IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 197 

To commend the American Sail Training Association for its advancement 

of character building under sail and for its advancement of international 

goodwill. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2009 

Mr. KENNEDY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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; 


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•HRES 197 IH 

(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— 

(A) have been conducted each year since 2001; 

(B) have reached an aggregate audience to date 

of some 8,000,000 spectators; 

(C) have had a cumulative economic impact of 

over $400,000,000 for over 30 host communities; 

and 

(D) 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 United States 

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 


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(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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commends the American Sail Training As3 sociation for its advancement of character building 

4 experiences for youth at sea in traditionally rigged 

5 sailing vessels and its advancement of the finest tra6 ditions of the sea; 

7 (2) commends the American Sail Training As8 sociation as the national sail training association of 

9 the United States, representing the sail training 

10 community of the United States in the international 

11 forum; and 


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•HRES 197 IH 

1 (3) encourages all citizens of the United States 

2 and of nations around the world to join in the cele3 bration of Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 and in 

4 the character building and educational experience 

5 that it represents for the youth of all nations. 

Æ 


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