House Resolution 42 - Introduced

PAG LIN




                    HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.    
                            BY  ISENHART
  1  1 A Resolution recognizing the devastating Nepal
  1  2    earthquakes and the injuries and damages they have
  1  3    caused.
  1  4    WHEREAS, on April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude
  1  5 earthquake struck 50 miles west of Kathmandu in
  1  6 Nepal; and
  1  7    WHEREAS, over 19,000 people have been injured
  1  8 and more than 8,000 have lost their lives to this
  1  9 earthquake, which was the most powerful earthquake in
  1 10 Nepal in over 80 years; and
  1 11    WHEREAS, the earthquake triggered an avalanche on
  1 12 Mount Everest which killed at least 19 people, marking
  1 13 the deadliest day in the mountain's history, and also
  1 14 triggered a second avalanche in the Langtang Valley
  1 15 that left 250 people missing; and
  1 16    WHEREAS, amid weeks of aftershocks, a 7.3 magnitude
  1 17 earthquake struck about 50 miles east of Kathmandu on
  1 18 May 12, 2015, killing over 200 people and injuring
  1 19 thousands more in Nepal, India, and Tibet; and
  1 20    WHEREAS, tent cities have been fashioned for the
  1 21 hundreds of thousands of individuals who have lost
  1 22 their homes or cannot return home for fear of ongoing
  1 23 aftershocks; and
  1 24    WHEREAS, the destruction of centuries=old Buddhist
  1 25 stupas, temples, and durbar squares at UNESCO World
  1 26 Heritage Sites in the Kathmandu Valley has resulted in
  1 27 irreparable damage to Nepal's cultural heritage; and
  1 28    WHEREAS, nearly 870,000 students are unable to
  2  1 return to their classrooms after 36,000 classrooms in
  2  2 5,000 schools were destroyed and damaged; and
  2  3    WHEREAS, courageous first responders, members of the
  2  4 national guard, and civilians have worked tirelessly
  2  5 and selflessly to save the lives of those stranded on
  2  6 mountaintops, cut off in remote villages, and buried
  2  7 under rubble; and
  2  8    WHEREAS, the full extent of the damage from these
  2  9 tragedies is still not fully known; and
  2 10    WHEREAS, approximately 300 Nepalese individuals
  2 11 and families live in Iowa, many of whom are important
  2 12 community members and work for large corporations, as
  2 13 entrepreneurs, or as educators; and
  2 14    WHEREAS, several Nepalese=Iowans are currently in
  2 15 Nepal working in relief efforts, including Kailash
  2 16 Kayastha, Prajita Dahal, Surendra Bajracharya, and
  2 17 Janak Adhikari, while the Iowa Nepalese Association has
  2 18 worked to raise funds and awareness of the extent of
  2 19 the disaster; NOW THEREFORE,
  2 20    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That
  2 21 the House of Representatives expresses its deepest and
  2 22 most heartfelt condolences to the people of Nepal for
  2 23 their unfathomable losses; and
  2 24    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the citizens of
  2 25 Iowa and charitable organizations in the state are
  2 26 encouraged to be generous with humanitarian and
  2 27 rebuilding assistance; and
  2 28    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this
  2 29 resolution be immediately transmitted by the Chief
  2 30 Clerk of the House of Representatives to the Embassy
  3  1 of Nepal in the United States and the Iowa Nepalese
  3  2 Association.
       LSB 2676YH (6) 86
       tr/rj