HR198 - Recognizing February 11 and 12, 2025, as Panhandle Days at the State Capitol.

      H.R. No. 198       R E S O L U T I O N          WHEREAS, On February 11 and 12, 2025, proud residents of the   Texas Panhandle are visiting Austin for Panhandle Days at the State   Capitol, a celebration of the rich heritage of this important   region of the Lone Star State; and          WHEREAS, The striking landscape of the Panhandle ranges from   the vast grasslands and open sky of the Llano Estacado to the   breathtaking vistas of Palo Duro Canyon and the Caprock Escarpment   to the gently undulating rolling plains of the southeast; the   ancient Paleo-Indians once lived here, as did members of later   indigenous cultures, and in 1541, when the explorer Francisco   Vázquez de Coronado passed through the area, he found a rich   rangeland, thick with buffalo and wildlife; and          WHEREAS, The Panhandle's distinctive shape results from   boundaries that were established by the Compromise of 1850, and in   the decades after the Civil War, pioneering cattlemen such as   Charles Goodnight, James Adair, and Thomas Sherman Bugbee   established enormous ranching empires; the arrival of the railroad   in the late 1880s hastened the development of wheat and cotton   farming, and the discovery of oil and natural gas in the 1920s   further boosted and diversified the region's economy; and          WHEREAS, Today, the Panhandle continues to prosper from   farming and from the oil, gas, and wind industries, and   cattle-raising remains a multibillion-dollar business, with more   feedlots in the region than anywhere else in the nation; Amarillo,   the Panhandle's largest city, is home to such large employers as   Xcel Energy, Tyson Foods, Bell Helicopter, Pantex, and several   health care systems, as well as to the Texas Cattle Feeders   Association and the Minor League Baseball team, the Amarillo Sod   Poodles; Pampa, the second-largest city, is a thriving center for   petroleum and livestock, and Dalhart boasts the annual XIT Rodeo   and Reunion and the Hilmar Cheese Company; Sunray is home to a   Valero refinery, while Dumas and Hereford are known for cattle   feeding and beef processing enterprises; the town of Panhandle   serves as the county seat of Carson County; and          WHEREAS, The Texas Panhandle is home to more than 60 school   districts in a 26,000-square-mile area; the higher educational   needs of the area's residents are served by the nationally   recognized Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and   West Texas A&M University, as well as Amarillo College, Frank   Phillips College, and Clarendon College; and          WHEREAS, The Panhandle features a variety of notable cultural   and recreational attractions; Amarillo supports the Lone Star   Ballet and the Amarillo Symphony, and the city's many museums   include the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum, the Don   Harrington Discovery Center, the Texas Air and Space Museum, the   Amarillo Railroad Museum, the Amarillo Museum of Art, and the   Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian; the Panhandle-Plains   Historical Museum in Canyon houses more than two million artifacts   that evoke the heritage of the region, while Palo Duro Canyon State   Park hosts the outdoor musical drama TEXAS , which portrays the   struggles and triumphs of area settlers in the 19th century; Dumas   draws visitors from across the region for its Dogie Days every June,   and Stratford, the county seat of Sherman County, hosts its popular   Jamboree each July; and          WHEREAS, The people of the Texas Panhandle are fortunate to   live in a region of abundant natural resources and windswept   beauty, and they may indeed take great pride in the important   contributions they have made and continue to make to the culture and   prosperity of Texas; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas   Legislature hereby recognize February 11 and 12, 2025, as Panhandle   Days at the State Capitol and extend a warm welcome to the visiting   delegation.     Smithee   Fairly   King     Burrows Guerra Morales Shaw   Alders Guillen Morgan   Allen Harless Muñoz   Anchía Harris Noble   Ashby Harris Davila Olcott   Barry Harrison Oliverson   Bell of Kaufman Hayes Ordaz   Bell of Montgomery Hefner Orr   Bernal Hernandez Patterson   Bhojani Hickland Paul   Bonnen Hinojosa Perez of El Paso   Bowers Holt Perez of Harris   Bryant Hopper Phelan   Buckley Howard Pierson   Bucy Hull Plesa   Bumgarner Hunter Raymond   Button Isaac Reynolds   Cain Johnson Richardson   Campos Jones of Dallas Rodríguez Ramos   Canales Jones of Harris Romero   Capriglione Kerwin Rose   Cole King Rosenthal   Collier Kitzman Schatzline   Cook LaHood Schofield   Cortez Lalani Schoolcraft   Craddick Lambert Shaheen   Cunningham Landgraf Shofner   Curry Leach Simmons   Darby Leo Wilson Slawson   A. Davis of Dallas Little Smithee   Y. Davis of Dallas Longoria Spiller   Dean Lopez of Bexar Swanson   DeAyala Lopez of Cameron Talarico   Dorazio Louderback Tepper   Dutton Lowe Thompson   Dyson Lozano Tinderholt   Fairly Lujan Toth   Flores Luther Troxclair   Frank Manuel Turner   Gámez Martinez VanDeaver   Garcia of Bexar Martinez Fischer Vasut   Garcia of Dallas McLaughlin Villalobos   Garcia Hernandez McQueeney Virdell   Gates Metcalf Vo   Gerdes Meyer Walle   Geren Meza Ward Johnson   Gervin-Hawkins Money Wharton   González of Dallas Moody Wilson   González of El Paso Morales of Harris Wu   Goodwin Morales of Maverick Zwiener     ______________________________   Speaker of the House                 I certify that H.R. No. 198 was adopted by the House on February   12, 2025, by a non-record vote.     ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House