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1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to congratulate the Honorable Michael
4 Christopher Fountain, Honorary Consul of the Consulate of the
5 Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Chicago for the Midwestern
6 United States, on the occasion of his decade of continued
7 service; and
8 WHEREAS, Consul Fountain, a Chicagoan from Chicago's West
9 Side, possesses patrilineal descent to The Bahamas dating back
10 to 1847 as a descendant of William Fountain; and
11 WHEREAS, Consul Fountain was accredited by the U.S.
12 Department of State as the first Honorary Consul of the
13 Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Chicago for the Midwestern
14 United States on March 6, 2014, becoming the second honorary
15 consul of The Bahamas to ever be assigned and accredited by the
16 United States; he opened the first Consulate of the
17 Commonwealth of The Bahamas in Chicago on September 5, 2014;
18 and
19 WHEREAS, Consul Fountain has conducted public diplomacy
20 work to protect the interests of Bahamian nationals in the
21 United States and to promote and engage interested parties in
22 the specific matters of tourism, investment, trade, art,
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1 economic development, culture, science, agriculture, public
2 safety, and the import and export of goods and services within
3 his jurisdiction of the Midwestern United States, which
4 includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,
5 Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; and
6 WHEREAS, To further bilateral relationship opportunities
7 between nations, Consul Fountain has engaged the
8 administrations of the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd Governors of the
9 State of Illinois, the 69th and 70th Speakers of the Illinois
10 House of Representatives, the 38th and 39th Presidents of the
11 Illinois Senate, and the 55th, 56th, and 57th Mayors of
12 Chicago, and he has hosted The Bahamas' Minister of Foreign
13 Affairs, its Parliamentary Secretary, its Ambassador and Head
14 of Mission to the United States, its Deputy Chief of Mission to
15 the United States, three consul generals of The Bahamas, and
16 general manager of the Broadcast Corporation of The Bahamas
17 for engagements in Illinois; and
18 WHEREAS, To deepen the diplomatic engagement between the
19 State of Illinois and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Consul
20 Fountain has overseen numerous activities, including raising
21 the first flag of The Bahamas over Illinois soil in
22 acknowledgment of the first sanctioned Sister City
23 relationship between Cat Island, Bahamas and Richton Park,
24 Illinois and in celebration of the 43rd anniversary of
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1 Bahamian Independence on July 8, 2016, the first flag of The
2 Bahamas at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in celebration
3 of the 44th anniversary of Bahamian Independence on July 7,
4 2017, and the first flag within Chicago city limits in
5 celebration of the 48th anniversary of Bahamian Independence
6 on July 9, 2021; he also organized and sponsored the first
7 State visit of a sitting Prime Minister of The Bahamas to
8 Chicago from September 10 to September 11, 2023, during which
9 he facilitated the opportunity for Prime Minister Wendall K.
10 Jones to speak at the City Club of Chicago; and
11 WHEREAS, As a diplomatic representative of The Bahamas,
12 Consul Fountain has also provided numerous support services to
13 countless Bahamians in need of assistance, and he has
14 previously led multistate awareness and relief efforts for
15 Bahamians affected by Hurricanes Joaquin, Irma, Matthew, and
16 Dorian; and
17 WHEREAS, Consul Fountain has served with distinction as a
18 member of the Board of Chancellors for the Consular Corps
19 College, an association of foreign consuls in the United
20 States based in Washington, D.C., and he is a member of the
21 Chicago Consular Corps; and
22 WHEREAS, As the longest-serving diplomatic representative
23 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in the United States of
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1 America, Consul Fountain now celebrates a decade of diplomacy,
2 representing Bahamians in the Diaspora, within his
3 jurisdiction of the Midwestern United States and the larger
4 United States of America; therefore, be it
5 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
6 HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7 we congratulate the Honorable Michael Christopher Fountain,
8 Honorary Consul of the Consulate of the Commonwealth of The
9 Bahamas in Chicago for the Midwestern United States, on
10 serving as a crucial link to the bilateral relationship
11 between The Bahamas and the United States for over a decade,
12 and we wish him continued success while conducting his
13 consular duties; and be it further
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