September 17, 2002 - House Mark-up Scheduled for September 25- Washington, DC (JBANC) - Resolutions supporting the importance of NATO and its enlargement and support for Baltic NATO membership, are poised to be brought up in House committee next week. H. Res. 468, sponsored by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA), and H. Con. Res. 116, sponsored by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), are scheduled to be marked up together by the House International Relations committee on September 25. Action on the measures is expected in the days immediately following the mark-up. Calls and messages to House members for support are needed to ensure successful passage of both measures. H. Res. 468 was introduced on June 27 by House International Relations Committee European subcommittee chairman Gallegly. Under Gallegly’s leadership, that subcommittee has held a series of hearings this year regarding NATO and the enlargement process. H. Res. 468 affirms “the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), supporting continued United States participation in NATO, ensuring that the enlargement of NATO proceeds in a manner consistent with United States interests.” H. Con. Res. 116 specifically supports NATO membership for the three Baltic countries, and was introduced by House Baltic Caucus co-chairman Shimkus in April of 2001. The resolution currently has 54 co-sponsors. Co-sponsors for H. Res. 468 are: Representatives Doug Bereuter (R-NE), Christopher Cox (R-CA), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Jim Davis (D-FL), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Joel Hefley (R-CO), Earl Hilliard (D-AL), Tom Lantos (D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Lee Terry (R-NE), Robert Underwood (D-GU), and Robert Wexler (D-FL). The text of both resolutions is available at http://thomas.loc.gov by entering bill numbers in the Search field. Your help is needed in getting your Representative to support both the Gallegly and Shimkus resolutions. Please let our friends in Congress know that we are counting on their support. Congressman Gallegly spent a week in the three Baltic countries in August. Both he and Congressman Shimkus spoke at a September 4 reception in the United States Capitol for visiting Estonian Prime Minister Siim Kallas. The event was sponsored and organized by the Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. (JBANC), the U.S.-Baltic Foundation and the Baltic-American Freedom League. Rep. Gallegly used the occasion to announce his intention to join the House Baltic Caucus, now with 72 members. The other House Baltic Caucus co-chair, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), recently participated in the opening of the Latvian Occupation Museum exhibit in Madison, Wisconsin. It is widely expected that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will be among countries receiving invitations in Prague to join NATO. Once the 108th Congress convenes in January, it is believed that the Senate will begin debate on ratification of new members of the Alliance. This process may take up much of 2003. |
Octobr 17, 2008 - President Bush Discusses the Visa Waiver Program Office of the Press Secretary/ White House News  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Please be seated, thank you. Welcome to the White House. I'm pleased to stand with the representatives of seven countries -- the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea -- that have met the requirements to be admitted to the United States Visa Waiver Program. Soon the citizens of these nations will be able to travel to the United States for business or tourism without a visa. I congratulate these close friends and allies on this achievement, and I thank you for joining us here.I also thank Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of the Homeland -- Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff for working hard to make sure this day has finally arrived. Appreciate other members of the administration here and members of the Diplomatic Corps. More... 400 Hurley Avenue Rockville, MD 20850-3121 tel. 301-340-1954 fax: 301-309-1406 e-mail:jbanc@jbanc.org |