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Senate Resolution

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A resolution recognizing and commending the People to

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People Student Ambassador Program.

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     WHEREAS, President Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that

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ordinary citizens of different nations, if able to communicate

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directly, would solve their differences and find a way to live in

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peace, and in 1956 he put those beliefs into action when he

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created the People to People Ambassador Program, and

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     WHEREAS, that year President Eisenhower called a special

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White House conference of American leaders, who joined him in

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creating the People to People initiative, and as a result the

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People to People mission developed around personal exchanges and

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firsthand experiences with other cultures, and

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     WHEREAS, beginning in 1963, the People to People Student

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Ambassador Program has sent thousands of young Americans across

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international borders and to areas within the continental United

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States to learn what it means to be a good neighbor and a global

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citizen, and

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     WHEREAS, following his participation in the 1964 People to

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People International White House conference, Walt Disney created

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the "It's a Small World" attraction, which has introduced more

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than 250 million people to the concept that, despite our

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differences, our planet's citizens all share the same core

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values, and

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     WHEREAS, as Student Ambassadors and governmental leaders

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travel under the banner of People to People, they represent the

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best of our country's aspirations: hope, courage, openness, and a

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love of peace, and

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     WHEREAS, this summer approximately 3,000 students from the

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State of Florida will participate in the People to People Student

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Ambassador Program, helping to exemplify and realize President

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Eisenhower's insight that "peaceful relations between nations

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require mutual respect between individuals," and

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     WHEREAS, in President John F. Kennedy's words, "the nature

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of People to People activities is as varied as the individuals

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involved. The housewife whose recipe contains the yeast of

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kindness, the soldier whose arms embrace homeless waifs, the

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doctor who heals with humility, all assert a single theme - the

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power of people, acting as individuals, to respond imaginatively

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to the world's need for peace," NOW, THEREFORE,

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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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     That the Florida Senate supports the vision and

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accomplishments of the People to People Student Ambassador

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Program and commends all those who have devoted time and effort

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to its success.

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     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate applauds the

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thousands of young Floridians who will serve as People to People

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Student Ambassadors during the coming summer and in the future.