House Resolution 42 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 42 BY ISENHART A Resolution recognizing the devastating Nepal 1 earthquakes and the injuries and damages they have 2 caused. 3 WHEREAS, on April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude 4 earthquake struck 50 miles west of Kathmandu in 5 Nepal; and 6 WHEREAS, over 19,000 people have been injured 7 and more than 8,000 have lost their lives to this 8 earthquake, which was the most powerful earthquake in 9 Nepal in over 80 years; and 10 WHEREAS, the earthquake triggered an avalanche on 11 Mount Everest which killed at least 19 people, marking 12 the deadliest day in the mountain’s history, and also 13 triggered a second avalanche in the Langtang Valley 14 that left 250 people missing; and 15 WHEREAS, amid weeks of aftershocks, a 7.3 magnitude 16 earthquake struck about 50 miles east of Kathmandu on 17 May 12, 2015, killing over 200 people and injuring 18 thousands more in Nepal, India, and Tibet; and 19 WHEREAS, tent cities have been fashioned for the 20 hundreds of thousands of individuals who have lost 21 their homes or cannot return home for fear of ongoing 22 aftershocks; and 23 WHEREAS, the destruction of centuries-old Buddhist 24 stupas, temples, and durbar squares at UNESCO World 25 Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley has resulted in 26 irreparable damage to Nepal’s cultural heritage; and 27 WHEREAS, nearly 870,000 students are unable to 28 -1- LSB 2676YH (6) 86 tr/rj 1/ 3

H.R. 42 return to their classrooms after 36,000 classrooms in 1 5,000 schools were destroyed and damaged; and 2 WHEREAS, courageous first responders, members of the 3 national guard, and civilians have worked tirelessly 4 and selflessly to save the lives of those stranded on 5 mountaintops, cut off in remote villages, and buried 6 under rubble; and 7 WHEREAS, the full extent of the damage from these 8 tragedies is still not fully known; and 9 WHEREAS, approximately 300 Nepalese individuals 10 and families live in Iowa, many of whom are important 11 community members and work for large corporations, as 12 entrepreneurs, or as educators; and 13 WHEREAS, several Nepalese-Iowans are currently in 14 Nepal working in relief efforts, including Kailash 15 Kayastha, Prajita Dahal, Surendra Bajracharya, and 16 Janak Adhikari, while the Iowa Nepalese Association has 17 worked to raise funds and awareness of the extent of 18 the disaster; NOW THEREFORE, 19 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That 20 the House of Representatives expresses its deepest and 21 most heartfelt condolences to the people of Nepal for 22 their unfathomable losses; and 23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the citizens of 24 Iowa and charitable organizations in the state are 25 encouraged to be generous with humanitarian and 26 rebuilding assistance; and 27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this 28 resolution be immediately transmitted by the Chief 29 Clerk of the House of Representatives to the Embassy 30 -2- LSB 2676YH (6) 86 tr/rj 2/ 3