2012 -- S 2063

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LC00117

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2012

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S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N

MEMORIALIZING THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO TAKE IMMEDIATE

ACTION TO MAKE THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND ELIGIBLE FOR THE UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF STATE'S VISA WAIVER PROGRAM

     Introduced By: Senators Walaska, Felag, Ciccone, Nesselbush, and Sosnowski

     Date Introduced: January 11, 2012

     Referred To: Senate Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs

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     WHEREAS, The Republic of Poland is a free, democratic, and independent nation; and

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     WHEREAS, The Republic of Poland is an integral member of the European Union and

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the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and

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      WHEREAS, The Republic of Poland has been and continues to be a proven,

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indispensable, loyal friend and ally of the United States in the global campaign against terrorism

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in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere; and

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     WHEREAS, All citizens of the nations constituting the European Union enjoy travel to

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the United States visa-free as provided by the Visa Waiver Program of the United States

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Department of State, except for the citizens of Poland, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, and Romania;

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and

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     WHEREAS, The state legislatures of Massachusetts (May 2004), New Jersey (October

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2004), Vermont (January 2005), Pennsylvania (April 2005), Connecticut and Maine (May 2005),

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Nebraska, New York, and Ohio (June 2005), Michigan (June 2006), Arizona (April 2007),

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Illinois (October 2007), and Massachusetts again (July 2010) passed Visa Waiver for Poland

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Resolutions in response to their American citizens of Polish decent; and

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     WHEREAS, Among the nearly ten million Americans of Polish descent in the nation, the

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     46,707 Americans of Polish descent in Rhode Island also are disappointed and dismayed that

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Poland, the nation that provided America with the services of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, who

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engineered the victory at Saratoga and designed the fortifications at West Point, and Casimir

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Pulaski, the “father of the United States Calvary” during our “Glorious Cause” in the War for

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Independence from Great Britain, is currently excluded from our nation’s Visa Waiver Program;

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now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

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hereby respectfully urges the Congress and the President of the United States to take immediate

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action to make the Republic of Poland eligible for the United States Department of State’s Visa

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Waiver Program; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, The Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the clerk of House of Representatives, the

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President of the United States, the United States Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland

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Security, the Presiding Officers of each chamber of the United States Congress, the members of

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the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation, and to His Excellency Robert Kupiecki, Ambassador

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of the Republic of Poland to the United States.

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LC00117

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