Good morning.

This is a special meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, August 5th, 2025.

Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in Council Chambers, along with Mayor Pro Tem Chavez, Representative Acevedo, Representative Madonado Rocha, Representative Boyatrejo, Representative Nino, Alternate Mayor Pro Tempiero, Representative Limon, and Representative Canales.

It is 1118 a.m.

Let's take agenda item number one.

Yes, sir.

Item number one is discussion in action on a resolution of the city council to urge the Texas eighty nine eighty-ninth legislature to support El Paso by ensuring Fort Bliss and the El Paso International Airport remaining congressional district sixteen.

Okay.

This item was submitted by Representative Acevedo Rocha and Nino.

Okay, Representative Acevedo.

Thank you, Mayor.

And um thank you to Representative Maldonado Rocha and Representative Nino for joining me on this item as we're seeing uh a big um power grab at at the state level to redraw maps and this is going to really negatively impact El Paso, and I think that's where we should all be concerned on this.

It the proposed map at hand really um takes out the airport and Fort Bliss, and those are two vital assets that our city has.

Fort Bliss is El Paso and El Paso is Fort Bliss, and our airport is such a a big matter for the city of El Paso.

So I'm hoping that my colleagues will join me in passing this resolution today, the county of El Paso passed a similar resolution yesterday unanimously.

So I'll read the resolution.

Whereas the governor has convened a special legislative session of the Texas 89th legislature to consider legislation relating to the point apportionment uh of the state of Texas into districts used to elect members of the United States House of Representative, uh process known as redistricting.

And whereas redistricting is the revision or replacement of existing electoral districts, resulting in new districts with different geographical boundaries in order to equalize population among electoral districts after publication of the United States DeCaniels census indicates that the population has increased or decreased over the last decade.

And whereas the Texas Senate has proposed a redistricting map that would remove Fort Bliss in the El Paso El Paso International Airport from District 16, which is an El Paso-based congressional district and would place these two vital economic drivers for our community and region in District 23, which is based in San Antonio.

And whereas if the proposed map is approved, a significant portion of our city, including Fort Bliss, with its VA healthcare center and the El Paso International Airport will be represented by a con represented by a congressional delegation member based over 550 miles away, as opposed to a member based within the city, familiar with the needs and services of our city and its residents.

And whereas 15.4 billion worth of goods moved through the airport's foreign trade zone number sixty-eight and three point seven billion worth of merchandise was exported from this zone to other countries in 2024 alone.

And further for the foreign trade zone number sixty-eight is directly responsible for two thousand nine hundred and thirty jobs.

And whereas with an average of fifty-five departures per day and an annual four million dollar million throughput and total passenger traffic, the airport facilitates tourism and provides local businesses with access to the global market.

And whereas Fort Bliss has a four billion dollar impact on the local economy, directly employs over 47,000 people and indirectly employs another nearly 84,000, making Fort Bliss the single largest employer in the El Paso region, contributing to the livelihood of at least one in five people in El Paso.

And whereas in 2020, there were nearly 38,000 active duty family members that reside in the El Paso region where they live, work, and play, while an additional 3,000 soldiers released from active duty decided to make El Paso their permanent home.

And whereas El Paso is proud to be one located in the veterans' capital of the U.S., two ranked as one of the top ten best places for veterans to live in the United States, and indeed three home to over 50,000 veterans who serve an integral part of our community with this population looking forward to the construction of a new VA healthcare center, which will be conveniently located on three 36 acres of Fort Bliss property.

And whereas the City of El Paso and Fort Bliss have a history of strong cooperation, ensuring our shared community has access to the services critical to public safety, education, and quality of life.

And whereas drawing a district boundary that excludes the El Paso International Airport and Fort Bliss from being represented by a congressional representative who is locally based and understands the needs of these key community assets and the critical role they play in the strength and resilience of our community, removes the close working relationship that has proven vital for federal funding opportunities and constant cohesive support for both the El Paso International Airport and Fort Bliss.

Now therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of El Paso that the City Council of the City of El Paso urges the Texas 89th legislature to support El Paso by ensuring Fort Bliss and the El Paso International Airport remain in Congressional District 16.

Thank you, Representative Representative.

Sorry, and I moved to approve.

Okay.

There's a motion and a second.

Representative Rocha.

Thank you, Mayor.

And thank you, Rep Acevedo, for that.

I I just wanted to provide a little context on here as well.

Last week when I learned that the redistricting was coming up over in on the uh on the Senate side, I decided to sign up and submit testimony virtually, which I did.

And at the time when the testimony was finished, Senator Blanco asked me a question, and he said, How vital is the El Paso International Airport to the city of El Paso?

Or how important is it?

And my response to him was that it's vital.

Because our location supports trade, travel, and business across the border, the airport is a key part of our economy.

It not only connects people and goods to markets across the nation and internationally, but these connections also bring jobs, investment, and growth.

I had a word with Mayor Johnson at the fire department graduation on Thursday evening about a possible trip to Austin by the following morning for the House Committee meeting.

And while that trip wasn't made possible or wasn't possible on either of our parts, um I did submit testimony for the House meeting on Friday morning along with this resolution that's co-sponsored with Rep Acevedo and Rep Niño.

But more importantly, uh one thing that I that I want to highlight is that our binational and bicultural community sits halfway between Houston and Los Angeles and also has strong ties to Mech Mexico.

Redistricting can affect how our community is represented.

We are in a very strategic location for trade and transportation across Texas.

Keeping our community whole helps ensure lawmakers understand and represent our needs tied to this location and our binational role.

If fragmented, our ability to influence decisions on trade and infrastructure could weaken.

And protecting El Paso's voice in redistricting also ensures that our region can continue to grow and thrive as a key hub between Texas and Mexico.

So I just wanted to thank Rep Acevedo and Rep Nino for co-sponsoring this resolution with me today.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Representative Lima.

Thank you, Mayor.

I fully support this resolution and wish to add something to it.

As a minority majority state.

This redistricting is a blatant attempt to wipe out the African American vote and the Latino vote.

It is shameful that we are having to go through this in this time in our lives.