[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 126 (Friday, September 19, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9730-S9731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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           THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

 Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, yesterday I attended a ceremony to 
mark the 50th anniversary of the Department of Defense. It was a most 
impressive event to honor the men and women who serve in the defense of 
our Nation.
  Our former colleague, Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, highlighted 
the achievements of the Department over these past 50 years. He 
reminded us of the Department's great legacy and challenges that lie 
ahead in the future.
  The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and my good friend, 
Gen. Joe Ralston, also spoke at this event. His remarks illustrated the 
significant changes that have occurred since the Department's inception 
and saluted our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who so honorably 
serve our country.
  Mr. President, I request that the text of the remarks of both 
Secretary Cohen and General Ralston be printed in the Congressional 
Record.
  The remarks follow:

    Remarks by William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense, on the 50th 
      Anniversary of the Department of Defense, September 17, 1997

       The poet Shelly called history ``a cyclic poem written by 
     time upon our memories.''
       Let me describe a certain pivot point in history: It is a 
     time of daunting security challenges both at home and abroad. 
     In Europe, the United States is proposing a bold plan to 
     advance democracy, free markets and shared security. In the 
     Pacific, America is the dominant power, but Korea remains 
     dangerously divided and China is in a period of profound 
     transition, its future uncertain, its intentions unclear. 
     Meanwhile, breathtaking advances in technology are fueling a 
     revolution in military affairs. And America's defense 
     establishment is reorienting itself to confront the enormous 
     security challenges of the new era.
       I could be talking about September, 1997, for this picture 
     captures our world today. But as history is ``a cyclic 
     poem,'' this picture also describes September, 1947, when the 
     Department of Defense came into being.
       We have been marking many golden anniversaries of late. 
     These are the days of remembrance, a time to recall the 
     historic trials and triumphs of half a century. The hallowed 
     days--D-Day, VE-Day, VJ-Day. The historic deeds--the Marshall 
     Plan, the National Security Act. And the enduring 
     establishments--the United Nations, the US Air Force, the 
     Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense.
       Why do we recall these trials and triumphs? Because they 
     can help us face the portents and possibilities of the 
     century ahead. As we talk of tomorrow, we must be mindful to 
     hold up the lamplight of history, so that we may walk with 
     confidence on the footpath to the future.
       We are here today to celebrate not the golden anniversary 
     of a bureaucracy, or that of a building--but rather of a bold 
     idea. That idea was for a National Military Establishment 
     that unified all of our military services, land, sea and air, 
     under a single Department with a civilian chief, the whole 
     greater than the sum of its remarkable parts.
       By 1947, it was an idea whose time had come. The generation 
     that won the Second World War set out to win the peace. They 
     understood that to win the peace, America had to be engaged 
     in global affairs as a global leader. They had learned from 
     personal experience--from their ``blood, toil, tears and 
     sweat''--the central lesson of this century: That when 
     America neglects the problems of the world, the world often 
     brings its problems to America's doorstep. And so they 
     created a Department of Defense that would engage the 
     world with gathered strength and purpose.
       To witness the wisdom of this bold idea and its historic 
     achievements, you only have to walk the corridors of the 
     Pentagon.
       You will walk past George Marshall's desk. He was soldier 
     who led our forces to victory against fascism; a diplomat who 
     set forth a bold vision for a new Europe, healed, whole, free 
     and linked to America in the spirit of help and hope; and a 
     Secretary of Defense who helped to halt the columns of 
     communism on the Korean peninsula.
       You will walk past a section of the Berlin Wall, once a 
     symbol of tyranny and peril, now a symbol of the triumph of 
     freedom, and a triumph of the Department of Defense that 
     trained, equipped and maintained the US Armed Forces--forces 
     that gave America and our allies the power and the will to 
     stand fast and stand firm through 40 winters of the Cold War, 
     and gave us the opportunity to secure a lasting peace in 
     Europe and Asia.
       As you walk through the corridors of the Pentagon, you will 
     see not only the artifacts of our trials and triumphs, but 
     the individuals who endured the trials and ensured the 
     triumphs.
       You will see the portraits of the military leadership, and 
     also those who led this Department--the Secretaries of 
     Defense--some of whom have graced this ceremony with their 
     presence today. Secretary Cap Weinberger, Secretary Frank 
     Carlucci, Secretary Bill Perry: Each one of you has protected 
     and defended those who protect and defend our nation. Each 
     one of you has left the Department in better stead than when 
     you arrived, and with a challenge to your successor to 
     continue the legacy. I am honored and humbled to accept--and 
     extend--this challenge.
       But the legacy of leadership extends to those who were 
     ready and willing to be led. And as you walk these corridors, 
     you see the legacy of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines 
     enshrined on our walls--from the Hall of Heroes that recall 
     exceptional valor, to the exhibits that remember forgotten 
     service--the Women's Military Corridor, the exhibits for 
     Hispanic veterans and the Tuskegee Airmen.
       To walk these corridors is to learn of courage and 
     commitment; of service and sacrifice; of grit and greatness: 
     From the frozen hills of Korea, to the twisted jungles of 
     Vietnam; from Beirut to Grenada; Panama to Somalia; to the 
     searing sands of Saudi Arabia and the mud and ice of Bosnia.
       I dedicate our golden anniversary to their golden 
     achievements.
       In so doing, let me make a point which often becomes 
     obscured in the reports which focus on our flaws: We have the 
     best-trained, best-equipped and best-educated military in the 
     history of the world, and we need to remember that despite 
     our shortcomings, which we are eager to examine and confront 
     openly, our forces are the envy of every other nation on this 
     planet.
       Finally, if you walk the corridors of the Pentagon, you 
     will meet the backbone of this institution: The civilian 
     employees who serve this Department and support the troops. 
     The success of this Department is their success too.
       But as we recall our trials and triumphs of the past, we 
     face a new challenge: In 1997--as in 1947--we must build a 
     Department of Defense that can face the dangers and the 
     daring possibilities of the future. For a brave new world 
     stretches beyond these lawns, past those shining monuments 
     across the river. It is a world of momentous opportunity--of 
     flourishing markets, stunning technologies, and new 
     democracies. But it is also a world of startling new 
     dangers--ethnic conflict, regional aggressors, and terrorism.
       Fifty years hence, let those who look back on 1997 say 
     that, we too, were not just a building or a bureaucracy, but 
     that we too were bold. That we too were unafraid to think 
     anew, to organize anew, to act anew. Let them say that by 
     embracing the spirit of our era, we too were able to seize 
     the challenges of our time: The challenge to shape the world; 
     to respond to its threats; and to prepare for the future; to 
     harness a Revolution in Military Affairs to give our forces 
     the technology to dominate the battlefield; and to foment a 
     Revolution in Business Affairs, to create a 21st Century 
     Pentagon--a model of action, efficiency, economy and 
     versatility.
       Fifty years from now, let them say that our leadership, 
     vision and courage helped catapult America into a new 
     century. And 50 years from now, let them say that we 
     bequeathed to them, what our predecessors bequeathed to us: 
     The best trained, best equipped, best prepared military in 
     history, the pride of our nation and the envy of the world.
       I will close with the words from Daniel Webster, speaking 
     at the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument: ``And now let 
     us indulge an honest exultation in the conviction of the 
     benefit which the example of our country has produced and is 
     likely to produce on

