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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 668 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 668

 To commend the American Sail Training Association for its advancement 
      of character building under sail and for its advancement of 
                        international goodwill.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 18 (legislative day, September 17), 2008

Mr. Kerry submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 To commend the American Sail Training Association for its advancement 
      of character building under sail and for its advancement of 
                        international goodwill.

Whereas the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) is an educational 
        nonprofit corporation whose declared mission is ``to encourage character 
        building through sail training, promote sail training to the North 
        American public and support education under sail'';
Whereas, since its founding in 1973, ASTA has promoted these goals through--(1) 
        support of character building experiences aboard traditionally-rigged 
        sail training vessels; (2) a program of scholarship funds supporting 
        such experiences; (3) a long history of tall ship races, rallies, and 
        maritime festivals dating back as far as 1976; (4) the Tall Ships 
        Challenge series of races and maritime festivals which have been 
        conducted each year since 2001, have reached an aggregate audience to 
        date of some 8,000,000 spectators, have had a cumulative economic impact 
        of over $400,000,000 for over 30 host communities, and involve sail 
        training vessels, trainees, and crews from all the coasts of the United 
        States and around the world; (5) support of its membership of more than 
        200 sail training vessels, embracing barks, barques, barkentines, 
        brigantines, brigs, schooners, sloops, and full-rigged ships, which 
        carry the flags of the United States, Canada, and many other nations and 
        have brought life changing adventures to thousands and thousands of 
        young trainees; (6) a series of more than 30 annual sail training 
        conferences to date, conducted in numerous cities throughout the United 
        States and Canada and embracing the Safety Under Sail Forum and the 
        Education Under Sail Forum; (7) extensive collaboration with the Coast 
        Guard and with the premier sail training vessel of the United States, 
        the square-rigged barque USCGC Eagle; (8) publication of ``Sail Tall 
        Ships'', a periodic directory of sail training opportunities; and (9) 
        supporting the enactment of the Sailing Schools Vessel Act of 1982, 
        Public Law 97-322, on October 15, 1982;
Whereas ASTA has ably represented the United States as its national sail 
        training organization as a founding member of Sail Training 
        International, the recognized international body for the promotion of 
        sail training, which itself carries forward a series of international 
        races amongst square-rigged and other traditionally-rigged vessels 
        reaching back as far as the 1950s; and
Whereas ASTA and Sail Training International are collaborating with port 
        partners around the Atlantic Ocean to produce Tall Ships Atlantic 
        Challenge 2009, an international fleet of sail training vessels 
        originating in Europe, voyaging to North America, and returning to 
        Europe: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commends the American Sail Training Association for its 
        advancement of character building experiences for youth at sea 
        in traditionally-rigged sailing vessels and its advancement of 
        the finest traditions of the sea;
            (2) commends the American Sail Training Association as the 
        national sail training association of the United States, 
        representing the sail training community of the United States 
        in the international forum; and
            (3) encourages all citizens of the United States and of 
        nations around the world to join in the celebration of Tall 
        Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 and in the character building and 
        educational experience that it represents for the youth of all 
        nations.
                                 <all>
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