TITLE: Urging Congress to recognize the importance of trade between Texas and Mexico.

SUMMARY: Urging Congress to recognize the importance of trade between Texas and Mexico.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Trade between Texas and Mexico plays a vital role in the economic prosperity of the Lone Star State; and WHEREAS, Each year, Texas sends about 36 percent of the state's total exports to Mexico, and in 2015, exports to Mexico totaled nearly $92.5 million; goods exported to Mexico include computer and electronic products, petroleum and coal products, chemicals, machinery, and transportation equipment, all of which are produced by industries that supply hundreds of thousands of jobs to the Lone Star State; and WHEREAS, Since the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, the export of U.S. goods to Mexico has risen 325 percent, while imports into the United States from Mexico have increased 458 percent; in 2012, Americans spent $277.5 billion for goods from Mexico, and Mexico is America's third-largest supplier of oil, after Canada and Saudi Arabia; additionally, nearly half of the tomatoes and two-thirds of the mangoes consumed in the United States come from Mexico; and WHEREAS, The importance of this trade to Texas border cities, including Brownsville, Hidalgo, Laredo, and El Paso, is tremendous, and disruption to international commerce would be economically devastating; by placing a priority on working with the natural landscape of the area and building barriers such as levees, the federal government could preserve the immeasurable benefits of the healthy trade environment while protecting the border; and WHEREAS, Mexico is the largest trading partner of Texas and the third-largest of the United States, and it is imperative that our federal government take proactive steps to strengthen ties with Mexico and build bridges of economic opportunity that will benefit Texas and the entire nation; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby urge the United States Congress to recognize the importance of trade between Texas and Mexico and foster international commerce; and, be it further RESOLVED, That Congress and federal agencies focus border efforts on working within the natural landscape of the region instead of obstructing trade with a border wall; 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.