2

I can't add any superlatives to what has already been said about Norman

Borlaug. What an extraordinary lifetime of service! And still going strong!

When I think of Dr. Borlaug's achievements, I am reminded of those famous words in the Book of Proverbs: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

More than a half century ago, Dr. Borlaug surveyed a world where starvation and malnourishment were rampant. And he had a vision - a vision of a Green Revolution.

Because of that vision....because of Dr. Borlaug's tireless commitment to that vision....the people did not perish. Upwards of one billion lives have been saved across the world.

Not bad for a farm boy from Cresco, Iowa! Not bad for a kid who was educated in a one-room rural schoolhouse!

I think of the other three living Americans who won the Nobel Prize for

Peace: Elie Wiesel, Henry Kissinger, and Jimmy Carter. All extraordinary individuals. But none of their accomplishments can match the impact of Dr. Borlaug, which is just staggering in its dimension.

Many in this room see Norman Borlaug as a great scientist, a great agronomist, a great humanitarian. I see a great persuader - a man who, time and again, overcame political obstacles, cultural resistance, and education barriers in order to spread his revolution first in Asia, then in South America, and now in Africa.

Over the last several years, many of us have been working hard to restore the magnificent old Des Moines Public Library building. This building -- which will be named in honor of Norman Borlaug -- will be the new home of the World Food