HCR210

WHEREAS, the brave men and women of the United States military are part of a long and proud tradition of excellence that exemplifies honor, courage, and self-sacrifice; they defend our nation's borders and protect the citizens of the United States from the atrocities of war, and these men and women truly are heroes; and

WHEREAS, the United Service Organizations (USO) is a nonprofit organization that is operated by volunteers who believe that the United States owes a great debt to the courageous members of our armed forces, and it strives to provide a "special brand of comfort, morale and recreational services to the military" and believes that they should always be treated and held in the highest regards; and

WHEREAS, the USO lounge located in Honolulu International Airport, between baggage claim areas E and F, was created as an expression of the country and the State's appreciation and gratitude to the United States military members; and

WHEREAS, USO's volunteers, knowing that the military men and women who pass through the gates of Honolulu International Airport might be seeing their family for the last time, have allowed the families of departing military members to accompany them to airport departure gates, a benefit not provided to the general public; and

WHEREAS, the two thousand-square-foot USO lounge is barely adequate to host the twenty thousand military members that pass through the lounge, and its infrastructure shows the wear and tear of high usage; and lounge visitors are allowed only twenty minutes on the lounge's three computers, hardly enough time to write letters to loved ones; and

WHEREAS, the dedicated efforts on the part of the volunteers cannot make up for the fact that the United Service Organizations facility needs extensive upgrades; and although the volunteers may assist in the process of upgrading the lounge, for them to accept the entire burden of upgrading the lounge would be overwhelming; and

WHEREAS, improvements to the USO lounge should be provided the State, in the spirit of the Hawaii State Medal of Honor, to recognize and thank our military men and women for their countless sacrifices; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Transportation and the Department of Defense are requested to work in collaboration with the United Service Organizations and all involved military branches to review and report on the current USO facilities at the Honolulu International Airport and to prioritize for improvements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Departments are requested to meet no later than September, 2008 to determine what course of action is needed to make necessary upgrades to the facility; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and the Department of Defense are requested to submit a report of findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Adjutant General, Director of Transportation, Director of the Office of Veterans Services, and the Directors of the national office and Hawaii office of the United Service Organizations, respectively.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Upgrade for USO lounge at HNL

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	210
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII