HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 34

BY  DRAKE, ANDERSON, ARNOLD, BERRY, MASCHER, S. OLSON, PETERSEN, ABDUL-SAMAD, ALONS, BALTIMORE, BAUDLER, BRANDENBURG, BYRNES, CHAMBERS, COHOON, COWNIE, DE BOEF, DEYOE, DOLECHECK, FORRISTALL, FRY, GAINES, GARRETT, GASKILL, GRASSLEY, HAGENOW, HAGER, HALL, HANSON, HANUSA, HEATON, HEDDENS, HEIN, HELLAND, HORBACH, HUNTER, HUSEMAN, ISENHART, IVERSON, JACOBY, JORGENSEN, KAJTAZOVIC, KAUFMANN, KEARNS, KELLEY, KLEIN, KOESTER, KRESSIG, LENSING, LOFGREN, LUKAN, LYKAM, MASSIE, McCARTHY, H. MILLER, L. MILLER, MOORE, MUHLBAUER, MURPHY, OLDSON, R. OLSON, T. OLSON, PAULSEN, PAUSTIAN, PEARSON, PETTENGILL, QUIRK, RAECKER, RASMUSSEN, RAYHONS, ROGERS, RUNNING-MARQUARDT, SANDS, SCHULTE, SCHULTZ, SHAW, J. SMITH, M. SMITH, SODERBERG, STECKMAN, SWAIM, SWEENEY, J. TAYLOR, T. TAYLOR, THEDE, THOMAS, TJEPKES, UPMEYER, VAN ENGELENHOVEN, VANDER LINDEN, WAGNER, WATTS, WENTHE, WESSEL-KROESCHELL, WILLEMS, WINCKLER, WINDSCHITL, WITTNEBEN, WOLFE, and WORTHAN

A Resolution of condolence to the people of Japan.

   WHEREAS, for over five decades the peoples of Japan and Iowa have strengthened their friendships through the cultivation of interpersonal and commercial relationships, creating a bond ever stronger as the years passed, and for that reason a tragedy for the people of Japan is a tragedy for Iowans as well; and
   WHEREAS, the people of Japan have been afflicted with a triple calamity: an earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear energy accident; and
   WHEREAS, in spite of the incalculable suffering and loss, the strength of the Japanese people remains unbroken, as rescuers work around the clock to bring aid, comfort, and safety to the countless victims; and
   WHEREAS, the people of Iowa pay special homage to the courage and honor of the so-called “Fukushima Fifty”, that group of 180 technicians who have continuously rotated shifts at the stricken reactor, despite the risk to their own safety; and
   WHEREAS, in this darkest of times, the people of Iowa now stand firm and ready with the people of Japan to undertake the work of recovery; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That the House of Representatives, on behalf of the people of Iowa, expresses its sorrow, and offers its deepest sympathy to those who have lost their loved ones, their homes, and their livelihoods in this most terrible of disasters.