WHEREAS, George J. Mitchell was born in Waterville, Maine on August 20, 1933, raised by hardworking Lebanese and Irish parents who instilled in their children a formidable work ethic and a drive to do well by others; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Mitchell is one of Maine’s most accomplished and respected public servants, having served in the United States Army, as an attorney at the United States Department of Justice, as an executive assistant to United States Senator Edmund S. Muskie, as the United States Attorney for Maine, as United States District Court Judge for Maine, as United States Senator, and as an accomplished diplomat and statesman; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Mitchell was a champion for civility and progress during his tenure in the United States Senate, where he served as Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995, leading on issues of national importance including the 1990 reauthorization of the Clean Air Act and national health reform, turning down the offer of a United States Supreme Court nomination out of dedication to his legislative work; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Mitchell worked diligently on issues of importance to Maine people, including the Downeaster rail line and the Casco Bay Bridge, later establishing the Mitchell Institute, which provides a scholarship to one senior from every Maine public high school each year; and

WHEREAS, after his retirement from the United States Senate, Sen. Mitchell played a vital role in world affairs as a diplomat, serving as the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, negotiating the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 which led to lasting peace; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Mitchell has continued to make an impact on world and national affairs over many years, including through his service as Special Envoy to the Middle East under President Obama and mediating the settlement agreement after the 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA; and

WHEREAS, as President William Jefferson Clinton said when awarding Sen. Mitchell with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “few Americans have served with such distinction in so many different capacities”; and

WHEREAS, the State of Maine, the nation and the world are a far better place because of the lifelong work, character and example of Sen. Mitchell;

NOW THEREFORE, be it proclaimed that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the great State of Maine, do hereby recognize The Honorable George J. Mitchell on his 90th birthday for his countless accomplishments, his integrity, and lifetime of dedicated public service, and I encourage all Maine people to acknowledge the contributions he has made on behalf of our state, our nation and our world and to take inspiration from his work.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this eighteenth day of August Two Thousand Twenty-Three