[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 13 (Tuesday, February 7, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S770-S771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. Harkin):
S. 2250. A bill to award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Norman E.
Borlaug; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am calling upon Congress to honor Dr.
Norman E. Borlaug, the man of whom it is often said ``has saved more
lives than any other person who has ever lived,'' with the
Congressional Gold Medal.
Dr. Borlaug is commonly known in the agricultural world and beyond as
the father of the Green Revolution. His accomplishments in terms of
bringing radical change to world agriculture and uplifting humanity are
without parallel.
Named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential minds of
the 20th Century, Norman E. Borlaug is one of the great stories of our
time. Norm, as he is known to all who work with him, was born in 1914
to Norwegian-American parents outside the town of Cresco in northeast
Iowa near the Iowa/Minnesota border. His boyhood was spent on a Norman
Rockwellesque farm and in a one-room schoolhouse. Eventually Norm found
his way to the University of Minnesota where he became a star in Big
Ten Wrestling and earned a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology.
Following World War II, he spent 20 years working in the poorest
areas of rural Mexico. It was there that Dr. Borlaug made his
breakthrough achievement in developing a strand of wheat that could
exponentially increase yields while actively resisting disease.
With the strong support of the governments involved, Dr. Borlaug's
Green Revolution uplifted hundreds of thousands of the rural poor in
Mexico and saved hundreds of millions from famine and outright
starvation in India and Pakistan. His approach to wheat production next
spread throughout the Middle East and was then adapted to rice growing,
increasing the number of lives saved to more than one billion people.
In 1970 Norman E. Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the only
person working in agriculture to ever be so honored, for a lifetime of
work to feed a hungry world. Since then, he has received numerous
honors and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, The
National Academy of Sciences' highest honor--the Public Service Medal,
and the Rotary International Award for World Understanding and Peace.
At age 91, Dr. Borlaug continues to alleviate poverty and
malnutrition. He currently serves as president of Sasakawa Global 2000
Africa Project, which seeks to extend the benefits of agricultural
development to the 800 million people still mired in poverty and
malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Finally, Dr. Borlaug continues as Chairman of the Council of Advisors
[[Page S771]]
for the World Food Prize, an organization he created in 1986 to be the
``Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture''.
The World Food Prize presents $250,000 award each October at an
international ceremony in Des Moines, IA, to the Laureate who has made
an exceptional achievement similar to Dr. Borlaug's breakthrough forty
years ago. Beyond recognizing these people for their personal
accomplishments, Borlaug saw the World Food Prize as a means of
establishing role models who would inspire others.
In the 20 years of its existence, the World Food Prize has honored
Laureates from Bangladesh, India, China, Mexico, Denmark, Sierra Leone,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
While Dr. Borlaug was born in Iowa, he is truly a citizen of all of
America and, indeed, of all the world. The State of Minnesota has
enacted a special day of recognition in his honor; He continues as a
teacher, serving as a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University;
and he has received honorary degrees from colleges and universities in
virtually every state of the union.
Reflecting this fact, a year ago the U.S. Senate passed a resolution
designating October 16 as World Food Prize Day in America in honor of
Dr. Borlaug. Beyond that, his name is widely recognized in Mexico,
India, Pakistan and the Middle East reflecting his great humanitarian
achievements in those countries. And he continues to be honored
throughout South Asia and Africa, for his ongoing efforts to expand the
benefits of the Green Revolution to the hundreds of millions of people
still suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition.
Dr. Borlaug's achievements are in keeping with the recent
presentation of Congressional Gold Medals.
For over a half century, the scientific and humanitarian achievements
of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug have kept starvation at bay for millions of
people in third world countries. Through the passage of this
legislation, the United States Senate can recognize the humanitarian
contributions Dr. Borlaug has made to the entire world. The man who has
saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived certainly
deserves the highest honor the Congress can bestow.
As the only working farmer in the U.S. Senate, I am proud and honored
to introduce this important bill, and I call upon my colleagues to
support this noble legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the text
of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2250
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Tribute to Dr.
Norman E. Borlaug Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, was born in Iowa where he grew
up on a family farm, and received his primary and secondary
education.
(2) Dr. Borlaug attended the University of Minnesota where
he received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees and was also a star
NCAA wrestler.
(3) For the past 20 years, Dr. Borlaug has lived in Texas
where he is a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University.
(4) Dr. Borlaug also serves as President of the Sasakawa
Africa Association.
(5) Dr. Borlaug's accomplishments in terms of bringing
radical change to world agriculture and uplifting humanity
are without parallel.
(6) In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Dr. Borlaug
spent 20 years working in the poorest areas of rural Mexico.
It was there that Dr. Borlaug made his breakthrough
achievement in developing a strand of wheat that could
exponentially increase yields while actively resisting
disease.
(7) With the active support of the governments involved,
Dr. Borlaug's ``green revolution'' uplifted hundreds of
thousands of the rural poor in Mexico and saved hundreds of
millions from famine and outright starvation in India and
Pakistan.
(8) Dr. Borlaug's approach to wheat production next spread
throughout the Middle East. Soon thereafter his approach was
adapted to rice growing, increasing the number of lives Dr.
Borlaug has saved to more than a billion people.
(9) In 1970, Dr. Borlaug received the Nobel Prize, the only
person working in agriculture to ever be so honored. Since
then he has received numerous honors and awards including the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Public Service Medal, the
National Academy of Sciences' highest honor, and the Rotary
International Award for World Understanding and Peace.
(10) At age 91, Dr. Borlaug continues to work to alleviate
poverty and malnutrition. He currently serves as president of
Sasakawa Global 2000 Africa Project, which seeks to extend
the benefits of agricultural development to the 800,000,000
people still mired in poverty and malnutrition in sub-Saharan
Africa.
(11) Dr. Borlaug continues to serve as Chairman of the
Council of Advisors of the World Food Prize, an organization
he created in 1986 to be the ``Nobel Prize for Food and
Agriculture'' and which presents a $250,000 prize each
October at a Ceremony in Des Moines, Iowa, to the Laureate
who has made an exceptional achievement similar to Dr.
Borlaug's breakthrough 40 years ago. In the almost 20 years
of its existence, the World Food Prize has honored Laureates
from Bangladesh, India, China, Mexico, Denmark, Sierra Leone,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
(12) Dr. Borlaug has saved more lives than any other person
who has ever lived, and likely has saved more lives in the
Islamic world than any other human being in history.
(13) Due to a lifetime of work that has led to the saving
and preservation of an untold amount of lives, Dr. Norman E.
Borlaug is deserving of America's highest civilian award: the
congressional gold medal.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The President Pro Tempore of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
are authorized to make appropriate arrangements for the
presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of
appropriate design, to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, in recognition
of his enduring contributions to the United States and the
world.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of
the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'')
shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and
inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the
gold medal struck under section 3 at a price sufficient to
cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use
of machinery, and overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold
medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.
(a) National Medal.--The medal struck under this Act is a
national medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United
States Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of
title 31, United States Code, all duplicate medals struck
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authority to Use Fund Amounts.--There are authorized to
be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise
Fund, such sums as may be necessary to pay for the cost of
the medals struck under this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of
duplicate bronze medals under section 4 shall be deposited in
the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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