HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	25
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND THE barack obama foundation to SUPPORT AND recommend hawaii as the site for the barack obama presidential LIBRARY and center.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, presidential libraries are important resources in preserving and providing the public access to presidential papers, records, and historical materials from the President of the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, President Franklin Roosevelt observed during the dedication of his library in 1941, "To bring together the records of the past and to house them in buildings where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the future, a Nation must believe in three things – It must believe in the past; it must believe in the future; it must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their own future"; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Presidential Library for the 21^st Century has evolved from a repository of presidential documents to be studied by researchers and historians to a future-learning Presidential Center that cultivates young leaders and brings people together to solve global problems; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's proposal, submitted by the University of Hawaii in collaboration and with support from state, federal, county, business, philanthropic, and community leaders, promotes a Barack Obama Presidential Center to not only preserve the President's legacy but to advance it through a center that promotes innovation, research, and education such as a K-12 Global Youth Leadership Academy, an action-oriented Convening Institute, a University of Hawaii Center for Community Organizing, and an interactive, issues-based Visitor Center; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's advantage lies not only in its hospitable climate and exceptional natural beauty but in its multiculturalism and aloha spirit; where national and international visitors, scholars, and global leaders will experience the beauty of Hawaii's diversity and aloha spirit, but most importantly a sense of place and familiarity; and

 

     WHEREAS, as the world's attention pivots to the Asia-Pacific region due to its growing economic and geopolitical prominence, Hawaii represents the ideal location to build the Barack Obama Presidential Center; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii is strategically located, culturally diverse, and roughly equidistant from the world's principal economic capitals, which will enable the Center to bring together scholars, stakeholders, and decision-makers to tackle global challenges, from climate change to economic inequality; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that this body requests the United States Congress and the Barack Obama Foundation to support and recommend Hawaii as the site for the Barack Obama Presidential Library and Center; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation and the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Barack Obama Foundation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Presidential Library; Hawaii site selection