2024 -- S 2251

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN HELLENIC

INSTITUTE (AHI)

     Introduced By: Senators Raptakis, Gallo, Burke, McKenney, Kallman, and Euer

     Date Introduced: February 05, 2024

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, The year 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the American Hellenic

Institute, formed for the purpose of actively engaging and cultivating ties with the Greek-

American community; and

     WHEREAS, The AHI is a widely respected and independent nonprofit think-tank center

based in Washington D.C., with a nationwide membership across the United States. The Institute

analyzes and advocates for policies which are in the best interest of the United States in its

relations with Greece and Cyprus; and

     WHEREAS, The AHI was founded in 1974 by Eugene Rossides, the former Assistant

Secretary of the Treasury under President Nixon and a widely respected member of the Greek-

American community; and

     WHEREAS, When Turkey unlawfully invaded the Republic of Cyprus in 1974, forcibly

displacing rightful owners from their property using United States supplied arms, the AHI

provided Congress the legal basis for the “Rule of Law Arms Embargo,” which prohibited the

sale of United States supplied arms to Turkey as a sanction under the law, due to this unlawful

invasion and occupation; and

     WHEREAS, The AHI has initiated numerous programs and initiatives that have

strengthened Greece-United States relations and in support of democratic principles and freedoms

of vital importance to both nations; and

     WHEREAS, The AHI was the first organization to sponsor a Congressional delegation

visit to Greece in 1993, and to raise the issue of religious freedom and protection for the

Ecumenical Patriarchate under the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 and the reopening of the Greek

Orthodox seminary in Halki; and

     WHEREAS, Other AHI initiatives include supporting studies related to modern Hellenic

history and culture by scholars across the United States, initiating the first-ever conference on the

Future of Hellenism in America, hosting 14 symposiums on doing business in Greece, and

sponsoring the inaugural College Student Foreign Policy Study Trip to Greece and Cyprus; and

     WHEREAS, In 2011, longtime AHI Director, Nick Larigakis, became the President of

the AHI, succeeding Eugene Rossides. Under his leadership and direction, the AHI, along with

leading Greek and Jewish American organizations, sponsored biennial trips to Greece, Cyprus

and Israel, and helped forge a strategic alliance between the three countries that is now known as

the Eastern Mediterranean Partnership. The United States, with the support of Congressional

legislation, has endorsed and is now a partner in this trilateral alliance, which is known as the

3+1; and

     WHEREAS, The AHI has sponsored important white paper reports on the Eastern

Mediterranean's importance to the United States and (NATO) militarily, diplomatically and

economically. The AHI also successfully worked with Congress in 2017 and 2018 to increase

Greece’s International Military Education and Training. In 2018, then United States Ambassador

to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, publicly stated that "AHI’s advocacy strengthens the U.S. government

and the profound partnership and friendship between our countries (United States and Greece)";

and

     WHEREAS, The AHI has also received praise for its outstanding work and advocacy in

support of the rule of law, freedom and human rights, from Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney the

former co-chair of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, Congressman Gus Bilirakis, the current

co-Chair of the Caucus, and from General Konstantinos Floros, Chief of the Hellenic National

Defence General Staff. In 2019, the Greek Ministry of Defense awarded AHI President Nick

Larigakis the Medal of Honor and Valour for strengthening US-Greek Defense Cooperation; and

     WHEREAS, The AHI looks forward to continuing its work in the decades to come,

further building ties within the Greek-American community and between the United States and its

Eastern Mediterranean allies; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby joyously celebrates the

50th Anniversary of the American Hellenic Institute; and be it further

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

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Nick Larigakis, President & CEO of the

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American Hellenic Institute.

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