HCR161

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	161
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

urging THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU, THE COUNTY OF MAUI, THE COUNTY OF HAWAII, AND THE COUNTY OF KAUAI TO ESTABLISH SISTER CITY RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER PACIFIC ISLAND MUNICIPALITIES.

WHEREAS, the success of the 13^th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC), hosted for the first time by Hawaii in its fifty-two-year history in June 2024, demonstrated the value and importance of fostering relationships between Hawaii and its Pacific Island neighbors; and

WHEREAS, those in the Pacific Island region face unique opportunities and challenges, as well as share in many similar histories, traditions, and cultures; and

WHEREAS, Sister City programs encourage exchanges in arts and culture, youth and education, business and trade, and community development; and

WHEREAS, Sister City relationships have been made between counties in the State of Hawaii and eighty-nine cities worldwide, with thirty of these in the Pacific region; and

WHEREAS, expanding Sister City relationships between Hawaii and additional Pacific Island communities would strengthen regional ties and further cultivate a shared appreciation of one another’s people, history, and culture; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, the Senate concurring, that the City and County of Honolulu, the County of Maui, the County of Hawaii, and the County of Kauai are urged to establish new Sister City relationships with other Pacific Island municipalities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Executive Director of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Mayor of the County of Maui, Mayor of the County of Hawaii, and Mayor of the County of Kauai.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________