SENATE RESOLUTION

                            8623

By Senators Rasmussen, Johnson, Honeyford, Hewitt, Sheahan, Fraser, Spanel and Haugen

    WHEREAS, Washington produces one-third of all potatoes exported from the United States; and

    WHEREAS, The state produced 170,000 acres of potatoes in 1999 and is first in the nation in per-acre yield; and

    WHEREAS, Washington State is the second-largest producer of potatoes in the United States with a farmgate value of nearly $500 million; and

    WHEREAS, Ninety percent of all potatoes grown in Washington are marketed out of the state, with a significant portion going to Asia and Latin America via the ports of Seattle and Tacoma; and                    

    WHEREAS, Washington=s potato industry generates $3 billion in sales annually and adds approximately 28,000 jobs to the state economy; and

    WHEREAS, Washington potato growers have won Aenvironmentally friendly@ national awards three years in a row for their efficient use of water and fertilizer; and

    WHEREAS, The reputation of Washington=s potatoes is such that they are also referred to as AWatatoes@; 

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate recognizes the men and women in the state who have helped make Washington=s potato industry as successful as it is, and thanks the Washington State Potato Commission for the opportunity to sample its product today in the Capitol Rotunda; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to Pat Boss, Executive Director of the Washington State Potato Commission.

I, Tony M. Cook, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8623,

adopted by the Senate February 21, 2001.

TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate