TITLE: Urging the United States Congress to provide Department of Homeland Security funds for the protection of the Texas electric grid.

SUMMARY: Urging the United States Congress to provide Department of Homeland Security funds for the protection of the Texas electric grid.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Our food and water supplies, communications, banking, hospitals, law enforcement, and countless critical functions depend on the electric grid, but the federal government has failed to ensure its security; and WHEREAS, Numerous national publications have reported on the great danger to the electric grid from an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP; national experts regard a potential attack on our electric grid system, whether natural or manmade, as a grave threat to our American way of life; and WHEREAS, The risk of an EMP attack has been acknowledged since the 1960s, and the congressional EMP Commission warned in its 2004 and 2008 reports that terrorists or state actors using relatively unsophisticated missiles armed with nuclear weapons could stage such an attack; in 2009, the congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, led by former Secretaries of Defense William Perry and James Schlesinger, urged immediate action to protect the electric grid; and WHEREAS, Although the federal government has thus far neglected to take action, Texas is fortunate to have its own power grid; the state is thus capable of hardening its own electric system to ensure reliable electricity in a hostile environment for residents, businesses, and state and local government, as well as for U.S. military bases; and WHEREAS, Even if an EMP threat never materializes, protecting the grid would provide substantial economic benefits; as the federal government closes military bases around the country, Texas bases would likely survive closure, due to their enhanced energy security; moreover, companies considering relocation or expansion would clearly find the assurance of secure power immensely valuable and look to the Lone Star State; and WHEREAS, The protection of the electric grid is essential to the security and continued prosperity of our state and nation, and Texas is prepared to do its part to ensure that citizens can rely completely on the power system that sustains our society; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to provide Department of Homeland Security funds for the protection of the state's electric grid; 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, to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, 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.