Senate Resolution 10 - Introduced SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 10 BY BEALL and BOETTGER 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, this anniversary is a time of great tragedy 20 for all of Japan, and the people of Iowa share Japan’s 21 sorrow and stand beside the people of Japan in this 22 dark time; and 23 WHEREAS, the people of Yamanashi Prefecture in 1961 24 presented a beautiful bronze temple bell and bell 25 house to the people of Iowa as an expression of their 26 gratitude to all Iowans for having reached out to them 27 in their time of great need; and 28 -1- LSB 2301SS (6) 84 jr/nh 1/ 3

S.R. 10 WHEREAS, the bell and bell house were installed on 1 the south Capitol grounds in Des Moines, Iowa, with 2 great ceremony in recognition of the great respect, 3 mutual understanding, and friendship between these two 4 states; and 5 WHEREAS, having graced the Statehouse grounds for 6 half a century, a major effort is underway to restore 7 the Japanese bell site to its original condition, aided 8 by an Iowa public/private fund-raising effort; and 9 WHEREAS, officials of Iowa and Yamanashi Prefecture 10 have expressed the wish to recognize the 50th 11 anniversary of that occasion in 2011 by rededicating 12 the bell and bell house to that continuing friendship 13 and sister state relationship; NOW THEREFORE, 14 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate 15 extends its invitation to the Governor of Yamanashi 16 Prefecture and the Chairman of the Yamanashi 17 Prefectural Assembly, to visit our Capitol grounds 18 during the time of the Iowa State Fair in August 19 2011; and 20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate does hereby 21 proclaim the 50th anniversary of the Iowa-Yamanashi 22 sister state relationship and asks all Iowans to extend 23 to our visitors every courtesy and accommodation as 24 befits the rededication of the Japanese temple bell 25 and bell house as a symbol of the bond of unfailing 26 friendship between our peoples; and 27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the tolling of the bell 28 shall remind us of the lives so tragically lost in the 29 earthquake and tsunami of 2011 and its sound shall 30 -2- LSB 2301SS (6) 84 jr/nh 2/ 3