Bill Text: HI HCR127 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Concurrent Resolution 127 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Requesting The Hawaii Sister-state Committee To Evaluate And Develop Recommendations For The Initiation Of A Sister State Relationship Between The State Of Hawaii And The Prefecture Of Yamaguchi, Japan, And Forward Its Recommendation To The Legislature, Pursuant To Section 2293, Hawaii Revised Statutes, For Further Action.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-01 - Referred to LCA. [HCR127 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HCR127-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	127
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the hawaii sister-state committee to evaluate and develop recommendations for the initiation of a sister state relationship between the state of hawaii and the prefecture of yamaguchi, japan, and forward its recommendation to the legislature, pursuant to section 229‑3, hawaii revised statutes, for further action.

WHEREAS, Hawaii has developed and maintained a rich heritage of international relations and cultural exchange since the days of the Hawaiian monarchy in the nineteenth century; and

WHEREAS, since 1981, the Legislature has instituted sister-state relationships as a means of asserting and promoting the State's active participation in international matters; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii currently maintains eighteen sister-state relationships, including relationships with five of Japan's forty-seven prefectures; and

WHEREAS, Yamaguchi is a prefecture in Japan's Chugoku region on the southwest side of Honshu Island; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii and the people of Yamaguchi share a long history and strong bond, beginning with kanyaku imin and the immigration of 10,424 contract laborers to Hawaii between 1885 and 1894; and

WHEREAS, since then, there have been continuous cultural exchanges between the people of Yamaguchi and the five Yamaguchi Kenjinkai groups in Hawaii over the years; and

WHEREAS, other exchanges include annual fisheries training off the coast of Hawaii by a Yamaguchi high school, the arrival of tour groups from Yamaguchi, and study abroad and academic exchanges with Kauai Community College; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to section 229-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the Hawaii Sister-State Committee is tasked with evaluating and developing recommendations for the initiation of all sister-state relationships, and forwarding its recommendations to the Legislature for implementation, if it so chooses, by either adopting a concurrent resolution or by enacting session law to that effect; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Sister-State Committee is taking steps to review the Hawaii-Yamaguchi sister-state application and make their recommendation that a sister-state relationship be established; and

WHEREAS, the Governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Muraoka Tsugumasa, supports and will apply for the establishment of a sister-state relationship with Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii is actively seeking to expand its international ties and has an abiding interest in developing goodwill, friendship, and economic relations between the people of Hawaii and the people of many nations; and

WHEREAS, a relationship between Hawaii and Yamaguchi will be highly beneficial in expanding tourism, strengthening cultural bonds, and advancing common goals of international peace and brotherhood; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the Senate concurring, that the Sister-State Committee is requested to evaluate and develop recommendations for the initiation of a sister-state relationship between the State of Hawaii and the Prefecture of Yamaguchi, Japan; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Sister-State Committee report its findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, relative to initiating a sister-state relationship between Hawaii and the Prefecture of Yamaguchi, Japan, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2022; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Secretary of State; Ambassador of the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.; Governor; Governor of the Prefecture of Yamaguchi, Japan; Consul General of Japan in Hawaii; Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and Chair of the Hawaii Sister-State Committee.