BySenators Cleveland, Billig, Carlyle, Conway, Darneille, Das, Fortunato, Hasegawa, Holy, Honeyford, Hunt, Keiser, King, Padden, Pedersen, Robinson, Short, Wellman, Wilson, C., and Wilson, L.

WHEREAS, Al Bauer, Jr. was born on a homestead in Fergus County, Montana, on June 6, 1928, and moved to La Center, Washington, in 1936, to farm and in 1942 moved the farm to Salmon Creek; and

WHEREAS, Al Bauer returned to Clark County to earn his G.E.D. and multiple college and graduate degrees while continuing the family tradition of farming and ranching on the family homestead and even riding some rodeos (including in the Los Angeles Coliseum); and

WHEREAS, Al Bauer had a distinguished career as a public school teacher of social studies and history in the Vancouver School District primarily at Columbia River High School which shortly after and during Al Bauer's service sent six current or former Columbia River students or faculty to the state Legislature; and

WHEREAS, Al Bauer was first elected to the State House of Representatives from Clark County in 1970, where he served for 10 years before being elected to the State Senate in 1980 where he served until his retirement in 2000 never having lost an election; and

WHEREAS, Al Bauer was selected by his colleagues to serve in several leadership capacities including Chair of the House Education Committee, Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and others; and

WHEREAS, Al Bauer's legislative accomplishments were extraordinary — from authoring the original Learning Assistance Program to assist younger school children with basic skills, a program that now benefits from more than $1.4 billion per biennium, to being the primary force behind the establishment of the WSU branch campus in Clark County, to authoring legislation placing Mother Joseph in the National Statuary Hall, to writing the original sales tax exemption for manufacturers that resulted in a dramatic high-tech expansion in the state, to authoring the 3609 Commission on Education that increased coordination of education delivery across all levels, to authoring legislation requiring increased insulation in new construction, legislation that has saved the need to build many new energy facilities; and

WHEREAS, The overarching hallmark of Al Bauer's distinguished legislative career was his character and integrity and his occasional folksy sayings such as: "We cannot be eating our seed corn here;" and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate salute Al Bauer, sailor, farmer, rancher, rodeo competitor, teacher, and legislator, and send its deepest condolences to his family and to the entire community mourning his loss; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to Al's daughter, Nancy Spies, to share with his family, including his "adopted" son, Denny Heck.