Bill Text: HI SCR241 | 2021 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Establishing A Sister-state Relationship Between The State Of Hawaii, United States Of America, And The Prefecture Of Yamaguchi, Japan.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-21 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06-21-21. [SCR241 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-SCR241-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	241
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

ESTABLISHING A SISTER-STATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE OF HAWAII, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE PREFECTURE OF YAMAGUCHI, JAPAN.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii has developed and maintained a rich heritage of international relations and cultural exchange since the days of the Hawaiian monarchy in the nineteenth century; and

 

     WHEREAS, since 1981, the Legislature has instituted sister-state relationships as a means of asserting and promoting the State's active participation in international matters; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii currently maintains eighteen sister-state relationships, including relationships with five of Japan's forty-seven prefectures; and

 

     WHEREAS, Yamaguchi is a prefecture in Japan's Chugoku region on the southwest side of Honshu Island; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii and the people of Yamaguchi share a long history and strong bond, beginning with the immigration of 10,424 contract laborers to Hawaii between 1885 and 1894 as kanyaku imin (government-sponsored immigrants) pursuant to the Hawaiian-Japanese Labor Convention of 1886; and

 

     WHEREAS, since then, there have been continuous cultural exchanges between the people of Yamaguchi and the five Yamaguchi kenjinkai groups in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, other exchanges include annual fisheries training off the coast of Hawaii by a Yamaguchi high school, the arrival of tour groups from Yamaguchi, and study abroad and academic exchanges with Kauai Community College; and

 

     WHEREAS, pursuant to section 229-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the Hawaii Sister-State Committee is tasked with evaluating and developing recommendations for the initiation of all sister-state relationships, and forwarding its recommendations to the Legislature for implementation, if it so chooses, by either adopting a concurrent resolution or by enacting session law to that effect; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii is actively seeking to expand its international ties and has an abiding interest in developing goodwill, friendship, and economic relations between the people of Hawaii and the people of many nations; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Sister-State Committee has reviewed the Hawaii-Yamaguchi sister-state application and recommended that a sister-state relationship be established between Hawaii and Yamaguchi; and

 

     WHEREAS, this body believes that a sister-state relationship between Hawaii and Yamaguchi will be highly beneficial in expanding tourism, strengthening cultural bonds, and advancing common goals of international peace and brotherhood; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the House of Representatives concurring, that a sister-state relationship between the State of Hawaii, United States of America, and the Prefecture of Yamaguchi, Japan, is hereby established; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Secretary of State; Ambassador of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.; Governor; Governor of the Prefecture of Yamaguchi, Japan; Consul General of Japan in Hawaii; Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Chairperson of the Hawaii Sister-State Committee.

Report Title: 

Sister-State Relationship; Hawaii; Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan