SR 108 (LSB 5617SS (8) 85)

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 108

BY  JOHNSON

A Resolution celebrating the installation of a statue of Norman Borlaug in our nation’s Capitol and recognizing March 25, 2014, as National Agriculture Day in the United States.

   WHEREAS, Norman Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914, on a farm in Howard County, and attended kindergarten through 8th grade in a one-room school house and then was a star wrestler at Cresco High School; and
   WHEREAS, Dr. Borlaug was a distinguished graduate of a United States land-grant university and served on the faculty of another land-grant university, and as such reflects the great achievements of that superb national educational system; and
   WHEREAS, Dr. Borlaug, a 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, the World Food Prize founder, and the “Father of the Green Revolution” saved an estimated one billion lives with his advances in wheat science; and
   WHEREAS, among his numerous awards and accolades Dr. Borlaug was awarded both the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, America’s highest civilian honors, for his prodigious accomplishments in fighting hunger; and
   WHEREAS, as each state is allowed two statues of notable citizens to be displayed in the United States Capitol’s Statuary Hall, the Iowa General Assembly in 2011 authorized the commission of a statue honoring Dr. Borlaug; and
   WHEREAS, in March 2011, the Iowa General Assembly unanimously passed, and the Governor signed, a resolution placing a statue of Dr. Borlaug in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the Governor then appointed a committee to raise the funds to commission an artist to create such a statue; and
   WHEREAS, donations from generous benefactors have covered all expenses in creating and transporting the statue; and
   WHEREAS, March 25, 2014, is National Agriculture Day throughout the United States and the 100th anniversary of Dr. Borlaug’s birth; and
   WHEREAS, the bronze statue of Dr. Borlaug will be unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on March 25, 2014, as one of two statues that represent the state of Iowa in Statuary Hall; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate recognizes March 25, 2014, as National Agriculture Day in the United States and celebrates the life’s work and memory of Dr. Norman Borlaug, soon to be memorialized by a statue in our nation’s Capitol.