2025 -- H 5051

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LC000445

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO RENAMING THE NEW SAKONNET BRIDGE, AQUIDNECK ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Azzinaro, Edwards, Fellela, Casimiro, and Corvese

     Date Introduced: January 15, 2025

     Referred To: House Special Legislation

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     WHEREAS, Throughout the centuries, dedications and memorials have served as tributes

to prominent heroes who have woven the rich fabric or an area or people’s history; and

     WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts is just such a laudable and heroic individual;

and

     WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts, a resident of Newport, Rhode Island and

subsequently Tiverton, Rhode Island, and a member of Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 103D Field

Artillery Regiment, 39th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq, made the ultimate sacrifice while engaging

enemy forces in combat operations near Taji, Iraq.

     WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts’ heroic actions resulted in his award of the

Bronze Star Medal, with Combat “V” and the Purple Heart; and

     WHEREAS, The State of Rhode Island, as well as the majority of states across the country,

uphold the tradition of naming structures such as roads, bridges and edifices after renowned and

heroic individuals and there is overwhelming support for renaming the Sakonnet River Bridge the

“Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts Sakonnet Bridge.”

     SECTION 1. Chapter 22-7.4 of the General Laws entitled "Permanent Joint Committee on

Naming All New Buildings, Bridges, Edifices and Other State Constructions" is hereby amended

by adding thereto the following section:

     22-7.4-157. Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts Sakonnet Bridge.

     Rhode Island Bridge No. 250, which carries Route 24 over the Sakonnet River between the

towns of Portsmouth and Tiverton, previously known, as the new Sakonnet Bridge, shall hereafter

be named and known as the “Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts Sakonnet Bridge.”

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO RENAMING THE NEW SAKONNET BRIDGE, AQUIDNECK ISLAND

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     This act would name the new Sakonnet Bridge as the “Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts

Sakonnet Bridge.”

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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