[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 16 (Monday, February 25, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S1135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATING THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask consent that the Senate proceed to 
the consideration of S.J. Res. 32, introduced earlier today by Senators 
Reed of Rhode Island, Levin, Warner, and others.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the joint resolution by 
title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A joint resolution (S.J. Res. 32) congratulating the United 
     States Military Academy at West Point on its bicentennial 
     anniversary, and commending its outstanding contributions to 
     the Nation.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the joint 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the joint 
resolution be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and the preamble be agreed to, with no intervening 
action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The joint resolution (S.J. Res. 32) was passed.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The joint resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S.J. Res. 32

       Whereas establishing a military academy to teach the 
     technical arts of war was a desire of many of our founding 
     fathers, particularly George Washington;
       Whereas Congress passed legislation on March 16, 1802, to 
     establish such a military academy to be located at West 
     Point, New York, a site that Washington called the key to the 
     continent because of its strategic importance during the 
     Revolution;
       Whereas President Thomas Jefferson signed the legislation 
     establishing the United States Military Academy at West 
     Point, an institution dedicated to promoting scientific 
     education to benefit the Nation and to attracting a diverse 
     array of young citizens to the Nation's military leadership;
       Whereas Sylvanus Thayer, who served as Superintendent of 
     the Academy from 1817 to 1833, established the foundation of 
     the Academy's strong academic program, strict adherence to 
     discipline, and emphasis on moral and ethical conduct;
       Whereas, under Douglas MacArthur's leadership as 
     Superintendent from 1919 to 1922, the Academy was modernized 
     to prepare its graduates for the challenges of the 20th 
     century;
       Whereas the Academy, the first school in America to teach 
     engineering, produced graduates who were responsible for the 
     construction of the Nation's first railroad lines and many of 
     its early harbor improvements, bridges, roads, and canals;
       Whereas Academy graduates introduced engineering education 
     to numerous colleges and universities, and carried out such 
     monumental engineering projects as the construction of the 
     Panama Canal project;
       Whereas Academy graduates have also distinguished 
     themselves in the leadership of such innovative scientific 
     research and development projects as the development of 
     atomic bombs in the Manhattan Project during World War II;
       Whereas Academy graduates have served with character and 
     distinction in all of America's wars and military actions 
     since the War of 1812;
       Whereas 74 Academy graduates have earned the Nation's 
     highest military honor, the Medal of Honor;
       Whereas 2 Academy graduates, Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. 
     Eisenhower, served both as distinguished general officers and 
     as the President of the United States, and many other 
     graduates have served in all levels of government;
       Whereas dozens of Academy graduates have been astronauts, 
     including the Academy graduate who is the first American to 
     walk in space and 2 Academy graduates who walked on the moon;
       Whereas hundreds of Academy graduates have utilized their 
     talents in the private sector, to provide managerial and 
     technical expertise that is responsible, in part, for 
     nurturing and sustaining a system of enterprise that is 
     admired around the world;
       Whereas the Academy has provided an opportunity for men and 
     women of all races, religions, and cultures to receive a 
     college education and to begin a life of service to the Army 
     and the Nation; and
       Whereas the motto of the Academy, ``Duty, Honor, Country'', 
     exemplifies the spirit of this Republic: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress 
     congratulates the United States Military Academy on its 
     bicentennial anniversary, recognizes it as an outstanding 
     leadership development institution that upholds and promotes 
     the highest virtues of American society, and commends all 
     those who have led and taught at the Academy for inculcating 
     its 58,000 graduates with moral, ethical, and intellectual 
     values and skills that are the foundations for the dedicated 
     service so honorably given by those graduates to the Army, 
     the Nation, and friends of freedom and liberty around the 
     world for 200 years.

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