[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 165 (Friday, November 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14925-S14926]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  VETERANS OF THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 371, H.J. Res. 
65.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Clerk will report the joint resolution by 
title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A joint resolution (H.J. Res. 65) commending the World War 
     II veterans who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and for 
     other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the joint 
resolution.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. President, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 
65, which commends the World War II veterans who fought bravely in the 
Battle of the Bulge. This resolution was passed unanimously by the 
House on October 5, 1999 and mirrors S.J. Res. 32, which I introduced 
earlier this year.
  Mr. President, in mid-1994, the Allies were hopeful. The Russian Red 
Army was closing in on the German army on the Eastern front and German 
cities were being devastated by American bombing. The Allies had taken 
Paris, Casablanca, Tripoli, Naples, and Rome, and they were looking 
toward an end to the war in Europe. Hitler was on the run.
  In desperation, Hitler planned a surprise counterattack on the Allies 
on an 80 mile front running from southern Belgium to the middle of 
Luxembourg. Hitler hoped to break through this thinly held line in the 
Ardennes forest region, cripple Allied fuel supply lines, and inflame 
tensions within the alliance.
  On the harsh winter morning of December 16, 1944, five months after 
the Allied landings at Normandy, France, eight German armored divisions 
and thirteen Germany infantry divisions launched a brutal onslaught 
against five divisions of the United States first Army. A screaming 
hail of artillery fire sent many men to their deaths. Roger Rutland, 
First Sergeant in the 106th Infantry, described the devastation. ``We 
lost many men that first day. An infantry company was approximately 200 
men. A Company was 21 men after the first day. C Company could account 
for 59 men, and in my company, I lost only 28 men the first day. Every 
company commander was missing the first day except my company's 
commander . . . some of my better men in garrison were some of the 
first to crack under combat conditions. They were like hugging each 
other and just shivering . . . They never had seen such a thing 
before.'' The American forces were pushed back. Many ran out of 
ammunition. After three days of fighting, more than 4,000 of the 106th 
were forced to surrender. But the American forces regrouped and pressed 
on.
  For forty-one days, American forces fought against two enemies, 
German forces and the worst European winter in memory. Freezing 
conditions made it difficult to see more than ten or twenty yards 
ahead, much less fight out of frozen foxholes. Halfway through the 
battle, American troops were still waiting for the main shipment of 
winter boots. Men became cut off from their division. They lost the 
feeling in their feet as their toes froze. Some had to have their feet 
amputated at the ankles. Fifteen thousand soldiers were taken off the 
line because they suffered from frostbite. Some wounded soldiers froze 
to death. But the American forces did not give in. They pushed on. They 
were met with brutality.
  On December 17th, 140 Americans were taken prisoner at Baugnez. While 
on the road headed for Malmedy, 86 of these unarmed American soldiers 
were shot by their German captors in cold blood in what is now known as 
the Malmedy Massacre.
  In spite of this horror, American soldiers fought on and took the key 
Belgian town of Bastogne. One of the heroes at Bastogne was James 
Hendrix, a Private in the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion. 4th Armored 
Division and a native of Lepanto, Arkansas. On the night of December 
26th, Private Hendrix was part of the leading element in the final 
thrust to break through to Bastogne. He and his fellow soldiers were 
met with fierce artillery and small arms fire. But he did not back 
down. Instead, he advanced against two 88mm guns and overpowered them. 
He saved two of his fellow soldiers who were wounded, helpless, and at 
the mercy of intense machine gun fire. He fought on and in another 
selfless act, Private Hendrix ran through sniper fire and exploding 
mines to pull a soldier out of a burning half-track. Because of his 
courage and valor, because of men who fought like him, because of the 
heroic efforts of the 101st Airborne. American forces fought 
successfully at Bastogne. Private Hendrix was later awarded a Medal of 
Honor for his selfless heroism.
  When the skies cleared at the end of December, Allied air forces were 
able to assist the ground forces. By early January 1945, Allied forces 
began pushing Hitler's troops back. At the end of January, American 
troops made their way back to the lines they had held when the battle 
began. Three months later, Allied forces put an end to Nazi Germany.
  Six hundred thousand American troops, 55,000 British soldiers, and 
other Allied participated in the Battle of the Bulge. With catastrophic 
casualties, the Army constantly had to find

[[Page S14926]]

new men to take the place of fallen soldiers. Training was cut. 
Physical standards were lowered. Many of these soldiers were only 18 or 
19 years old. At the end of these forty-one days, over 80,000 American 
soldiers were maimed, captured, or killed. Nineteen thousand gave their 
lives to stave off the forces of tyranny.
  They made sure that we could live in freedom today. I believe that 
Ronald Reagan put it well when he said. ``If we look to the answer as 
to why for so many years we achieved so much, prospered as no other 
people of Earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the 
energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever 
been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been 
more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The 
price for this freedom at times has been high. But we have never been 
unwilling to pay that price.''
  Mr. President, the soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Bulge 
bought with their lives a precious gift for all Americans--freedom. it 
is this gift that we must continually cherish.
  We cannot forget these sons, husbands, and fathers who died for our 
great country. We cannot forget their families, who endured through 
days of worry and nights of grief. We cannot forget those men who were 
exposed to blistering cold, to unyielding enemy fire--to this 
unimaginable nightmare.
  For those who died at Ardennes--for those who were massacred at 
Malmedy--for those who won at Bastogne, we must remember their 
sacrifices. There is no more appropriate time than now, for the Senate 
and the Congress to honor those who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. 
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the joint 
resolution be read a third time and passed, the preamble be agreed to, 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements 
relating to the joint resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The joint resolution (H.J. Res. 65) was read the third time and 
passed.
  The preamble was agreed to.

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