| 1 | 1 | | H.R. No. 1593 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 5 | | WHEREAS, Texas and Taiwan are celebrating the 21st |
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| 6 | 6 | | anniversary of their Sister State relationship in June 2009; and |
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| 7 | 7 | | WHEREAS, In the United States, the idea for a sister city |
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| 8 | 8 | | program that would foster international friendship was given |
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| 9 | 9 | | significant impetus by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as part of |
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| 10 | 10 | | his People to People initiative; and |
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| 11 | 11 | | WHEREAS, Texas and Taiwan became Sister States on June 13, |
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| 12 | 12 | | 1988, and today 11 jurisdictions within Texas enjoy similar ties |
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| 13 | 13 | | with their Taiwanese counterparts; these pairs are Houston and |
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| 14 | 14 | | Taipei Municipality, San Antonio and Kaohsiung Municipality, |
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| 15 | 15 | | Austin and the City of Taichung, Corpus Christi and the City of |
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| 16 | 16 | | Keelung, DeSoto and the City of Taoyuan, Laredo and Tainan County, |
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| 17 | 17 | | Addison and the City of Panchiao, Marshall and Taipei Municipality, |
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| 18 | 18 | | Plano and the City of Hsinchu, Garland and Luchu Township, and |
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| 19 | 19 | | Harris County and Taipei County; and |
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| 20 | 20 | | WHEREAS, The links connecting Texas and Taiwan are evident in |
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| 21 | 21 | | many spheres of activity; economic relations between the two are |
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| 22 | 22 | | especially important: in 2007, Taiwan imported $5.1 billion worth |
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| 23 | 23 | | of Texas goods and ranked as this state's sixth-most-important |
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| 24 | 24 | | export market; at the same time, Taiwanese firms have invested |
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| 25 | 25 | | billions of dollars in Texas businesses; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | WHEREAS, A number of Taiwanese students study in Texas, and |
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| 27 | 27 | | many Taiwanese families have settled here; Taiwanese cultural, |
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| 28 | 28 | | religious, and economic organizations are flourishing in the Lone |
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| 29 | 29 | | Star State, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, |
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| 30 | 30 | | under the outstanding direction of Steve Chen, plays a vital role in |
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| 31 | 31 | | increasing awareness of bilateral business opportunities, in |
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| 32 | 32 | | addition to its excellent work in promoting artistic and |
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| 33 | 33 | | educational exchanges; and |
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| 34 | 34 | | WHEREAS, The people of Texas and Taiwan have much to gain from |
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| 35 | 35 | | one another, and connections made possible through the Sister State |
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| 36 | 36 | | and Sister City affiliations contribute immeasurably toward our |
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| 37 | 37 | | mutual enrichment; now, therefore, be it |
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| 38 | 38 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas |
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| 39 | 39 | | Legislature hereby commemorate the 21st anniversary of the signing |
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| 40 | 40 | | of the Sister State agreement between Texas and Taiwan and extend |
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| 41 | 41 | | sincere best wishes to all those who are engaged in strengthening |
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| 42 | 42 | | Texas-Taiwan Sister relations; and, be it further |
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| 43 | 43 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 44 | 44 | | prepared for the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston as |
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| 45 | 45 | | an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives. |
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| 46 | 46 | | Button |
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| 47 | 47 | | ______________________________ |
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| 48 | 48 | | Speaker of the House |
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| 49 | 49 | | I certify that H.R. No. 1593 was adopted by the House on May |
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| 50 | 50 | | 4, 2009, by a non-record vote. |
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| 51 | 51 | | ______________________________ |
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| 52 | 52 | | Chief Clerk of the House |
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