[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 17, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1546-E1547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO NORMAN BORLAUG

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 17, 2007

  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, it is with great humility that I rise 
today to honor Norman Borlaug, the noted agricultural scientist and 
plant pathologist. Mr. Borlaug's contribution to humanity cannot be 
overstated. No one can be entirely certain how many lives he is 
responsible for saving, but the number often noted is well over 1 
billion people--an unprecedented feat in world history. The honorary 
titles and acclimations Mr. Borlaug has received throughout his 
illustrious career are too many to enumerate, and such a list would be 
too prestigious to truncate. Instead, I simply request that the record 
state how pleased and honored I am to be able to stand here today and 
recognize the occasion of Mr. Borlaug's receiving the highest honor 
this body can bestow, the Congressional Gold Medal. It's doubtful that 
this institution could find a more deserving recipient.
  Mr. Borlaug came from humble roots, working on his family farm until 
the age of 19. After some prodding from his grandfather, Nels Olson 
Borlaug, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota. One cannot help 
but wonder whether his grandfather knew when he advised his grandson, 
``you're wiser to fill your head now if you want to fill your belly 
later on,'' how literally Mr. Borlaug would take it.
  Affording a college education can be difficult, and was especially so 
for Mr. Borlaug, who obtained his undergraduate degree during the Great 
Depression. Despite the best efforts of the federal government towards 
relief and recovery, times were still rough, and many of the men he 
worked with were literally starving. Mr. Borlaug would later recall how 
much food meant to the young men he worked with--17- and 18-year-olds 
who had for months and months been unsure where their next meal would 
come from. Mr. Borlaug later noted how he ``saw how food changed them . 
. .'' and how ``. . . all of this left scars on me.''
  There is no doubt that Mr. Borlaug understood the importance of 
something as simple as food in peoples lives, how it brought hope as 
well as nourishment to the impoverished and less fortunate. Toward the 
end of World War II, he rejected offers that would double his salary so 
he could research wheat in Mexico. Devastating crop yields in the early 
1940s had led the country to resort to importing up to 60 percent of 
its wheat. Various plant diseases decimated entire crops, bringing 
discouragement and fear to the lives of Mexico's farmers. Mr. Borlaug 
was determined to make sure that Mexico could feed itself through a new 
kind of strong, high yield wheat.

  Wheat is naturally long-stemmed, and if the wheat is too heavy, the 
stem cannot bear the load and the crop collapses and spoils. This 
spoilage was common, especially if a farmer attempted to use modern 
fertilizers. After numerous attempts and years of trial and error, Mr. 
Borlaug was able to cross a strain of dwarf wheat--which is shorter and 
has a thicker, stronger stalk--with regular wheat. Due to the 
prevention of losses from disease and top-heavy spoilage, yields 
tripled. By 1956, Mexico was able to be totally self-sufficient in 
wheat production.
  In the sixties and seventies, demographers and environmentalists were 
predicting that India and Pakistan would inevitably face widespread 
hunger, resulting in millions upon millions of deaths due to famine and 
starvation. As India and Pakistan raced towards deadly conflict over 
the Kashmir region, both countries were headed toward an even more 
deadly famine. Rather than dodge the war zone, Mr. Borlaug headed 
toward the conflict, his team working fields in sight of falling 
artillery shells. As Borlaug's ``Green Revolution'' swept across Asia, 
tensions of famine and instability eased. Due to Mr. Borlaug's 
ingenuity and perseverance, both countries are now self-sufficient 
producers of cereals.
  The environmental benefits of Mr. Borlaug's techniques have saved 100 
million acres of untouched land from being plowed to grow crops, 
preserving the natural habitat of an area equivalent to that of the 
entire State of California. Since 1961, worldwide land devoted to 
growing wheat has increased by only 4 percent, while output has 
increased 2.3 times over, saving countless acres of natural habitat 
worldwide for future generations.
  As Mr. Borlaug receives the Congressional Gold Medal, we are 
recognizing both his previous accomplishments as well as those yet to 
come. Mr. Borlaug is continuing his efforts to end famine and hunger in 
the developing world by spreading his efforts to African nations long 
plagued by food insecurity. There are further mountains to move, 
further horizons to reach, further fear to extinguish and further hope 
to bring. Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be able to honor Mr. 
Borlaug not just as a product of the University of Minnesota, or as a 
great scientist or instructor, or as a great American, though he is all 
of these

[[Page E1547]]

things. It's a bigger honor to recognize him as a man who saw people 
starving when they didn't have to--who in the process of an act of 
human compassion, single-handedly changed the world. Mr. Borlaug, on 
behalf of the State of Minnesota, the United States of America, and a 
grateful world, I thank you.

                          ____________________