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.