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R-OB-06 A RESOLUTION ENDORSING TODI, IT AL Y AND GOREE ISLAND, SENEGAL AS SISTER CITIES. WHEREAS, the "People-to-People Program" was inaugurated by the United States President Dwight David Eisenhower in 1956 to establish greater friendship and understanding between the peoples of the United States and other nations through the medium of direct personal contact, sometimes referred to as the "Sister Cities" program; and WHEREAS, all succeeding Presidents of the United States have endorsed the program of exchange of ideas and people between the citizens of the United States and of other nations; and WHEREAS, to implement this program the City of Portsmouth and other cities of the United States have been requested through its coordinating organization, first the American Municipal Association, later the National League of Cities, and now the Sister Cities International organization (sometimes known as the Town Affiliation Association of the United States), to affiliate with a foreign city of similar population and mutual interests; and WHEREAS, the City of Portsmouth has previously established and still maintains Sister City relationships with Dunedin, New Zealand (1962), Portsmouth, England (1982), and Kericho, Kenya (2002); and WHEREAS, Portsmouth has established the Portsmouth Sister City Commission, and said Commission has recommended the establishment of additional Sister City relationships with the cities of Todi, Italy and Goree Island, Senegal; and WHEREAS, the City of Portsmouth, through its City Council, wishes to extend its commitment to this program with the hope that doing so will lead to lasting friendships between the people of Portsmouth, Virginia and the people ofTodi, Italy and Goree Island, Senegal. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia: 1. That Portsmouth City Council, on behalf of the people of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia, hereby extends an invitation to the government and people of the cities of Todi, Italy and Goree Island, Senegal to participate with Portsmouth as its Sister Cities in the "People-to- People Program" for the purpose of creating good will and understanding between the people of these great nations. 2. That the Mayor of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia is hereby authorized to act as an official representative of the City of Portsmouth, to carry out this program. 3. That the City Clerk shall forward certified copies of this resolution to the Mayors and Councils of the cities of Todi, Italy and Goree Island, Senegal, Sister Cities International, the United States Department of State, and the United States embassies of Italy and Senegal.