Bill Text: NJ AR173 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Memorializes U.S. Secretary of State to negotiate with Libya for repatriation of remains of Richard Somers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-16 - Assembly Floor Amendment Passed (Chiaravalloti) [AR173 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2016-AR173-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 173

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

217th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  VINCENT MAZZEO

District 2 (Atlantic)

Assemblyman  BOB ANDRZEJCZAK

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

Assemblyman  R. BRUCE LAND

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

Assemblyman  GORDON M. JOHNSON

District 37 (Bergen)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Memorializes U.S. Secretary of State to negotiate with Libya for repatriation of remains of Richard Somers.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As amended by the General Assembly on March 16, 2017.

 

An Assembly Resolution memorializing the United States Secretary of State ¹[John Kerry] Rex Tillerson¹ to negotiate with Libya for the repatriation of the remains of Richard Somers.

 

Whereas, Richard Somers, born during the American Revolution on September 15, 1778, was the great-grandson of John Somers, the founder of Somers Point, New Jersey; and

Whereas, Richard Somers first learned to sail as a boy on Great Egg Bay, later joining the United States Navy in 1798 on the U.S.S. United States under the command of John Barry, the first commissioned officer of the Navy; and

Whereas, Somers was promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to his own ship, commanding a fleet in the Mediterranean to fight the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War; and

Whereas, Aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid, Richard Somers and Stephen Decatur, Jr., recaptured the U.S.S. Philadelphia from the enemy without incurring any casualties; and

Whereas, While in command of the U.S.S. Intrepid, Richard Somers and his crew of 12 volunteers died a hero's death during a daring nighttime raid on the Tripoli harbor in Libya on September 4, 1804; and

Whereas, Although Richard Somers has been memorialized by the United States Navy, with at least six naval warships bearing his name and a monument standing at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the remains of Richard Somers and his crew are buried in graves now overgrown and poorly maintained in an old Protestant cemetery in Tripoli, Libya; and

Whereas, It is the longstanding policy of our Armed Forces to leave no one behind; and

Whereas, While the United States has long had a tenuous relationship with Libya, and that relationship remains delicate in light of events such as the attack by armed extremists on the U.S. mission in Benghazi in 2012, Libya is attempting to rebuild  itself as a peaceful and democratic nation; and

¹[Whereas, Despite ongoing violence within Libya, the United States continues to support Libya's democratic transition, and many sanctions previously issued against Libya by the United States and United Nations have been lifted, and many United States companies have resumed business operations in Libya]

Whereas, The City of Somers Point, the Somers Point Historical Society, and the Committee to Return Richard Somers have been steadfast over the past several years in their mission to bring Master Commandant Richard Somers home¹; and

Whereas, The continued development of Libya as a democratic nation may provide a political climate that would be conducive to the repatriation of the remains of Richard Somers; and

Whereas, This House previously memorialized then United States Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2004 to open negotiations with Libya for the repatriation of the remains of Richard Somers, but Secretary Powell did not take any action; and

Whereas, It is fitting and appropriate, and in the interest of the residents of New Jersey and the descendants of Richard Somers,    for this House to memorialize the United States Secretary of State¹[John Kerry] Rex Tillerson¹ to open negotiations with Libya for     the repatriation of       the remains of Richard Somers and his crew; now, therefore,

 

      1.   This House memorializes the United States Secretary of State ¹[John Kerry] Rex Tillerson¹ to open negotiations with Libya for the repatriation of the remains of Richard Somers and his crew.

 

      2.   Copies of the resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to United States Secretary of State ¹[John Kerry] Rex Tillerson¹, the Secretary of the Navy, the United States Ambassador to Libya, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of Mission of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, the Governor of the State of New Jersey, the Mayor of the City of Somers Point, and each member of New Jersey's congressional delegation