[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 18 (Thursday, February 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S822-S823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 84--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS 
REGARDING THE NAMING OF AIRCRAFT CARRIER CVN-77, THE LAST VESSEL OF THE 
     HISTORIC ``NIMITZ'' CLASS OF AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, AS THE U.S.S. 
                             ``LEXINGTON''

  Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. Inouye) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
Services:

                            S. Con. Res. 84

       Whereas over the last three decades Congress has authorized 
     and appropriated funds for a total of 10 ``NIMITZ'' class 
     aircraft carriers;
       Whereas the last vessel in the ``NIMITZ'' class of aircraft 
     carriers, CVN-77, is currently under construction and will be 
     delivered in 2008;
       Whereas the first nine vessels in this class proudly bear 
     the following names:
       (1) U.S.S. Nimitz (CVN-68).
       (2) U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).
       (3) U.S.S. Carl Vinson (CVN-70).
       (4) U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).
       (5) U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72).
       (6) U.S.S. George Washington (CVN-73).
       (7) U.S.S. John C. Stennis (CVN-74).
       (8) U.S.S. Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).
       (9) U.S.S. Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).
       Whereas it is now time to recommend to the President, as 
     Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, an appropriate name 
     for the final vessel in the ``NIMITZ'' class of aircraft 
     carriers;
       Whereas over the last 25 years the vessels in the 
     ``NIMITZ'' class of aircraft carriers have served as one of 
     the principal means of United States diplomacy and as one of 
     the principal means for the defense of the United States and 
     our allies around the world;
       Whereas the name bestowed upon aircraft carrier CVN-77 
     should embody the American spirit and provide a lasting 
     symbol of the American commitment to freedom;
       Whereas for the citizens of the United States, the name 
     ``Lexington'' has been synonymous with defense of freedom 
     from the very first battle of the War of the American 
     Revolution and is taught to American schoolchildren as the 
     place of the ``shot heard round the world'', at which our 
     forebears mustered the courage to gain independence;
       Whereas the name ``Lexington'' has been associated with 
     naval aviation from its origins in the 1920s, when President 
     Harding bestowed the name ``Lexington'' on the second 
     aircraft carrier in United States history;

[[Page S823]]

       Whereas that vessel, the U.S.S. Lexington (CV-2), also 
     known as the ``Fighting Lady'', saw active service from 1927 
     until lost in 1942 during the historic Battle of the Coral 
     Sea;
       Whereas immediately after that loss, President Franklin D. 
     Roosevelt saw fit to bestow the name ``Lexington'' on a 
     successor aircraft carrier in order to carry on the fighting 
     spirit to preserve freedom;
       Whereas that successor aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. 
     Lexington (CV-16), joined the fleet in 1943 and earned 11 
     battle stars during the Pacific campaigns of World War II as 
     she helped carry the fight to the enemy;
       Whereas the U.S.S. Lexington (CV-16) continued her service 
     to the United States after World War II, conducting numerous 
     deployments during the Cold War and completing her 48 years 
     of service as a training aircraft carrier for student 
     aviators; and
       Whereas upon the completion of her service and in keeping 
     with the traditions of the Navy, the U.S.S. Lexington (CV-16) 
     was stricken from the Navy Vessel Register on November 30, 
     1991: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the 
     aircraft carrier CVN-77 should be named the U.S.S. 
     Lexington--
       (1) in order to honor the men and women who served in the 
     Armed Forces of the United States during World War II, and 
     the incalculable number of United States citizens on the home 
     front during that war, who mobilized in the name of freedom, 
     and who are today respectfully referred to as the ``Greatest 
     Generation''; and
       (2) as a special tribute to the 16,000,000 veterans of the 
     Armed Forces who served on land, sea, and air during World 
     War II, of whom less than 6,000,000 remain alive today, and 
     serve as a lasting symbol of commitment to freedom as they 
     pass on and proudly take their place in history.

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