agencies and the 
     International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are 
     modernizing airspace faster than the US Air Force is updating 
     C-130 avionics capabilities; and
       Whereas, Aircraft component acquisition becomes 
     increasingly difficult as fewer C-130 H aircraft remain in 
     the Air Force inventory and the unique components of the C-
     130, including its self contained navigational system (SCNS), 
     face short term supply chain shortages that could be remedied 
     with aircraft avionics modernization; and
       Whereas, The contract to perform maintenance on aircraft 
     flight computers is renewed annually and this perpetual 
     reliance on short term contracts increases sustainment cost 
     and challenges mission effectiveness and operational 
     planning; and
       Whereas, Reliance on short term contracts and antiquated 
     avionics will increase Air Force expense in the long run as 
     it translates to more expensive mission-essential contracts 
     and increased fuel expenditures due to inefficient routing: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, That the 
     Legislature hereby urges the United States Congress to 
     provide funding for the West Virginia National Guard to 
     sustain and enhance its capabilities in its role in a 
     regional catastrophe and to modernize the antiquated avionics 
     of its fleet of C-130s and other aircraft to meet global 
     airspace requirements for 2020; and be it
       Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates 
     is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to 
     the President and Secretary of the United States Senate, the 
     Speaker and Clerk of the House of Representatives and to the 
     members of West Virginia congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-158. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Tennessee urging the President of the United 
     States and the United States Congress to take immediate 
     action to protect citizens and lawful residents from the 
     consequences resulting from the uncontrolled influx of 
     undocumented immigrants into this country; to the Committee 
     on the Judiciary.

                     House Joint Resolution No. 70

       Whereas, the federal Department of Homeland Security has 
     set forth in a report, entitled Estimates of the Unauthorized 
     Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 
     20111 that the unauthorized immigrant population totaled 11.5 
     million in 2011; and
       Whereas, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency 
     apprehended 486,651 individuals crossing the borders of the 
     United States in fiscal year 2014 alone; and
       Whereas, the power to control immigration and 
     naturalization is reserved to the federal government by the 
     provisions of Article I, Section 8, of the United States 
     Constitution, which tasks the legislative branch with 
     establishing uniform rules of naturalization; and
       Whereas, the explosive growth in numbers of illegal 
     immigrants, including a substantial increase in unaccompanied 
     alien children, over the past few years reflects a failure by 
     the President of the United States, his administration, and 
     the various members of Congress to implement procedures that 
     adequately address this issue; and
       Whereas, despite the lack of authority granted to the 
     states to fully address the issue of illegal immigration, as 
     evidenced by recent court decisions, including Arizona v. 
     United States, 132 S. Ct. 2492 (2012), the costs of 
     supporting illegal immigrants in this country continues to 
     fall directly to the several states, and their counties and 
     cities; and

[[Page S2419]]

       Whereas, according to the complaint filed by several states 
     against certain officials in the administration in charge of 
     immigration enforcement, the Texas Department of Public 
     Safety estimated that it was spending $1.3 million per week 
     on troopers and resources to deal with the immigration surge, 
     as well as deploying 1,000 National Guard troops to the 
     border at a cost of $38 million; and
       Whereas, the Supreme Court of the United States has decreed 
     in Plyler v. Doe, 102 S. Ct. 2382 (1982), that education 
     cannot be denied even to those who have entered this country 
     illegally; and
       Whereas, Congress has likewise decreed that emergency 
     medical care, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 1611 and 1621, 
     cannot be denied even to those who have come here illegally; 
     and
       Whereas, this General Assembly is fully aware of the 
     growing existence of illegal immigrants in the various 
     counties of this State, including the 1,294 unaccompanied 
     alien children released to sponsors in this State by the 
     Office of Refugee Resettlement in fiscal year 2014; and
       Whereas, the costs of illegal immigration present a 
     significant financial burden to each state in the form of 
     expenditures for education, criminal justice, and emergency 
     medical care, a burden this State cannot absorb without 
     jeopardizing the quality of life for its U.S. citizens and 
     lawful immigrant population: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives of the One Hundred 
     Ninth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, the Senate 
     Concurring, That even as the members of this General Assembly 
     take decisive steps to address the issue of illegal 
     immigration to the fullest extent of our powers, we strongly 
     urge the President and the Congress of these United States to 
     resolve this issue in a timely and efficient manner, to pass 
     a comprehensive immigration policy that allows those wishing 
     to immigrate to this country to do so only in a lawful 
     manner, and to ensure that American society is not threatened 
     by a decline in public safety, educational standards, medical 
     accessibility, and the overall standard of living resulting 
     from those who knowingly choose to enter this country in 
     violation of the law; and be it further
       Resolved, That the President and the Congress of these 
     United States include in any comprehensive immigration policy 
     a revision to existing federal law that would favor U.S. 
     citizens and lawful residents in receiving benefits such as 
     health care, education, and any other government benefits 
     before offering any benefits to those individuals entering 
     this country illegally; and be it further
       Resolved, That the President and the Congress of these 
     United States incorporate into any comprehensive immigration 
     policy a system in which the several states may be fully 
     compensated by the federal government for any financial 
     burdens that result from decisions made in Washington, D.C., 
     with regard to illegal immigrants.

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