HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 97-4607, by Representatives D. Schmidt, Dyer, Talcott, Schoesler, B. Thomas, Koster, Cooke, Carlson, Smith, Zellinsky, Sehlin, DeBolt, Ballasiotes, Hankins, Sherstad, Backlund, Skinner, Conway, Scott, Cole, Anderson, Dunn, Carrell, Hickel, Sullivan, Quall, Mastin, Thompson, McDonald, Johnson, Benson, Lisk, Lambert, Delvin, Robertson, Mitchell, Sterk, Crouse, L. Thomas, Bush, D. Sommers, Lantz, Wensman, Clements, Chandler, Mielke, Boldt, Huff, Sheahan, Sump, Honeyford, Chopp, Hatfield, Mulliken and Morris

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

        WHEREAS, These citizen soldiers and airmen 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 Guard's helicopter outreach programs, 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 counter drug effort by providing over sixty soldiers and airmen on duty throughout the year in thirty-five different local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.  Guard men and women supported and participated in over four thousand fifty arrests and seizure of over two hundred fifty million dollars in drugs, assets, and cash; and

        WHEREAS, In communities throughout the state, the Guard continues to be an essential source of social support for our communities by making armories available for public use as classrooms, food banks, and centers for 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 antihunger initiatives; and

        WHEREAS, The Guard continues to demonstrate its essential 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 windstorms and floods threatened Washington citizens during November and December 1995.  In February 1996 over three hundred airmen and soldiers responded to disaster from flooding in twenty-one counties in our state.  Citizen soldiers and airmen from the Guard evacuated people from rooftops and flooded homes and farms.  National Guard soldiers and airmen delivered hundreds of thousands of sandbags to stricken communities throughout our state.  November 1996 brought out the Guard to help the citizens of Spokane when an ice storm disrupted the power and water supplies for thousands of homes.  In December 1996 the Guard answered the call when thirty Washington counties were struck by a devastating ice storm, a snowstorm, and the resulting floods as the snow and ice melted.  Soldiers and airmen worked side by side to help evacuate stricken homes, direct traffic, assist over-burdened law enforcement officials, transport medical personnel through snow blocked streets, and fill and place sandbags in flooded areas; and

        WHEREAS, These soldiers and airmen sacrifice their time, comfort, and energies to protect and preserve the lives and property of their fellow citizens.  In doing so, these dedicated people demonstrate the vitality of the great tradition of sacrifice and service to State and Nation that characterize the Washington National Guard; and

        WHEREAS, The Washington National Guard is composed of citizen soldiers and airmen who, in the noble and time-honored tradition of the Minutemen from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, stand ready at a moment's notice to answer the call of need from their State or Country to protect and guarantee the blessings of liberty and providence or to respond to calamity or natural disaster;

        NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives 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 House of Representatives specifically and particularly recognize the value of a strong Washington National Guard to the economy and well-being of this state, both through the 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 copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives to the Honorable William J. Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable Gary Locke, Governor of the State of Washington; the Adjutant General of the Washington National Guard; the Secretary of the Army; and the Secretary of the Air Force.

                   I hereby certify this to be a true and correct copy of

                  Resolution 4607 adopted by the House of Representatives

                                     January 24, 1997.

                              ________________________________

                               Timothy A. Martin, Chief Clerk