[[Page S9731]]

     human freedom and happiness. And let us endeavor to 
     comprehend in all its magnitude and to feel in all its 
     importance the part assigned to us in the great drama of 
     human affairs.''

 Remarks by Gen. Joseph Ralston, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
 Staff on the 50th Anniversary of the Department of Defense, September 
                                17, 1997

       Secretary Cohen, Former Secretaries Weinberger, Carlucci, 
     and Perry, Members of Congress, Gen. Jones, distinguished 
     guests, ladies and gentlemen:
       I am very proud to be here as the representative of the 
     more than 3 million people currently serving in the defense 
     of our nation as soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast 
     guardsmen--active duty, National Guard, Reserve, and 
     civilians. It is an honor to be a part of this splendid 
     anniversary; a celebration to commemorate fifty years of 
     unwavering leadership to our armed forces.
       Take a moment and put yourself back in time. Fifty years 
     ago we had just won a world war and the country was still 
     celebrating its victory. The might of the military machine 
     was not broken, at least the American public didn't think so.
       But we learned many lessons the hard way during that war 
     and the leaders who fought that war knew we could and should 
     do better.
       These visionaries understood that to stand still would put 
     the United States back where we were before the war . . . as 
     isolationists.
       Imagine if you can, the resistance these men faced as they 
     attempted to reorganize our armed forces . . . a force that 
     only a year prior had defeated a deranged dictator and an 
     imperial army and navy.
       These leaders, both civilian and military, realized the 
     daunting task before them, but charged forward, amid intense 
     debate, and agreed upon a ``unification'' course.
       Although the reforms in 1947 were immense, ten years later 
     the leaders of our country recognized the requirement for a 
     course correction.
       The Act of 1958, spearheaded by President Eisenhower, 
     provided that course correction and called for the 
     organization of all combat forces into unified commands and 
     as he stated, ``singly led and prepared to fight as one, 
     regardless of Service.''
       With this new guidance our armed forces marched on for over 
     25 years. However, in 1986 a significant change occurred with 
     the enactment of the Goldwater-Nichols Act. It not only 
     reinforced our joint warfighting doctrine, but it also 
     strengthened the civilian authority in the Department and 
     increased the responsibility and authority of the Chairman. 
     Today we have an armed force that is the envy of every nation 
     on this Earth--and the pride of Americans.
       Make no mistake . . . it is the magnificent men and women 
     in uniform who make the sacrifices, who walk the jungles, fly 
     over the deserts, sail on and under the seas, that provide 
     the peace, freedom, and stability we enjoy as a Nation today.
       But we must resist the temptation to relax and believe we 
     have it just right. We must fight the complacency. We have 
     much left to do as we revolutionize the way we do business, 
     as we make the hard choices that will always put the needs of 
     America's sons and daughters first.
       Today I proudly salute the men and women of the Department 
     of Defense.

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