[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14729-14730]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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            A TALE OF SISTER CITIES AND SOME SOCCER JERSEYS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, recently, I heard from Mayor John Hollar 
and City Manager Bill Fraser of Montpelier, VT, about a wonderful 
gesture by Philippe Saurel, the mayor of Montpellier, France, who is 
also the president of Montpellier Mediterranee Metropolis.
  The story is this: the city of Montpellier, France, ordered soccer 
jerseys to support its soccer club. They were printed with the name 
Montpelier--the way we spell it in Vermont--rather than Montpellier, as 
it is in France. As a result, Mr. Saurel, with M. Laurent Nicollin, the 
president of the Soccer Club of Montpellier, offered to send these 
jerseys to the Montpelier, VT, high school soccer teams.
  As the only U.S. Senator ever born in Montpelier, VT, I was thrilled 
and wrote to the mayor of Montpellier, France, with gratitude. The more 
I thought about it, the more I wanted to

[[Page 14730]]

make sure the U.S. Senate heard about this generous act. I ask 
unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the letter from Mayor 
Philippe Saurel to Mayor John Hollar. The tie between our two great 
nations and our two beautiful cities continues.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                Letter From Mayor Saurel to Mayor Hollar

       Dear Mayor Hollar, I'm writing to you from Montpellier, 
     south of France. The starting point of our story is that 
     [both our] cities have almost the same name.
       You have already heard about the story of the soccer shirts 
     on social networks[.] [T]here was a mistake during the 
     printing, and now Montpelier spelled as the name of your city 
     is [written] on the shirts of the soccer team.
       We would be very delighted with M. Laurent Nicollin, 
     President of the Soccer Club of Montpellier, to offer the 
     shirts with the name of your city to your school's soccer 
     team. M. Mayor Hollar do not hesitate to tell me if you agree 
     with this gift, in that way we will write together a great 
     story.
       Moreover, I also hope to meet you one day, I will be very 
     pleased to welcome you in Montpellier.
           Yours faithfully,

                                              Philippe Saurel,

                                Mayor of Montpellier, President of
                              Montpellier Mediterranee Metropolis.

  (At the request of Mr. McConnell, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)

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