STAND

STAND. COM. REP. 1686

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.R. No. 133

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and International Affairs, to which was referred H.R. No. 133 entitled:

"HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THAT THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII WORK TO DEPLOY A NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this resolution is to request Hawaii's Congressional delegation to support and vote for all efforts to build and deploy a national missile defense system as rapidly as possible.

Prior to the hearing on this measure, a proposed H.D. 1 was circulated for review. A concerned citizen testified in support of the proposed H.D. 1.

The armed forces of the United States have shown tremendous courage, skill, and valor in the face of danger around the world and have led this country to swift military victory with a relatively low casualty rate in the war with Iraq. Your Committees find that peace and freedom come with a price, and that those who gave their lives so that our country can enjoy the freedoms we have will never be forgotten.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by deleting its contents and replacing it with language of the proposed H.D.1 entitled: "OFFERING HEARTFELT THANKS AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES." As amended, the resolution:

(1) Thanks and congratulates the officers and enlisted men and women of the armed forces of the United States for their brilliant and overwhelming victory in ousting the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and freeing the people of Iraq from three decades of terror, brutality, and oppression;

(2) Acknowledges the sacrifices endured by our armed forces in the many deployments to far-off countries as part of the United States' efforts to protect them from terrorists and other threats to their democracies; and

(3) Expresses the House of Representatives' deepest sympathy and sincerest condolences to those who lost loved ones during the war and especially to the family and friends of Hawaii's own hero, Sergeant Eugene Williams of Waipahu.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and International Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 133, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.R. No. 133, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and International Affairs,

____________________________ HELÉNE H. HALE, Chair		____________________________ KEN ITO, Chair