2018 -- H 7979

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LC005289

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CELEBRATING MARCH 25, 2018 AS THE 197TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREEK

INDEPENDENCE DAY

     

     Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Ruggiero, Vella-Wilkinson, Filippi, and
Shekarchi

     Date Introduced: March 20, 2018

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, On March 25, 1821, the Feast Day of the Annunciation, the Greek nation

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reclaimed its ancient heritage as the "Cradle of Democracy" by overthrowing the yoke of

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oppression which had enslaved its people since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Conquered by

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the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century, Greece waged a successful War of Independence (1821-

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1829) and re-instituted a democratic form of government; and

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     WHEREAS, The people of the United States generously offered humanitarian assistance

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to the Greek people during their struggle for independence; and

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     WHEREAS, The price for Greece in holding onto our common values in their region was

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high, as hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed in Greece during World War II; and

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     WHEREAS, Greece is only one of three nations in the world, beyond the former British

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Empire, that has been allied with the United States in every major international conflict in the last

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100 years; and

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     WHEREAS, The Government and people of Greece actively participate in peacekeeping

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and peace-building operations conducted by international organizations, including the United

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Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union, and the Organization for

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Security and Co-operation in Europe, and have more recently provided critical support to the

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operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas; and

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     WHEREAS, Greece, located in a region where Christianity meets Islam and Judaism,

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maintains excellent relations with Muslim nations and Israel and demonstrates religious

 

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tolerance; and

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     WHEREAS, The ancient Macedonians were Hellenes and the northern province of

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Greece, Macedonia, are their Hellenic descendants; and

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     WHEREAS, Greece and the United States are at the forefront of the effort for freedom,

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democracy, peace, stability, and human rights; and

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     WHEREAS, Those and similar ideas have forged a close bond between Greece and the

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United States, and their peoples celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the Truman Doctrine in 2017,

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passed in 1947 to aid Greece, which was on the brink of collapse after the devastation of the

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second World War. President Truman's farsighted decision to step in and assist democracies like

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Greece came with the foresight to know that America's transatlantic partnerships with nations like

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Greece would become the most enduring and important relationships that we have in the world.

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The United States eventually gave Greece and other Western European democracies more than

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two billion dollars in assistance, which in today's money amounts to more than twenty-one billion

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dollars. The American aid given to Greece through military, economic, and diplomatic assistance

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secured Greece's place in the West and helped countless people; and

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     WHEREAS, A record 1.2 million people requested asylum with the European Union in

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2015. Greece faced the brunt of this exodus, receiving more than 650,000 migrants in 2015, with

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asylum seekers arriving at the rate of 8,000 a day. The nation of Greece and its people have

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generously assisted these applicants and have shown great compassion for them as they seek out a

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better life for themselves, one filled with personal freedom and economic security. We all owe a

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debt of gratitude to the Greek people; and

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     WHEREAS, March 25, 2018, Greek Independence Day, marks the 197th anniversary of

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the beginning of the revolution that freed the Greek people from the Ottoman Empire and

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celebrates the aspirations for democracy and tolerance that the peoples of Greece and the United

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States share; and

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     WHEREAS, The United States participation as the host nation in the Greek city of

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Thessaloniki in this year's 83rd Thessaloniki International Trade Fair under the auspices of United

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States Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt highlights a landmark event in Greek-U.S. relations and an

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economic partnership between our two nations; and

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     WHEREAS, It is proper and desirable for the United States to celebrate this Anniversary

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with the Greek people and to reaffirm the democratic principles from which these two great

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nations were born; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby celebrates March 25, 2018, as the 197th Anniversary of Greek

 

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Independence, reaffirms Rhode Island's abiding commitment to the magnificent principles of

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democracy and religious freedom, and urges Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms

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of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of

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Cranston, the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church of Pawtucket, the St. Spyridon Greek

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Orthodox Church of Newport, the members of the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation, the

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Honorable Stratos Efthymiou, Consul General of the Hellenic Republic in Boston, and

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Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Archdiocese of America.

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