SENATE RESOLUTION

                         1996-8679

By Senators West, Snyder, Cantu, Sellar, McCaslin, Oke, Zarelli, Owen, Anderson,  Wojahn, Hochstatter, Hale, Franklin, Spanel, Haugen, Sheldon, Long, Wood, Kohl and Rasmussen

     WHEREAS,  Over nine thousand men and women of the Washington State National Guard continue to serve the country as a key part of our national defense; and

     WHEREAS, These citizen soldiers reside in every legislative district throughout Washington and through the gift of their time and personal energies serve the needs of the people of Washington State; and

     WHEREAS, The Guard is active in promoting positive activities for the youth of our state through active involvement in the D.A.R.E. program, drug demand reduction presentations at local schools, and Camp Minuteman, a motivational summer youth experience at Camp Murray; and

     WHEREAS, The Guard makes a major contribution to our state=s war on drugs by dedicating soldiers, airmen, and equipment to support forty-three different local law enforcement agencies.  These counterdrug support efforts by our men and women last year contributed to 5,548 drug related arrests, and the seizure and destruction of nearly four hundred ten million dollars of illegal drugs; and

     WHEREAS, In local communities, the Guard continues to be an essential source of social support for local communities by making armories available for public use for classes, food banks, and community and youth activities.  The Guard also answered numerous calls for assistance from local communities for missions varying from traditional color guards to hauling food in support of anti-hunger initiatives; and

     WHEREAS, The Guard continues to demonstrate its essential state role as an integral part of the state=s ability to protect and sustain the lives and property of its citizens.  The Guard was ready when winds and floods threatened Western Washington citizens last November.  In August and September 1994, when a great conflagration sped through Central Washington and its communities, more than 3,500 Guard soldiers and airmen with mass amounts of vital equipment swelled the ranks of fire fighters and rescuers.  From the response to Mt. St Helen=s eruption, the Spokane wildfire, Skagit River Valley floods, to the Inauguration Day windstorm, the Guard has accomplished its mission in the face of frequent danger and constant adversity without the loss of life or significant injury; and

     WHEREAS, These soldiers and airmen sacrifice their time, comfort and their energies to protect and preserve the lives and property of their fellow citizens, and demonstrate the vitality of the great tradition of sacrifice and service to state and nation that characterize the Washington National Guard; and

     WHEREAS, The men and women of the Washington National Guard follow the long tradition of guardians of our democracy began with the citizen soldiers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, a tradition that is encoded in the United States Constitution as a bulwark to preserve the independence of the people and the sovereignty of the states, and is continued in our own State Constitution Act;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate express its appreciation to the families and employers of our Guard soldiers and airmen for their support without which the Guard=s mission could not be successful; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate specifically and particularly recognize the value of a strong Washington State National Guard to the economy and well-being of this state, both through the occasional performance of its state disaster relief mission, and through the ongoing benefit to local communities by the presence of productively employed, drug free, and efficiently trained Guard members and the armories that house them; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be immediately transmitted to the Adjutant General of the Washington State National Guard, the Governor of the State of Washington, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, and to the President of the United States, the Honorable Bill Clinton.

I, Marty Brown, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1996-8679,

adopted by the Senate January 26, 1996.

MARTY BROWN

Secretary of the Senate