2018 -- H 8344

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LC005921

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING PRESIDENT-ELECT IVÁN DUQUE MÁRQUEZ ON BEING

ELECTED THE PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA

     Introduced By: Representatives Tobon, Mattiello, Shekarchi, Abney, and Barros

     Date Introduced: June 20, 2018

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, President-Elect Iván Duque Márquez was born on August 1, 1976, in

Bogotá, Colombia, the son of Juliana Márquez Tono and the late Iván Duque Escobar. Mr.

Márquez earned a Law degree and a Major in Philosophy and Humanities from Sergio Arboleda

University in Bogotá. He also holds an LLM degree in International Economic Law from

American University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy Management from Georgetown

University; and

     WHEREAS, President-Elect Duque began his distinguished public service career in

1999, serving as a consultant for the Andean Development Corporation. He later worked as an

Advisor with the Colombian Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, before taking a position with

the Inter-American Development Bank from 2001 to 2013 in Washington, D.C., where he served

with distinction as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Board for Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. He

also held senior positions as an Advisor to the Presidency, and as the Chief of the Division of

Culture, Solidarity and Creativity; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Duque returned to Colombia in 2014 and was elected to the Colombian

Senate. He was instrumental in getting significant laws passed that improved the health and

welfare of the Colombian people. Thanks to his hard work and persuasive arguments, laws were

passed that increased maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks for all parents, including adoptive

parents, more funds were provided to aid people attending college, and more funding was

provided to greatly increase the number of defibrillators throughout public places in Colombia;

and

     WHEREAS, On December 10, 2017, the Democratic Center Party chose Mr. Márquez to

be its candidate for President in the 2018 election. This Sunday Mr. Duque was elected President

of Colombia on June 17, 2018, after running a disciplined, focused and centrist campaign in

which he promised to crack down on corruption, work tirelessly to increase entrepreneurship and

equality in Colombia, and to significantly improve the quality of education and healthcare in

Colombia by expanding the number of schools in poor and rural areas, expanding and enhancing

children’s nutrition programs in the schools, increasing school days from five hours to eight

hours, and offering more professional training to high school students; and

     WHEREAS, President-Elect Duque is married to María Juliana Ruiz, and is the devoted

father of three children, Lucianna, Matias, and Eloisa; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby congratulates President-Elect Iván Duque Márquez on being

elected the President of the Republic of Colombia. We wish him a most successful presidency

and the people of Colombia peace and prosperity; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to President-Elect Iván Duque Márquez.

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