From June 25 to 29, 2025, the 25th Slet of the American Sokol organization took place in the town of Darien, a suburb of Chicago. Nearly four hundred athletes from the Czech Republic and hundreds more from the USA, Canada, Slovakia, and Switzerland participated. The Senate committee delegation attended the event to support Czech cultural heritage in the region and the activities of Sokol members in the USA. During the ceremonial banquet held on the occasion of the Slet, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the James Čihák Award as a token of gratitude for its long-term support of American Sokol activities. The award was accepted on the Ministry’s behalf by Consul General J. Utěšený.

During their stay in Chicago, the Senate committee visited the University of Chicago and its Archives of Czechs and Slovaks Abroad (ACASA), as well as the Argonne National Laboratory, where they were introduced to the Aurora supercomputer, which ranks among the most powerful in the world, and the ATLAS particle accelerator. The Czech senators also met over lunch with their counterparts from the state of Illinois, Senator W. Preston and Senator G. Guzmán, with whom they discussed topics related to education and human rights. The meeting with representatives of the nonprofit American Civil Liberties Union, an organization active nationwide in defending civil rights, focused on migration and civil liberties. The senators also discussed business and investment opportunities for Czech entities with representatives of World Business Chicago and met with members of the Prague Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International, which maintains the partnership between Chicago and Prague.

The delegation also toured the Czech National Cemetery in Chicago, where the tomb of Antonín Čermák, Chicago’s Czech-born mayor, is located. They also visited the T. G. Masaryk Czech School in Cicero, where they delivered a variety of educational materials from the Czech Republic.