Hinchey shows the medal he received from Queen Beatrix

WASHINGTON DC - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today helped the House pass a resolution, H.Con.Res. 178, celebrating the U.S-Netherlands relationship and this year's quadricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson's exploration and discovery of the river in New York that now bears his name.  Hinchey traveled to the Netherlands in March to join Her Royal Highness Queen Beatrix for a kickoff of that country's quadricentennial celebration.  Earlier this month, Her Royal Highness Queen Beatrix honored Hinchey with the Dutch Royal Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau Medal for the congressman's work to commemorate the quadricentennial anniversary and for his efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Netherlands relationship. 

"As we celebrate 400 years of shared history with the Netherlands, it is only appropriate that we in the Congress formally acknowledge and praise the important contributions that the Dutch made to the establishment of New Amsterdam, which is now known as New York," said Hinchey, who spoke out in favor of the resolution on the House floor today. "Here in New York, we've been celebrating the quadricentennial through a series of wonderful events that have helped this current generation of New Yorkers gain a much better understanding of the history of our state and its ties to the Netherlands."

Hinchey traveled to Amsterdam in March to join Her Royal Highness Queen Beatrix for a kickoff of the Netherlands' quadricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson's journey.  The congressman initiated the federal effort to organize this year's 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.  In addition to meeting with the queen, Hinchey had a full agenda during his four day trip to the Netherlands that included meetings with various political leaders to discuss U.S.-Netherlands partnerships on renewable energy and economic matters.