HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 97-4652, by Representatives Robertson and McDonald

     WHEREAS, Harry and Bertha Holt founded Holt International in 1956 in response to seeing thousands of children left homeless after the Korean War; and

     WHEREAS, In 1956, at the age of fifty-one and fifty, the Holts adopted eight Korean orphans, drawing gasps from friends who worried that tending their six birth children would make the burden of adoption too heavy; and

     WHEREAS, A United States government official assigned to oversee those eight adoptions suggested that the Holts might be too old to tackle such a demanding task; and

     WHEREAS, At the age of ninety-three Mrs. Holt still rises every morning promptly at 5:30 a.m. for her daily half-mile run; and

     WHEREAS, In 1966 Mrs. Holt was awarded American Mother of the Year, and in 1995 was the first foreigner to receive Korea's National Merit Award; and

     WHEREAS, Mrs. Holt believes every child deserves a home of his or her own and is currently bringing children and families together in over ten nations; and

     WHEREAS, In four decades more than one hundred thousand of the world's children have found permanent homes through the adoption and child welfare programs; and

     WHEREAS, Mrs. Holt has placed more than one thousand children with families in Washington state alone; and

     WHEREAS, Mrs. Holt is still actively working for children and families and has become "grandma" to the over one hundred thousand orphans she has helped;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor and pay tribute to Mrs. Holt's forty years of leadership in the field of international adoption and permanency planning for children.

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

   Resolution 4652 adopted by the House of Representatives

                        April 4,1997.

              ________________________________

               Timothy A. Martin, Chief Clerk