House Resolution 25 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 25 BY DRAKE , BERRY , MASCHER , PETERSEN , ARNOLD , ANDERSON , and S. OLSON A Resolution inviting the people of Yamanashi 1 Prefecture, Japan, to be the guests of the State of 2 Iowa at the rededication of the Japanese Bell of 3 Peace and Friendship. 4 WHEREAS, the people of Yamanashi Prefecture in 1959 5 suffered two devastating typhoons that destroyed their 6 livestock industry; and 7 WHEREAS, the people of Iowa, under the leadership of 8 Iowa native Master Sergeant Richard Thomas, the Iowa 9 Corn Growers Association, the United States Department 10 of Agriculture, and the United States Department 11 of Defense, donated resources, sending 36 lean meat 12 breeding hogs and 60,000 bushels of corn for feed to 13 that area of Japan; and 14 WHEREAS, the people of Yamanashi Prefecture 15 responded in kind during Iowa’s flood disaster of 1993, 16 when the Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture presented a 17 generous gift of monetary assistance for flood relief 18 to the farmers of Iowa; and 19 WHEREAS, the people of Yamanashi Prefecture in 1961 20 presented a beautiful bronze temple bell and bell 21 house to the people of Iowa as an expression of their 22 gratitude to all Iowans for having reached out to them 23 in their time of great need; and 24 WHEREAS, the bell and bell house were installed on 25 the south Capitol grounds in Des Moines, Iowa, with 26 great ceremony in recognition of the great respect, 27 -1- LSB 2301HH (6) 84 jr/nh 1/ 2
H.R. 25 mutual understanding, and friendship between these two 28 states; and 1 WHEREAS, having graced the Statehouse grounds for 2 half a century, a major effort is underway to restore 3 the Japanese bell site to its original condition, aided 4 by an Iowa public/private fund-raising effort; and 5 WHEREAS, officials of Iowa and Yamanashi Prefecture 6 have expressed the wish to recognize the 50th 7 anniversary of that occasion in 2011 by rededicating 8 the bell and bell house to that continuing friendship 9 and sister state relationship; NOW THEREFORE, 10 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That 11 the House of Representatives extends its invitation to 12 the Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture and the Chairman 13 of the Yamanashi Prefectural Assembly, to visit our 14 Capitol grounds during the time of the Iowa State Fair 15 in August 2011; and 16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the House of 17 Representatives does hereby proclaim the 50th 18 anniversary of the Iowa-Yamanashi sister state 19 relationship and asks all Iowans to extend to our 20 visitors every courtesy and accommodation as befits the 21 rededication of the Japanese temple bell and bell house 22 as a symbol of the bond of unfailing friendship between 23 our peoples; and 24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the sound of the bell 25 shall deepen the connection between both peoples and 26 continue to stand as a symbol of eternal peace between 27 our countries. 28 -2- LSB 2301HH (6) 84 jr/nh 2/ 2