WHEREAS, History was made on the morning of June 20, 1937, with the
landing of Russian aviator, Valery Chkalov, and his crew, Georgy
Baidukov and Alexander Belyakov, in their single engine aircraft,
ANT-25, at Pearson Army Airfield in Vancouver, Washington; and
WHEREAS, Chkalov completed the first nonstop flight across the
North Pole setting a world aviation record by flying for 63 hours and
16 minutes over the North Pole from Schelkovo Air Field near Moscow,
Russia to Vancouver, Washington; and
WHEREAS, In a feat of great international significance, Chkalov set
down at Pearson Army Airfield in Vancouver, Washington, the oldest
continuously operated general aviation airfield in the United States,
where he and his crew were greeted by General George C. Marshall,
commander of the Vancouver Barracks; and
WHEREAS, Citizens throughout the world were following this first
transpolar flight on radio and in the newspaper as Valery Chkalov spoke
on NBC Radio from the balcony of the stately Victorian-era Army
military residence of General Marshall; and
WHEREAS, Chkalov proclaimed that like the Volga and Columbia
rivers, "which flow on the same planet and ultimately merge into one
and the same World Ocean," without interfering with one another, "Our
peoples…should live in the same world in peace. Our joint efforts
should beautify the ocean on human life"; and
WHEREAS, In the intervening years, the polar bridge established by
the Chkalov flight has been the basis for numerous visits and exchanges
between government officials and citizens from Russia and the United
States, and has been kept alive by the long established Vancouver
Chkalov Transpolar Flight Committee and, since 1999, the Chkalov
Cultural Exchange Committee; and
WHEREAS, In 1975, Vancouver citizens dedicated a monument honoring
the bravery of Valery Chkalov and his crew, thus making this flight the
only one in the world with commemoratives marking both departure and
arrival points; and
WHEREAS, The Russian Federation and many individual Russians have
responded with friendship to this expression of international goodwill
by visiting the City of Vancouver to lay flowers at the monument, and
by hosting groups from Vancouver in Russia; and
WHEREAS, June 20, 2012, is the 75th anniversary of the Transpolar
Flight, and official Russian government sponsored events honoring this
historic flight are being held in Russia; and
WHEREAS, The Chkalov Cultural Exchange Committee, a nonprofit
organization in the State of Washington, along with the State of
Washington, City of Vancouver, Clark County, and other governmental
entities and officials are planning events and activities during 2012
in Washington State and the Vancouver-Portland area, including an
invited delegation from Russia;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State House of
Representatives acknowledge this historic flight, call upon the
citizens of the State of Washington to join the citizens of Russia in
celebrating the 75th anniversary, extend a warm welcome to all Russian
visitors who travel to Vancouver to participate in these events, and
encourage all Washington citizens to participate; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be
immediately transmitted by the Chief Clerk of the House of
Representatives to the Washington State Governor and statewide elected
officials, the Washington State Congressional Delegation, President of
the United States, Barack Obama, United States Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton, United States Commerce Secretary, John Bryson, the
City of Vancouver, Clark County, the Chkalov Cultural Exchange
Committee, Fort Vancouver National Trust, Russian Federation President,
Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, Russian
Federation Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Russian
Federation Minister of Defense, Anatoly Serdyukov, Russian Federation
Minister of Industry and Trade and Chair of the Organizing Committee of
the 75th Anniversary Transpolar Flight Celebrations, Viktor Khristenko,
and President of the International Chkalov Foundation, Valery I.
Chkalov.