[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 86--COMMEMORATING THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE TEXAS 
 RANGER DIVISION OF THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, THE OLDEST 
STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IN NORTH AMERICA, AND HONORING THE MEN AND 
             WOMEN, PAST AND PRESENT, OF THE TEXAS RANGERS

  Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                               S. Res. 86

       Whereas the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department 
     of Public Safety was established in 1823 and will commemorate 
     its 200th anniversary in 2023;
       Whereas the Texas Rangers are the oldest law enforcement 
     organization on the North American continent with statewide 
     jurisdiction;
       Whereas the Texas Rangers have played an influential, 
     valiant, and honorable role from the early years of Texas to 
     the present day;
       Whereas, through the centuries, the Texas Rangers have 
     served as--
       (1) a citizen militia, protecting ranches, farms, and 
     settlements against hostile raids;
       (2) frontier peace officers, protecting against outlaws and 
     banditry;
       (3) law enforcement to new towns and settlements on 
     burgeoning railroad routes and cattle trails; and
       (4) State police, handling lawlessness in oil boomtowns, 
     violations of Prohibition, and gangsters;
       Whereas, in 1935, the Texas Rangers were incorporated into 
     one of the first departments of public safety in the United 
     States;
       Whereas the Texas Rangers are internationally respected 
     for--
       (1) conducting major criminal investigations;
       (2) suppressing organized crime;
       (3) performing border reconnaissance;
       (4) expertise with respect to special weapons and tactics;
       (5) serving as bomb squads;
       (6) special rapid response capabilities;
       (7) crisis negotiation capabilities;
       (8) joint intelligence center management; and
       (9) investigating unsolved crimes;
       Whereas the pioneering initiatives of the Texas Rangers, 
     such as the Interdiction for the Protection of Children 
     program, have resulted in invitations from law enforcement 
     agencies throughout the United States and internationally, 
     from Australia to Great Britain, to help initiate similar law 
     enforcement initiatives;
       Whereas the Texas Rangers have partnered with Federal 
     agencies on numerous public safety and relief initiatives, 
     such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and with the 
     Federal Bureau of Investigation on numerous occasions, 
     including the pursuit of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 
     1934;
       Whereas the Texas Rangers have captured the imagination of 
     the public and have become icons of United States popular 
     culture;
       Whereas songs, books, and novels have been written about 
     the Texas Rangers since the 1840s;
       Whereas the Texas Rangers are the largest and oldest 
     multimedia ``franchise'' of the United States, dating back to 
     the earliest years of film, radio, and television; and
       Whereas the Texas Rangers have been featured in more than 
     225 movies and 7 television series: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Texas 
     Rangers;
       (2) applauds the significant achievements of the Texas 
     Rangers;
       (3) commends the thousands of men and women who have served 
     in both field and command ranks of the Texas Rangers, both 
     before and after Texas statehood, including the current 234 
     full-time employees consisting of 166 commissioned Texas 
     Rangers and 68 support personnel;
       (4) remembers the 149 Texas Rangers who valiantly lost 
     their lives in the performance of their duties; and
       (5) recognizes the critical role the Texas Rangers have 
     played throughout the history of Texas, beginning with 
     Stephen F. Austin, the ``Father of Texas'', who organized the 
     Texas Rangers for the common defense over the range of the 
     Texas Republic.

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