http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.CON.RES.418:
Recognizing the importance in history of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan. (Introduced in House)
HCON 418 IH
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 418
Recognizing the importance in history of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 6, 2004
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. LEACH, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, and Mr. HYDE) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing the importance in history of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan.
Whereas over the past 150 years, the United States and Japan have developed a strong, multifaceted relationship based on shared democratic values and mutual interest in Asian and global stability and development;
Whereas the bilateral relationship between the United States and Japan was opened by a visit by Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan in 1853, the goal of which was to convince Japan to establish commercial and diplomatic relations;
Whereas the first bilateral treaty between the 2 nations, the Treaty of Peace and Amity between Japan and the United States, was signed by Commodore Perry and Japanese representatives on March 31, 1854, in Yokohama, Japan;
Whereas the Treaty of Peace and Amity signaled the end of Japan's long isolation as a feudal society and set the stage for the Meiji Restoration and for Japan's transformation into a modern industrial nation;
Whereas with the direct assistance of President Theodore Roosevelt, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty was signed in 1905, ending the Russo-Japanese War and earning President Roosevelt the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize;
Whereas as a symbol of friendship, Japan presented the United States with 3,020 cherry trees in 1912, which continue to blossom each year on the National Mall in Washington, District of Columbia;
Whereas the people of the United States and Japan worked together after World War II to reconstruct Japan and to ensure the post war emergence of Japan as a beacon of democracy and economic liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region;
Whereas the allied security relationship between the United States and Japan was launched with the signing of the Security Treaty of 1951 and further solidified with the signing of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security in 1960;
Whereas the United States and Japan, despite ongoing bilateral trade disputes, have long sought to promote economic cooperation and an open global trading system, and both nations serve as important and powerful markets for each other with over $170,000,000,000 in bilateral trade in 2003;
Whereas the Government of Japan strongly condemned the terrorist attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001, provided logistical support to United States military operations against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and has been a leading donor for the relief and reconstruction of Afghanistan;
Whereas the Government of Japan enacted special legislation to allow the deployment to Iraq of Japanese Self Defense Force personnel to carry out humanitarian aid and reconstruction activities, and committed to providing $5,000,000,000 in assistance to Iraq;
Whereas increased tourism and educational and business exchanges between the people of Japan and the United States have dramatically increased mutual appreciation of Japanese and American culture;
Whereas Japanese-American relations are further cemented by the enormous contributions to American economic, political, and cultural life by nearly 1,000,000 Japanese-Americans;
Whereas Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stated at the ceremony commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Japan-United States relationship that the bilateral friendship `is as solid as it is because our countries share fundamental values like freedom, democracy, and free market economy . . . [w]e are a prime example to the world that people of different races and beliefs can share the same values and be true friends'; and
Whereas generations of American and Japanese leaders have steered the bilateral relationship between the two nations from the humble beginnings of the visit to Japan by Commodore Matthew Perry to the current status of Japan as the strongest ally of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region: Now, therefore be it--
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress--
(1) recognizes the importance in history of the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan; and
(2) calls for expanded political, economic, strategic, and cultural ties between the Japanese and American people and their respective governments.
