Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR249 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 249
5	5	Recognizing the 204th anniversary of the War of Greek Independence.
6	6	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
7	7	MARCH25, 2025
8	8	Mr. B
9	9	ILIRAKIS(for himself, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Ms. TITUS, Mr.
10	10	S
11	11	MITHof New Jersey, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. AMO, Mr. MAGAZINER, and
12	12	Ms. M
13	13	ENG) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
14	14	Committee on Foreign Affairs
15	15	RESOLUTION
16	16	Recognizing the 204th anniversary of the War of Greek
17	17	Independence.
18	18	Whereas the concept of democracy, in which the supreme
19	19	power to govern was vested in the people, was developed
20	20	in ancient Greece;
21	21	Whereas the Founding Fathers of the United States were in-
22	22	spired by ancient Greek political philosophy when form-
23	23	ing the political system of the United States;
24	24	Whereas the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independ-
25	25	ence inspired the uprising of the Greek people against the
26	26	Ottoman Empire and were reflected in the revolutionary
27	27	Greek Constitutions;
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30	30	•HRES 249 IH
31	31	Whereas the War of Greek Independence initiated the strug-
32	32	gle for self-determination of all the occupied nations of
33	33	the Ottoman Empire;
34	34	Whereas American philhellenes, including future abolitionist
35	35	Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, future abolitionist Jonathan
36	36	Peckham Miller, and George Jarvis, traveled to Greece to
37	37	fight alongside and provide aid to the Greek people in
38	38	their struggle for independence;
39	39	Whereas the people of the United States generously sent hu-
40	40	manitarian assistance to the people of Greece during
41	41	their struggle for independence, often through philhellene
42	42	committees;
43	43	Whereas the United States and Greece have been allies in all
44	44	international conflicts throughout modern history;
45	45	Whereas the Greek-American community has positively con-
46	46	tributed to American society and has helped forge the
47	47	ties between the United States and Greece;
48	48	Whereas the United States has greatly contributed to the re-
49	49	construction of Greece after World War II;
50	50	Whereas North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mem-
51	51	bership has further tightened the cooperation between the
52	52	United States and Greece;
53	53	Whereas Greece has consistently shown strong commitment
54	54	to meeting NATO defense spending obligations and con-
55	55	tributes more than 3 percent of its GDP in defense, while
56	56	strongly supporting a more robust European defense;
57	57	Whereas Greece is an integral part of the European Union;
58	58	Whereas Greece occupies a non-permanent member seat at
59	59	the United Nations Security Council for the 2025–2026
60	60	term;
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63	63	•HRES 249 IH
64	64	Whereas Greece is a strategic partner of the United States
65	65	in bringing political stability and economic development
66	66	to the Balkan region, having actively contributed to the
67	67	Euro-Atlantic integration of the countries of the region
68	68	and having been one of the major investors in south-
69	69	eastern Europe, including in critical infrastructure;
70	70	Whereas the address of the Prime Minister of Greece,
71	71	Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to a joint session of Congress in
72	72	May 2022 consolidated the strong ties between the two
73	73	countries, based on shared values, as well as the impor-
74	74	tance of the Greek-American community for the United
75	75	States;
76	76	Whereas Greece enjoys strong bipartisan support in the
77	77	United States Congress;
78	78	Whereas Greece participates in and actively promotes several
79	79	schemes of regional partnership in the Eastern Medi-
80	80	terranean;
81	81	Whereas the United States has demonstrated its support for
82	82	the trilateral partnership of Greece, Israel, and Cyprus
83	83	by enacting into law the Eastern Mediterranean Security
84	84	and Energy Partnership Act of 2019, and through joint
85	85	engagement with Greece, Israel, and Cyprus in the
86	86	‘‘3+1’’ format;
87	87	Whereas this support was reiterated in the United States-
88	88	Greece Defense and Interparliamentary Partnership Act,
89	89	included in the National Defense Authorization Act for
90	90	Fiscal Year 2022, establishing a 3+1 Interparliamentary
91	91	Group to discuss the expansion of cooperation in other
92	92	areas of common concern;
93	93	Whereas the United States and Greece’s commitment to secu-
94	94	rity cooperation led to the conclusion of a Mutual De-
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97	97	•HRES 249 IH
98	98	fense Cooperation Agreement, which was updated in
99	99	2021, in order to enhance defense ties between the two
100	100	countries and promote stability in the broader region;
101	101	Whereas the ongoing United States-Greece Strategic Dia-
102	102	logue reflects Greece’s importance to the United States
103	103	as a geostrategic partner, namely in the Eastern Medi-
104	104	terranean and Balkans and as a valuable NATO ally;
105	105	Whereas the port of Alexandroupolis in northeast Greece has
106	106	evolved into a key energy hub and strategic point, con-
107	107	necting the Mediterranean Sea with the Balkans and
108	108	Eastern Europe;
109	109	Whereas the Governments and people of Greece and the
110	110	United States are at the forefront of international efforts
111	111	to advance freedom, democracy, rule of law, human
112	112	rights, peace, and stability;
113	113	Whereas those efforts and similar ideals have forged a close
114	114	bond between the peoples of Greece and the United
115	115	States; and
116	116	Whereas it is proper and desirable for the United States to
117	117	celebrate the 204th anniversary of the March 25, 1821,
118	118	Greek Independence Day with the people of Greece, and
119	119	to reaffirm the democratic principles from which those
120	120	two great countries were founded: Now, therefore, be it
121	121	Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1
122	122	(1) extends warm congratulations and best 2
123	123	wishes to the people of Greece as they celebrate the 3
124	124	204th anniversary of the War of Greek Independ-4
125	125	ence; 5
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128	128	•HRES 249 IH
129	129	(2) expresses support for the principles of de-1
130	130	mocracy, human rights, and the rule of law to which 2
131	131	the people of the United States and Greece are com-3
132	132	mitted; 4
133	133	(3) notes the important role that Greece has 5
134	134	played in the wider European region and in the com-6
135	135	munity of nations since gaining its independence; 7
136	136	(4) commends the Greek-American community 8
137	137	for its contributions to the United States and its 9
138	138	role as a bridge between the two countries; 10
139	139	(5) commends the geostrategic importance of 11
140	140	Greece at the junction of three continents and in 12
141	141	particular the critical role Greece plays in promoting 13
142	142	stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and Western 14
143	143	Balkans and in continuously upholding international 15
144	144	law and respect for national sovereignty and terri-16
145	145	torial integrity; and 17
146	146	(6) appreciates the deepening cooperation be-18
147	147	tween the United States and Greece, based on 19
148	148	shared values and interests, including the important 20
149	149	bilateral energy and security partnership and the im-21
150	150	portant role that Greece plays in bolstering Euro-22
151	151	pean energy security. 23
152	152	Æ
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