WASHINGTON – Congressman Maurice Hinchey will be in the Netherlands in the new week to join Queen Beatrix for a kickoff of the Quadricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson’s exploration and discovery of the river in New York that now bears his name.

Hinchey initiated the federal effort to organize the celebrations in New York of Hudson’s historic voyage as well as the Quadricentennial anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s exploration of the lake that now bears his name and the bicentennial celebration of Robert Fulton’s invention of the steamboat in New York.

Hinchey is part of a Quadricentennial delegation to the Netherlands from New York that includes Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission Chairman Joan Davidson.

The American delegation will also meet with political leaders in the Netherlands to discuss U.S.-Netherlands partnerships on renewable energy and economic matters.