Sean Reyes: “As the gentleman from North Carolina (Chairman Taylor) knows, in my congressional district of El Paso, Texas, we are…”

“As the gentleman from North Carolina (Chairman Taylor) knows, in my congressional district of El Paso, Texas, we are fortunate to have a unit of the National Park Service, the Chamizal National Memorial. The Chamizal commemorates the peaceful 1967 settlement of a 100-year boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico. Today, the Chamizal is dedicated to furthering the spirit of goodwill and understanding between two nations by using the visual, literary, and performing arts as a medium of cultural interchange. The Memorial maintains a 500-seat theater and presents more than, on the average, 300 performances a year. An outdoor stage is situated in the middle of the 66-acre park where the Park Service hosts the nationally recognized Border Folk Festival and many other significant cultural events. Also, the Memorial, which is located in one of the poorest ZIP codes in the country, sponsors a series of free outdoor concerts in the summer which often draw crowds of more than 10,000 people. In short, the Chamizal is the centerpiece of El Paso cultural and recreation life and is used frequently by visitors and residents alike.”