[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1174-E1176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ARMY BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN M. McHUGH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 10, 1997

  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues here in the House 
of Representatives to join me in recognizing the birthday of the United 
States Army. June 14, 1997 marks the Army's 222 years of service to the 
United States of America.
  For 222 years, our Army's purpose has been to fight and win our 
nation's wars. America's Army exists to give the nation decisive 
victory on the battlefield and wherever else the nation needs them. 
Decisive victory today means more than simply destroying the army of an 
opponent. It can take many forms: saving lives by producing and 
delivering clean water to Rwandan refugees, restoring democracy in 
Haiti, or keeping the peace in Bosnia. Whatever the mission, the nation 
turns to the Army for help during crises, and the Army delivers 
success.
  The key to the Army's success has been its willingness to change, to 
meet the world as it is, while remaining constant in its selfless 
service and its dedication to duty, honor and country. These are not 
mere words; they are codes by which the Army lives. General Douglas 
MacArthur, in 1961, summed it up best

[[Page E1175]]

when he said, ``Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the 
sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory--and that 
if we fail, the nation will be destroyed.''
  But the world has changed, and it continues to change. For the Army, 
the 21st century began in 1989. Think about it. From 1950 to 1989, 
almost 40 years, the United States of America used its military 10 
times. Since 1989, we have used our military 25 times, a 15-fold 
increase. Let's quickly review some of the major recent actions in 
which the U.S. Army played a critical role: in 1991, Operation Desert 
Storm in Southwest Asia and Provide Comfort in Turkey and Iraq; in 
1992, relief efforts after Hurricane Andrew; in 1993, Restore Hope in 
Somalia; in 1994, fighting fires in the Western United States, Uphold 
Democracy in Haiti, and Support Hope in Rwanda; and in 1995 and 1996, 
Joint, Joint Endeavor and Joint Guard in Bosnia. Yes, during the past 7 
years, the Army has done 70 to 80 percent of the heavy lifting, and 
they have done it for less than 24 percent of the budget given to the 
Department of Defense. The U.S. Army is indeed a cost-effective force.
  The cold war may have been more dangerous, but today's geopolitical 
environment is more complex. We must deal with the crumbling of an 
empire--the breaking up nation-states around the world. We must deal 
with the possibility of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction--a 
sure knowledge that any nation with resources can buy instant terror. 
We must deal with uncertainty throughout the world--what's next, where 
are we headed? We must deal with the explosive release of religious and 
racial tensions that have lain dormant in the global village for more 
than 50 years. We must deal with difficult, emotional issues that have 
been covered up since World War II.
  Television and the other electronic news media have taken us back to 
the future. How our soldiers deal with those tensions is played our for 
us at breakfast tables and in our living rooms almost instantaneously--
24 hours a day, up close and personal.
  It is the responsibility of our generation to sustain and pass on an 
Army that is as good as, or better than, the one we inherited. Today's 
Army has evolved into a full-spectrum force. It has shed the label 
describing it as a strictly threat-based force. We have evolved beyond 
that. We can reassure our friends and allies, and we can provide 
support to civilian authorities in times of domestic crisis. If 
necessary, we can compel and deter potential adversaries.
  We've moved out on this exciting journey, and we have come a long 
way. We are bending metal and we are moving electrons across the 
battlefield. The term includes Army civilians, soldiers and members of 
industry working together to secure the future.
  We are learning the tremendous potential of situational awareness and 
information dominance. It is very reassuring to know where all our 
friendly forces are 100 percent of the time, and to know where our 
enemy is as well. With that kind of intelligence, the Army can do 
things they've never done before on the battlefield. This will clearly 
allow the Army to maintain the edge. It clearly will allow this force 
to be the world's best Army.
  We are in the execution mode of Army 21--the Army of the early 21st 
century--and changing in a fundamentally different way then ever 
before. We have information dominance.
  The Army's Chief of Staff, General Dennis J. Reimer, has said ``Army 
21 is critical, but it is only an intermediate stop along our journey. 
The focus of our intellectual efforts has shifted to the `Army After 
Next.' The Army After Next is our effort to look as deep as possible 
into the future, to look at what happens to the world in the 2025 time 
frame, to evaluate the geopolitics, the technologies, the human 
resources and war-fighting capabilities that will be available at that 
time. Army After Next is a totally different force, but we know a lot 
about it. We know we want to have greater lethality.''
  ``Army After Next is the objective force,'' General Reimer said, 
``but the road to Army After Next goes through Army 21. We must insure 
that we develop the total force design--that we have the training 
package right, that we have the force structure right, that we validate 
the doctrine, and that we insure the technology is there so we can 
leverage the tremendous potential of this great informational 
dominance.''
  General Reimer caution us against the notion that new technology will 
automatically result in large-scale reductions to the size of the Army. 
Already since 1989, the active force in all the services has been cut 
by 700,000 people--about a third. The Army has taken its share of the 
cuts, but there is a limit to the downsizing we can sustain without 
losing mission readiness. It takes soldiers with the capability for 
long term commitment to separate warring parties . . . to reassure 
fearful civilians . . . to restore public order . . . to keep criminals 
from taking advantage of the vacuum in civil order . . . to deliver 
humanitarian assistance . . . to prevent and win the nation's wars. 
Such capabilities require boots on the ground. We must never forget 
that soldiers are the essence of the Army--always have been and always 
will be.
  The Army is changing to meet the challenges of today, tomorrow and 
the 21st century. They must change if they are to remain relevant to 
the needs of the Nation. They must work smarter, and must be willing to 
take risks. Not to take risks is the greatest risk of all, because they 
will miss the window of opportunity to tap the tremendous potential 
that is there. Despite the ambiguity of future warfare and the many 
forms it may assume, the battlefield will always be a lonely, 
frightening and dangerous place. Only soldiers of character and 
courage, trained to a razor's edge--ably led, superbly equipped and in 
sufficient numbers--will survive there and win tomorrow as they have in 
the past.
  Yes, the Army is changing to meet the challenges of today, tomorrow 
and the 21st century. This past year, the soldiers bore out that fact 
very well:
  They concluded operations in Haiti, giving that country an 
opportunity for democracy.
  After years of devastation in Bosnia, we finally deployed our 
soldiers there. To a war-torn country, those soldiers brought hope and 
more than a year without war. They also showed the world that the 
United States means business when it places its soldiers on the ground.
  Time and time again, the spirit of our soldiers came through in so 
many ways. One shining example is the bridge we built across the Sava 
River. Not only was it the longest pontoon bridge since World War II--
620 meters long--but they also put it in under the most difficult 
conditions. They had sleet. They had rain. They had snow. They had 
freezing cold. They had mud up to their ankles and they had a hundred-
year high-water mark. But our soldiers wouldn't be beaten. They put in 
the bridge. They put it in on schedule so our forces could successfully 
enter Bosnia. A tremendous accomplishment and a tremendous tribute. It 
was not only a tribute to technology but, more important, to our 
soldiers and their indomitable spirit.
  The evacuation of Liberia, Operation Assured Response, involved 300 
soldiers--special forces, infantry and signal units. They were called 
upon to assist with the evacuation of American citizens from Monrovia. 
Most of those soldiers had just returned from Bosnia. They hadn't even 
turned in their cold-weather gear when we deployed them into the heat 
of Liberia to evacuate American citizens. They had no time to prepare, 
but they performed magnificently. They secured all the American 
citizens and brought them back safe. They did it without casualties--a 
flawless mission.
  The Military Observer Mission Ecuador and Peru takes place on the 
border between Ecuador and Peru--a contested border area. Fewer than 60 
of our soldiers stand guard down there. They're holding together that 
critical point of the world and they're doing a magnificent job--just a 
handful of American soldiers.
  Probably the world's most visible event took place in Atlanta at the 
Summer Olympics of 1996. Again, American soldiers--primarily Army 
National Guard soldiers assisted by U.S. Army Reserve and active-
component soldiers--provided security to the events. They insured that 
the athletes got to the right place. They insured that officials got to 
the right place. They earned the accolades of a grateful world.
  Task Force Vanguard consisted of active- and reserve-component 
soldiers sent to fight forest fires in the Northwest United States. 
It's a tough mission, but they are good at it, and their civilian 
counterparts admired them for their organization ability, their 
discipline, and the physical ability and endurance they brought to the 
task.
  Last year, we carried out Operation Desert Strike. Smart weapons from 
airplanes and ships could not deter Saddam Hussein, so--in the short 
span of 96 hours--the U.S. Army deployed over 3,500 soldiers--a brigade 
from the 1st Cavalry Division, two Patriot missile batteries, and other 
soldiers--to Kuwait. Saddam Hussein got the message, and the world 
found out what it meant when we talk about ``power projection''. Yes, 
we clearly showed last year that we are a full-spectrum force--a force 
of decision--a force based on capabilities. We're building and maintain 
the right force for the times, and we'll keep it honed to a razor's 
edge. We can't help feeling at least a tinge of regret that the colors 
of so many proud Army units had to be furled and cased. Fortunately, 
size by itself is not the most important thing, and America can still 
take pride in having the world's best army. What they lack in quantity, 
the more than make up in quality. Know this, they accept the sacrifices 
that make them better able to fulfill the motto on the Army seal: 
``This We'll Defend.''.
  The building of a force better able to defend American freedom is an 
Army birthday present all of us deserve and should be delighted to 
receive. This we'll defend--this land, this Nation, this flag that must 
never be furled and cased.

[[Page E1176]]

  In closing, let us all reflect for a moment that June 14, 1997, is 
Flag Day as well as the Army's birthday. Like our Army, the American 
flag grew out of revolution. And like our Army, the design of our 
flag--Old Glory--has evolved over the years since 1777. The liberty is 
stands for, however, remains constant. So does the Army's vigil to 
protect that liberty, because, in the words of General Eisenhower, ``A 
soldier's pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains.''
  Since 1775, more than 42 million Americans, in times of crisis as 
well as times of peace, have raised their right hands to take an oath, 
making America's Army what it is: the premier fighting force in the 
world and a values-based institution closely bound to the Nation and 
the Nation's people. They have taken that oath not to a king, and not 
to a flag alone, but to the ideals our flag represents.
  Yesterday the Army was ready, from Lexington and Concord to 
Gettysburg, and from Normandy to Bosnia. Today they are ready to fight 
and win the Nation's wars, and to keep the peace or provide 
humanitarian relief around the globe. Tomorrow, too, they will be 
ready. Wherever the time, wherever the mission, whatever the challenge, 
American can count on its Army.

                          ____________________