[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15351]
[From the U.S. 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-169. A petition presented by the Board of Supervisors 
     of the County of Los Angeles relative to Federal health care 
     reform; to the Committee on Finance.
       POM-170. A resolution adopted by the City Council of North 
     Olmsted, Ohio relative to the crisis facing the domestic 
     steel industry; to the Committee on Finance.
       POM-171. A concurrent resolution adopted by the House of 
     the Legislature of the State of Texas relative to federally 
     funded community health centers and other federal community-
     based safety-net programs; to the Committee on Finance.

                     House Concurrent Resolution 84

       Whereas, Federally funded community-based safety-net 
     programs, which are specifically designed to assist low-
     income persons without health insurance and those who live in 
     areas that lack health care services, play a significant role 
     in the delivery of medical care and related agencies to the 
     large number of Americans who cannot afford health insurance; 
     and
       Whereas, Texas' large size and shared border with Mexico 
     are geographical factors that present the state with unique 
     challenges in serving its residents and increase the 
     importance of all types of safety-net health care programs; 
     of a total of 254 Texas counties, 176 entire counties and an 
     additional 47 partial counties are federally designed as 
     medically underserved areas; these areas include all but one 
     of the counties along the Rio Grande; and
       Whereas, These medically underserved areas are 
     characterized by a high percentage of elderly residents, high 
     poverty rates, high infant mortality rates; and a lower ratio 
     of primary care providers than the national average; 
     furthermore, these areas typically serve working poor, 
     minority members, foreign born, or noncitizens who rely on 
     community-based safety-net programs for medical care; and
       Whereas, Federal safety-net programs are particularly 
     important to the four U.S.-Mexico border states, including 
     Texas, which rank among the six states with the highest 
     percentage of uninsured persons under 65 partly because of 
     the large numbers of immigrant households among their 
     populations; such households are more than twice as likely to 
     lack health insurance as are households of native-born 
     citizens, and a recent study found that immigrants and 
     children who arrived between 1994 and 1998 account for 59 
     percent of the growth of the uninsured; and
       Whereas, Community health centers are a cost-effective way 
     to provide primary and preventive care to populations lacking 
     medical care and can reduce the inappropriate use of 
     emergency rooms and hospitalizations; and
       Whereas, Increasing the number of community health centers 
     would be a tremendous benefit for those Texans living in poor 
     and underserved communities as well as for the 56 percent of 
     Texas' noncitizens residents who are uninsured by providing 
     greater access to regular sources of both primary care and 
     preventive health services and allowing medical services to 
     target common health problems in these populations: now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 
     hereby respectfully request the Congress of the United States 
     to expand the number of and funding for federally funded 
     community health centers and other federal community-based 
     safety-net programs specifically directed to poor and 
     medically underserved communities in states with the highest 
     numbers of uninsured residents; 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 Speaker of the house of 
     representatives, and to the president of the senate of the 
     United States Congress, and to all members of the Texas 
     delegation to the congress with the request that this 
     resolution be officially entered in the resolution be 
     officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial 
     to the Congress of the United States of America.
                                  ____

       POM-172. A concurrent resolution adopted by the House of 
     the Legislature of the State of Texas relative to the U.S. 
     Border Patrol Training Academy to the southwest Texas border 
     region; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

                    House Concurrent Resolution 256

       Whereas, The United States Border Patrol was established by 
     an act of Congress in 1924 in response to increasing illegal 
     immigration; the initial force of 450 officers was given 
     responsibility for combating illegal entries and the growing 
     business of alien smuggling; and
       Whereas, The Border Patrol has since grown from a handful 
     of mounted agents patrolling desolate areas along U.S. 
     borders to today's dynamic workforce of more than 8,000 men 
     and women supported by sophisticated technology, vehicles, 
     and aircraft, since 1986, the Border Patrol has made more 
     than eight million apprehensions nationwide; and
       Whereas, Each year, more than 1,000 Border Patrol agents 
     spend 19 weeks in intensive training in immigration law, 
     statutory authority, police techniques, and Spanish at the 
     Border Patrol Training Academy; and
       Whereas, The academy has had many homes; the first academy 
     was established in El Paso, Texas, in 1934, and was later 
     moved to Los Fresnos, Texas; and
       Whereas, In the 1970s, during the Carter Administration, 
     the academy was moved to Glynco, Georgia; since that time, 
     the training needs of the Border Patrol have far exceeded the 
     capacity of the Glynco location and a temporary satellite 
     facility was opened in Charleston, South Carolina to handle 
     the overflow; and
       Whereas, These facilities are no longer adequate to meet 
     the Border Patrol's growing training needs; and
       Whereas, All new Border Patrol agents are assigned to the 
     southwest border upon graduation form the academy; and
       Whereas, Texas comprises more than half of the southwest 
     border, making it an ideal location for Border Patrol 
     training; now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 
     hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 
     relocate the U.S. Border Patrol Training Academy to the 
     southwest Texas border region; 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 speaker of the house of representatives 
     and the president of the senate of the United States 
     Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to 
     the 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.

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