| 1 | 1 | | 86R16279 BPG-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Davis of Harris H.C.R. No. 121 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice |
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| 7 | 7 | | University in Houston is marking its 25th anniversary in 2019; and |
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| 8 | 8 | | WHEREAS, Founded in 1993, the nonprofit nonpartisan think |
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| 9 | 9 | | tank is dedicated to building a bridge between "the world of ideas |
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| 10 | 10 | | and the world of action"; it bears the name of James A. Baker III, a |
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| 11 | 11 | | native Texan who served as White House chief of staff and secretary |
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| 12 | 12 | | of the treasury under President Ronald Reagan and as secretary of |
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| 13 | 13 | | state and White House chief of staff under President George H. W. |
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| 14 | 14 | | Bush; and |
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| 15 | 15 | | WHEREAS, The institute has been led since 1994 by director |
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| 16 | 16 | | Edward P. Djerejian; a diplomat under eight administrations, he |
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| 17 | 17 | | held such key posts as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern |
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| 18 | 18 | | affairs and ambassador to Syria and Israel; and |
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| 19 | 19 | | WHEREAS, In the institute's early years, its research agenda |
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| 20 | 20 | | was informed by Rice's geographic proximity to Mexico, the Texas |
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| 21 | 21 | | Medical Center, and the global capital of the energy industry; |
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| 22 | 22 | | Ambassador Djerejian's expertise led to the creation of the Center |
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| 23 | 23 | | for the Middle East, and the institute's focus continued to expand |
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| 24 | 24 | | significantly over the years; today, it encompasses 16 research |
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| 25 | 25 | | centers and programs, and more than 50 research fellows, scholars, |
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| 26 | 26 | | and other staff members work from the Rice campus headquarters, |
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| 27 | 27 | | while dozens of faculty members also hold appointments with the |
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| 28 | 28 | | center; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | WHEREAS, Through research, analysis, and advocacy, the |
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| 30 | 30 | | institute's scholars and fellows have sought answers to the world's |
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| 31 | 31 | | most daunting policy issues, and their expertise has been sought |
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| 32 | 32 | | after by journalists and decision-makers alike; Baker fellows met |
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| 33 | 33 | | more than a dozen times last year with representatives from state |
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| 34 | 34 | | and federal agencies, as well as with legislators and their staffs, |
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| 35 | 35 | | and they testified at state and federal committee hearings; |
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| 36 | 36 | | moreover, local, state, and national reporters turn to Baker |
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| 37 | 37 | | Institute scholars for informed commentary on and context for the |
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| 38 | 38 | | news of the day, and in the last fiscal year, the think tank tallied |
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| 39 | 39 | | some 20,000 media citations; and |
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| 40 | 40 | | WHEREAS, Recognizing its impact and public engagement, the |
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| 41 | 41 | | University of Pennsylvania's Think Tanks and Civil Societies |
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| 42 | 42 | | Program has ranked the Baker Institute third among all the world's |
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| 43 | 43 | | university-affiliated think tanks; Rice students benefit from the |
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| 44 | 44 | | presence of a policy-oriented "thought factory" on campus, and the |
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| 45 | 45 | | institute's dynamic, wide-ranging speaker series is a boon to the |
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| 46 | 46 | | public; a host of prominent statesmen, diplomats, religious |
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| 47 | 47 | | leaders, writers, scientists, and artists have been invited to |
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| 48 | 48 | | speak on campus, including Palestine Liberation Organization |
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| 49 | 49 | | Chairman Yasser Arafat, Russian President Vladimir Putin, former |
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| 50 | 50 | | Israeli President Shimon Peres, former Pakistani President Pervez |
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| 51 | 51 | | Musharraf, former South African President Nelson Mandela, and the |
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| 52 | 52 | | Dalai Lama; since its inception, the institute has hosted every |
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| 53 | 53 | | living former president of the United States; and |
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| 54 | 54 | | WHEREAS, For 25 years, the Baker Institute has been deeply |
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| 55 | 55 | | immersed in our national conversations, providing scholarly |
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| 56 | 56 | | expertise, empirical research, and insights born of firsthand |
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| 57 | 57 | | experience on the issues that define our time and shape our world; |
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| 58 | 58 | | now, therefore, be it |
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| 59 | 59 | | RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 60 | 60 | | hereby commemorate the 25th anniversary of the founding of Rice |
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| 61 | 61 | | University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and honor its |
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| 62 | 62 | | namesake, former secretary of state James A. Baker III, for his long |
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| 63 | 63 | | and distinguished career in public service; and, be it further |
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| 64 | 64 | | RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared |
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| 65 | 65 | | for Secretary Baker and Ambassador Djerejian as an expression of |
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| 66 | 66 | | high regard by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate. |
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