Bill Text: IL HR0817 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Congratulates the Honorable Michael Christopher Fountain, Honorary Consul of the Consulate of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Chicago for the Midwestern United States, on serving as a crucial link to the bilateral relationship between The Bahamas and the United States for over a decade. Wishes him continued success while conducting his consular duties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-05-23 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Sonya M. Harper [HR0817 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HR0817-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives wish to congratulate the Honorable Michael
Christopher Fountain, Honorary Consul of the Consulate of the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Chicago for the Midwestern
United States, on the occasion of his decade of continued
service; and
WHEREAS, Consul Fountain, a Chicagoan from Chicago's West
Side, possesses patrilineal descent to The Bahamas dating back
to 1847 as a descendant of William Fountain; and
WHEREAS, Consul Fountain was accredited by the U.S.
Department of State as the first Honorary Consul of the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Chicago for the Midwestern
United States on March 6, 2014, becoming the second honorary
consul of The Bahamas to ever be assigned and accredited by the
United States; he opened the first Consulate of the
Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Chicago on September 5, 2014;
and
WHEREAS, Consul Fountain has conducted public diplomacy
work to protect the interests of Bahamian nationals in the
United States and to promote and engage interested parties in
the specific matters of tourism, investment, trade, art,

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economic development, culture, science, agriculture, public
safety, and the import and export of goods and services within
his jurisdiction of the Midwestern United States, which
includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; and
WHEREAS, To further bilateral relationship opportunities
between nations, Consul Fountain has engaged the
administrations of the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd Governors of the
State of Illinois, the 69th and 70th Speakers of the Illinois
House of Representatives, the 38th and 39th Presidents of the
Illinois Senate, and the 55th, 56th, and 57th Mayors of
Chicago, and he has hosted The Bahamas' Minister of Foreign
Affairs, its Parliamentary Secretary, its Ambassador and Head
of Mission to the United States, its Deputy Chief of Mission to
the United States, three consul generals of The Bahamas, and
general manager of the Broadcast Corporation of The Bahamas
for engagements in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, To deepen the diplomatic engagement between the
State of Illinois and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Consul
Fountain has overseen numerous activities, including raising
the first flag of The Bahamas over Illinois soil in
acknowledgment of the first sanctioned Sister City
relationship between Cat Island, Bahamas and Richton Park,
Illinois and in celebration of the 43rd anniversary of

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Bahamian Independence on July 8, 2016, the first flag of The
Bahamas at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in celebration
of the 44th anniversary of Bahamian Independence on July 7,
2017, and the first flag within Chicago city limits in
celebration of the 48th anniversary of Bahamian Independence
on July 9, 2021; he also organized and sponsored the first
State visit of a sitting Prime Minister of The Bahamas to
Chicago from September 10 to September 11, 2023, during which
he facilitated the opportunity for Prime Minister Wendall K.
Jones to speak at the City Club of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, As a diplomatic representative of The Bahamas,
Consul Fountain has also provided numerous support services to
countless Bahamians in need of assistance, and he has
previously led multistate awareness and relief efforts for
Bahamians affected by Hurricanes Joaquin, Irma, Matthew, and
Dorian; and
WHEREAS, Consul Fountain has served with distinction as a
member of the Board of Chancellors for the Consular Corps
College, an association of foreign consuls in the United
States based in Washington, D.C., and he is a member of the
Chicago Consular Corps; and
WHEREAS, As the longest-serving diplomatic representative
of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in the United States of

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America, Consul Fountain now celebrates a decade of diplomacy,
representing Bahamians in the Diaspora, within his
jurisdiction of the Midwestern United States and the larger
United States of America; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we congratulate the Honorable Michael Christopher Fountain,
Honorary Consul of the Consulate of the Commonwealth of The
Bahamas in Chicago for the Midwestern United States, on
serving as a crucial link to the bilateral relationship
between The Bahamas and the United States for over a decade,
and we wish him continued success while conducting his
consular duties; and be it further