[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 173 (Thursday, October 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 398--RECOGNIZING THE NATIONAL PEANUT FESTIVAL HELD 
ANNUALLY IN DOTHAN, ALABAMA, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PEANUT INDUSTRY 
             IN THE STATE OF ALABAMA AND THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. JONES submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry:

                              S. Res. 398

       Whereas Dr. George Washington Carver, an African-American 
     scientist, inventor, educator, and former slave--
       (1) proposed the planting of peanuts and soybeans to 
     restore nitrogen to soil left barren from cotton production;
       (2) invented more than 300 products made from peanuts; and
       (3) became the first guest speaker in the history of the 
     National Peanut Festival;

       Whereas the Incas of Peru began cultivating peanuts as 
     early as 1500 B.C., and peanuts were spread from South 
     America to Spain, Asia, and Africa;
       Whereas, in the 1700s, Africans were the first to introduce 
     peanuts to North Americans;
       Whereas, beginning in the early 1800s, the steady growth of 
     peanut production allowed peanuts to transition from being a 
     food primarily for livestock and the poor to a high-protein 
     and well-liked source of food for soldiers during the Civil 
     War;
       Whereas, in the early 1900s, demand for peanuts grew due to 
     advances in harvesting and production methods that made 
     peanuts and peanut products more easily available;
       Whereas Dr. Carver recommended peanuts as a crop to rival 
     the top commercial position of Southern cotton, following the 
     near destruction of the cotton crop due to the boll weevil;
       Whereas, in 1938, the first National Peanut Festival was 
     held in Dothan, Alabama;
       Whereas, as a result of his instrumental work in promoting 
     the peanut in the Wiregrass area of the State of Alabama, Dr. 
     Carver was invited to serve as the first guest speaker at the 
     National Peanut Festival;
       Whereas 2 awards were established at the first National 
     Peanut Festival--
       (1) the Miss Peanut Award, first won by Elizabeth Johnson 
     from Headland, Alabama; and
       (2) the Volunteer of the Year Award, named in honor of the 
     first president of the National Peanut Festival, Harry P. 
     Hall, and awarded annually since its establishment;

       Whereas the National Peanut Festival has become an 
     established event over the past 81 years and became a 
     nonprofit organization in 1952 through a resolution passed by 
     the local chamber of commerce;
       Whereas, in 1996, the statue of Dr. Carver in Dothan, 
     Alabama, was dedicated to honor the famed peanut pioneer and 
     first guest speaker at the National Peanut Festival;
       Whereas, in 2010, the National Peanut Festival moved to its 
     current location at the fairgrounds on US Highway 231 South 
     in Dothan, Alabama;
       Whereas peanuts remain a significant cash crop grown in the 
     United States that is valued at more than $1,000,000,000 per 
     year;
       Whereas children and adults in the United States consume an 
     average of 6 pounds of peanut products, including snack nuts 
     and candy, per person each year;
       Whereas, each year, individuals in the United States 
     consume approximately 133,000,000 metric tons of peanut oil, 
     a high-quality cooking oil;
       Whereas approximately half of all peanuts grown in the 
     United States originate within a 100-mile radius of Dothan, 
     Alabama; and
       Whereas, in 2018, peanut farmers in Alabama, of which there 
     are close to 900--
       (1) produced runner peanuts, the variety of peanut that 
     makes up 80 percent of all peanut production in the United 
     States;
       (2) harvested 189,000 acres of peanuts; and
       (3) produced 400,000,000 pounds of peanuts valued at 
     approximately $118,000,000: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     National Peanut Festival held in Dothan, Alabama, is of 
     remarkable importance to the State of Alabama, the United 
     States, and the peanut industry due to--
       (1) the attendance of approximately 200,000 fairgoers over 
     the course of a 10-day event;
       (2) the economic impact of the National Peanut Festival to 
     the town of Dothan, Alabama; and
       (3) the celebration in the National Peanut Festival of one 
     of the most important, useful, and well-loved cash crops in 
     the United States.

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