TITLE: Welcoming members of the U.S. State Department's Experience America program to the Capitol.

SUMMARY: Welcoming members of the U.S. State Department's Experience America program to the Capitol.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Distinguished foreign ambassadors taking part in the United States State Department's Experience America program are visiting the State Capitol on May 14, 2013; and WHEREAS, Under the leadership of Capricia Marshall, chief of protocol of the United States, Experience America introduces ambassadors posted in Washington, D.C., to cities and neighborhoods across the nation, showcasing life in the United States outside the Beltway; and WHEREAS, The program helps to build relationships, encourage investment and trade, and foster dialogue between the ambassadors and government, business, cultural, and academic leaders in the communities they visit; these interactions play a vital role in strengthening the bonds between the United States and other countries and encourage, in President Barack Obama's words, "new beginnings based on mutual respect and understanding"; and WHEREAS, Since the inception of Experience America four years ago, members of the diplomatic corps have traveled to Alaska, Atlanta, Arkansas, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Wyoming; these trips have yielded tangible results benefiting the United States and countries abroad, including the development by Delta Airlines of a direct flight from Atlanta to South Africa, the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between a Lithuanian business delegation and the Port of New Orleans, and the visit of an Iraqi delegation to Chicago to discuss trade opportunities; and WHEREAS, By sharing America's richly diverse cultures and communities, Experience America provides the chiefs of diplomatic missions a deeper understanding of our country's values, traditions, and history, and it is hoped that as a result of this program, the links between this state and the nations represented here today will multiply and flourish in the years ahead; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 83rd Legislature, hereby welcome these distinguished ambassadors to the State Capitol and extend to them sincere best wishes for a most rewarding and enjoyable visit; and, be it further RESOLVED, That official copies of this Resolution be prepared for the ambassadors as an expression of high regard by the Texas Senate. Watson President of the Senate I hereby certify that the above Resolution was adopted by the Senate on May 2, 2013.