[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 74 (Friday, June 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SALUTE TO THE DETROIT ARSENAL TANK PLANT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2002

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the placement of an 
historical marker at a most significant site in Warren, Michigan. 
Especially now, as we reflect on our appreciation for our country's 
military strength and ability, it is fitting to mark the place in our 
community that has played a pivotal role in our military success in 
World War II and since. The Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, dubbed the 
heart of the ``Arsenal of Democracy,'' was an archetypical project that 
brought together government and business united in a joint cause to 
modernize the U.S. Army.
  ``Enough and On Time,'' was the motto for the tank plant since the 
first M3 tank rolled off the line on April 24, 1941. The Tank Plant 
lived up to that motto during World War II with its production of 
22,234 tanks, closely matching that of Great Britain and Germany. 
During the first years of existence, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant 
became the center for coordinating the Army's wheeled vehicle supplies 
with the establishment of the Tank-Automotive Center.
  The Tank-Automotive Center's function was to ensure that the Army's 
needs for wheeled and tracked vehicles and spare parts was met as 
quickly and as cheaply as possible. When first formed, the Center had a 
complement of forty officers and about six hundred civilians. By war's 
end that number had ballooned to five hundred officers and over four 
thousand civilians.
  Since the end of World War II, and through the Korean, Vietnam, and 
Gulf Wars the Tank Plant evolved to meet the growing technological and 
functional needs of an ever-modernizing United States Army. In 1967, 
the Tank Plant became the Tank Automotive Command (TACOM). TACOM's 
reach now spreads over five states and eighty-one countries. The TACOM 
family manages and supports over 3,000 systems and 281,000 vehicles all 
over the world.
  In 1992, the Department of Defense established the National 
Automotive Center, headquartered on the Tank Plant site. It serves as a 
conduit between the Army, industry, academia and federal agencies to 
share and develop technologies that have both commercial and military 
applications.
  TACOM will continue to play this vital role for our nation's 
military, even as the site of the former tank plant assembly facility 
continues the transition to private use. The re-use of this property 
brings economic re-vitalization to the City of Warren and southeast 
Michigan.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 
remarkable history of the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, and saluting the 
workers and leadership, both past and present, who continue the most 
important mission of keeping our Army well prepared for any challenge.

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