SENATE RESOLUTION

                             1997-8606

By Senator West, Anderson, McCaslin, Horn, Oke, Snyder, Prince, Franklin, Sheldon, Wojahn, Bauer, Swecker, Zarelli, Hochstatter, Roach, Haugen, Kohl and Spanel

     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, 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; 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; and

     WHEREAS, These soldiers and airmen sacrifice their time, comfort, and energies to protect and preserve the lives and property of their fellow citizens; 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 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 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 Secretary of the Senate 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, Mike O=Connell, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1997-8606,

adopted by the Senate January 24, 1997.

MIKE O=CONNELL

Secretary of the Senate