Staff Reporter : Sheila Jackson Lee, a Congresswoman from Texas, described Bangladesh as a good friend of the United States. She said the two countries have good relations. She made the remarks during a meeting with Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States M Shahidul Islam at his office in Houston on Friday (June 18th). Lee, one of the most influential members of the US House of Representatives, expressed interest in advancing Bangladesh-US cooperation in a wide range of areas, including trade, Covid-19 cooperation and Rohingya repatriation to Myanmar. This information has been given in a press release of Bangladesh Embassy in Washington.
Congresswoman Lee praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for giving shelter to over one million persecuted Rohingyas in Bangladesh and assured of her continued efforts in the US congress to resolve this humanitarian crisis. In response to the Ambassador’s request for her support to Bangladesh’s COVID-19 vaccine needs, the Congresswoman promised her help in this regard and hoped that Bangladesh would receive a fair share of the vaccines. She expressed her willingness to help revitalize the Congressional Bangladesh Caucus to promote Bangladesh’s interest in the US Congress as well as the administration. She encouraged more people-to-people contact between Bangladesh and the US, and Texas in particular, and shared her idea about establishing a sister-city relationship between Houston and a city in Bangladesh in this regard.
Houston Mayor’s interest in establishing Sister-city network
On June 21, Bangladesh Ambassador held a meeting with the Mayor of Houston Mr. Sylvester Turner at the latter’s office. The Ambassador had a fruitful discussion with the Mayor on advancing cooperation in energy, trade, port management and medical sectors. They also discussed establishing sister-city network between Houston and Chattogram and agreed that such an initiative would effectively complement our growing economic ties.
Ambassador M Shahidul Islam also attended a Reception jointly organized by the Bangladesh American Society of Greater Houston and Bangladesh Association Houston. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives Mr. Ron Reynolds, Honorary Consul of Bangladesh in Houston Mr. Marty McVey, Commissioner of Harris County Precinct-2 Mr. Adrian Garcia, the Director of Trade Development of Houston Port Mr. Dominic D. Sun and a large number of expatriate Bangladeshis living in Houston joined the event.
Earlier, US Senator Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas) sent a letter of felicitations to the Bangladesh Ambassador welcoming him to Texas and expressing his hope for further strengthening Bangladesh-US relationships. Senator Cruz also assured of his continued support in the US senate to uphold the US-Bangladesh friendship.
BP/SM
