III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 398 

Recognizing the National Peanut Festival held annually in Dothan, Alabama, 

and the importance of the peanut industry in the State of Alabama 

and the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 31, 2019 

Mr. JONES submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the National Peanut Festival held annually in 

Dothan, Alabama, and the importance of the peanut 

industry in the State of Alabama and the United States. 

Whereas Dr. George Washington Carver, an African-American scientist, inventor, educator, and former slave— 

(1) proposed the planting of peanuts and soybeans 

to restore nitrogen to soil left barren from cotton production; 

(2) invented more than 300 products made from 

peanuts; and 

(3) became the first guest speaker in the history of 

the National Peanut Festival; 


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•SRES 398 IS 

Whereas the Incas of Peru began cultivating peanuts as early 

as 1500 B.C., and peanuts were spread from South 

America to Spain, Asia, and Africa; 

Whereas, in the 1700s, Africans were the first to introduce 

peanuts to North Americans; 

Whereas, beginning in the early 1800s, the steady growth of 

peanut production allowed peanuts to transition from 

being a food primarily for livestock and the poor to a 

high-protein and well-liked source of food for soldiers 

during the Civil War; 

Whereas, in the early 1900s, demand for peanuts grew due 

to advances in harvesting and production methods that 

made peanuts and peanut products more easily available; 

Whereas Dr. Carver recommended peanuts as a crop to rival 

the top commercial position of Southern cotton, following 

the near destruction of the cotton crop due to the boll 

weevil; 

Whereas, in 1938, the first National Peanut Festival was 

held in Dothan, Alabama; 

Whereas, as a result of his instrumental work in promoting 

the peanut in the Wiregrass area of the State of Alabama, Dr. Carver was invited to serve as the first guest 

speaker at the National Peanut Festival; 

Whereas 2 awards were established at the first National Peanut Festival— 

(1) the Miss Peanut Award, first won by Elizabeth 

Johnson from Headland, Alabama; and 

(2) the Volunteer of the Year Award, named in 

honor of the first president of the National Peanut Festival, Harry P. Hall, and awarded annually since its establishment; 


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•SRES 398 IS 

Whereas the National Peanut Festival has become an established event over the past 81 years and became a nonprofit organization in 1952 through a resolution passed 

by the local chamber of commerce; 

Whereas, in 1996, the statue of Dr. Carver in Dothan, Alabama, was dedicated to honor the famed peanut pioneer 

and first guest speaker at the National Peanut Festival; 

Whereas, in 2010, the National Peanut Festival moved to its 

current location at the fairgrounds on US Highway 231 

South in Dothan, Alabama; 

Whereas peanuts remain a significant cash crop grown in the 

United States that is valued at more than 

$1,000,000,000 per year; 

Whereas children and adults in the United States consume 

an average of 6 pounds of peanut products, including 

snack nuts and candy, per person each year; 

Whereas, each year, individuals in the United States consume 

approximately 133,000,000 metric tons of peanut oil, a 

high-quality cooking oil; 

Whereas approximately half of all peanuts grown in the 

United States originate within a 100-mile radius of 

Dothan, Alabama; and 

Whereas, in 2018, peanut farmers in Alabama, of which there 

are close to 900— 

(1) produced runner peanuts, the variety of peanut 

that makes up 80 percent of all peanut production in the 

United States; 

(2) harvested 189,000 acres of peanuts; and 

(3) produced 400,000,000 pounds of peanuts valued 

at approximately $118,000,000: Now, therefore, be it 


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•SRES 398 IS 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 

2 National Peanut Festival held in Dothan, Alabama, is of 

3 remarkable importance to the State of Alabama, the 

4 United States, and the peanut industry due to— 

5 (1) the attendance of approximately 200,000 

6 fairgoers over the course of a 10-day event; 

7 (2) the economic impact of the National Peanut 

8 Festival to the town of Dothan, Alabama; and 

9 (3) the celebration in the National Peanut Fes10 tival of one of the most important, useful, and well11 loved cash crops in the United States. 

Æ 


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