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2012 SESSION
WHEREAS, Ambassador William Green Miller (Ret.) of Fairfax County, a graduate of New York’s Trinity School and Williams College, obtained postgraduate degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University and joined the Foreign Service in 1959; and
WHEREAS, William Miller spent five years in Iran, serving as the political officer for the United States Embassy in Tehran and the United States Consulate in Isfahan, where he gained valuable insight and experience; and
WHEREAS, William Miller then returned to the United States and, two years later, embarked on a 14-year career on Capitol Hill, working on foreign and defense matters as staff director for several Senate committees; and
WHEREAS, William Miller shared his insights with a rising generation as a professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies; and
WHEREAS, William Miller also served as president of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations, the Committee on American-Russian Relations, and the International Foundation for the Survival and Development of Humanity, and as a senior consultant with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and
WHEREAS, in 1993 William Miller rejoined the diplomatic service when President Bill Clinton nominated him as ambassador to Ukraine; he spent four years in the newly independent country as it grappled with disarmament issues, built its economy, and forged relationships with the Western world; and
WHEREAS, in July 2009, two American men, both 29, were arrested by the Iranian Government while hiking near the Iran-Iraq border and held for political purposes; and
WHEREAS, a trusted international liaison, Ambassador Miller was called upon to facilitate a meeting between Bishop John Bryson Chane of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, with high-level Iranian officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to discuss the release of the American hikers; and
WHEREAS, this face-to-face meeting allowed a meaningful dialogue that resulted in the return of the American hikers to their families in the United States two years after their arrest; and
WHEREAS, Ambassador William Green Miller (Ret.) was honored with a 2011 Common Ground Award from the Search for Common Ground for his efforts to bring the United States hikers back to America; and
WHEREAS, the Common Ground Awards honor those groups and individuals who have made significant contributions toward creatively and constructively bridging divides and resolving conflict; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Ambassador William Green Miller (Ret.) for his service to the People of the United States, the Commonwealth of Virginia, his efforts to secure the release of American prisoners, and on his selection as a Common Ground Award recipient; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Ambassador William Green Miller (Ret.) as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration and appreciation for his longtime service to the nation.