[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 136 (Friday, September 14, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1876]]
   TRIBUTE TO THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA'S 
                     DEPARTMENT OF PLANT PATHOLOGY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TIMOTHY J. WALZ

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 14, 2007

  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, today I rise to commemorate the 
100th anniversary of the Department of Plant Pathology at the 
University of Minnesota.
  I would like to applaud the University of Minnesota's Department of 
Plant Pathology for its dedication to furthering knowledge of plant 
pathology and its work in developing genetic and biological controls 
that have helped increase crop production in Minnesota and across the 
world. The contributions of this Department to ecological plant 
genetics, and the work done by the Department's researchers to improve 
plant resistance to diseases and weather conditions, have been 
profoundly important to world's ability to raise higher quality crops 
and feed a growing population.
  For well over a century, multi-national food companies have 
originated in Minnesota. Because of the importance of the grain milling 
industry to the economy of our then-young state, the threat of disease 
to the wheat, barley or oat crop was cause for great concern. Early 
members of this Department helped ensure that these key crops remained 
healthy, with research that stabilized crop production and prevented 
losses from disease.
  Today, the Department is recognized as a national and global leader 
in Plant Pathology and its research continues to improve the production 
capabilities and practices of farmers across the nation and around the 
world. For example, the Department's work on Soybean Aphids has lead to 
the use of Asian Wasps as a biological control, a research breakthrough 
that may save soybean producers millions of dollars each year in 
reduced input costs and prevented crop losses.
  The impact of this Department is also measured through the success of 
its alumni. Dr. Norman Borlaug earned his bachelor's degree from this 
Department in 1937, his master's degree in 1939 and his doctorate in 
1942. But that was only the start of the recognition that this 
remarkable alumni would receive. In 1970, he won the Nobel Peace Prize, 
and in July, he received the Congressional Gold Medal.
  A plant pathologist by training, he has spent the better part of six 
decades fighting hunger in Africa, Asia and Mexico. With his tireless 
work in breeding high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of wheat, 
he has saved--by some estimates--as many as one billion lives from 
malnutrition and starvation.
  For their 100 years of service to the farmers, businesses and 
citizens of Minnesota and the world, I commend the faculty, staff, 
students and alumni of the University of Minnesota's Department of 
Plant Pathology and I look forward to many more years of their 
continued success.

                          ____________________