News:House approves top honor for Borlaug
By JANE NORMAN
DesMoine Register
December 5, 2006
Washington, D.C. – A congressional gold medal, the nation’s highest
civilian honor, would be awarded to Iowa native Norman Borlaug under a bill
approved today by the U.S. House.
Borlaug, 92, a native of Cresco, received the Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work in creating the “green revolution” in food production and increasing crop yields to feed a hungry world.
He now lives in College Station, Texas, but is still working for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico and the Sasakawa Global 2000 program in Africa.
The legislation authorizing the medal has been approved by the Senate, so it will be sent to President Bush for his signature. The House gave its approval on a voice vote.
“Dr. Borlaug is responsible for saving a billion lives around the world,” said Rep. Tom Latham, R-Ia., who said he worked to ensure the bill was considered before Congress adjourns from its lame-duck session this week.
Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Ia., said Borlaug was a leader in fighting world hunger. “With his research, billions of people around the world were fed. All Iowans should feel very proud today,” said Boswell.
Borlaug founded the World Food Prize, headquartered in Des Moines, in 1986. Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize, said the medal will be a tribute to Borlaug’s legacy of feeding the world.
“It is said of Dr. Borlaug that he has saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived,” Quinn said.
The U.S. Mint will design and create a unique medal for Borlaug. He will join famous recipients including President George Washington, President Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Dr. Martin Luther King.
