SENATE RESOLUTION

                             8752

By Senators Rasmussen, Swecker, Parlette, Morton, Honeyford, Roach, Finkbeiner, Fairley, Prentice, Johnson, Spanel, Haugen, and Fraser

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

     WHEREAS, The state produced 160,000 acres of potatoes in 2000 and is first in the nation in per-acre yield; and

     WHEREAS, Washington 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@; and

     WHEREAS. Potato Day has become an anticipated and appreciated event in Olympia and has more than doubled in size between 1995 when 1,000 baked potatoes were served to the  present level of at least 2,000 potatoes to be served today;  

     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 8752,

adopted by the Senate February 19, 2002.

TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate