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February 25, 2010 - Iowa Senate votes unanimously to place statue of
World Food Prize Founder Norman Borlaug in US Capitol
February 25, 2010 - - The Iowa Senate voted 50-0 to replace one of the two Iowa statues in the US Capitol's Statuary Hall with a statue of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.
By an act of Congress in 1864, each state is allowed two statues of "notable citizens" to be displayed in the hall. Iowa's two current statues depict Samuel Kirkwood, Iowa's governor during the Civil War, and James Harlan, a US Senator from 1855 - 1865. Both men also served as US Secretary of the Interior.
In 2000, Congress passed legislation that allows states to replace the statue if a resolution is approved by a state's legislature and governor. The Senate's plan would replace the Harlan statue with a likeness of Borlaug, and move Harlan's statue to the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. The Senate resolution will now move to the Iowa House.
Borlaug, a native of Cresco, IA, died in September at age 95. His revolutionary approach to plant breeding helped feed the hungry around the world and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. In 1986, Dr. Borlaug created The World Food Prize to inspire and recognize similar achievements in food and agriculture.
A statue of Dr. Borlaug has also been commissioned by the World Food Prize Foundation for permanent display at the Norman E. Borlaug Hall of Laureates.