[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 115 (Thursday, September 12, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING GENERAL BERNARD A. SCHRIEVER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pence). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is 
recognized for the remainder of the majority leader's hour, 44 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Jones) for his courageous stand, and his desire to ask 
for the Almighty's blessings on this country again and again.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Bernard A. Schriever, United 
States Air Force (retired), for his dedication and service to the 
United States Air Force, for his essential service in the development 
of the United States ballistic missile program, and for his lifetime of 
work to enhance the security of the United States of America.
  He was born in Bremen, Germany in 1910. Bernard Schriever came to 
America in 1917 and became a naturalized citizen in 1923. After 
graduating from Texas A&M, he began his military career in 1931 as an 
Army artillery officer, later transferring to the Army Air Corps for 
flight school and flying 36 combat missions during World War II. In 
1943, General Schriever became chief of staff for the Maintenance and 
Engineering Division of the Fifth Air Force Service Command, and then 
commander of the advance headquarters, Far East Service Command, which 
supported theater operations from bases in Hollandia, New Guinea, 
Leyte, Manila, and Okinawa.
  He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in August 1943 and then to full 
colonel in December at the young age of 33.
  Following World War II, General Schriever was assigned to the 
position of Chief of the Scientific Liaison Section under the Deputy 
Chief of Staff for Materiel, Army Air Force headquarters, and while in 
that post, he developed planning documents that linked ongoing research 
and development efforts with long-range military planning.
  In 1954, the Air Force's highest priority was the development of the 
first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Atlas, and soon 
thereafter development of that missile became a top national priority 
under the Eisenhower administration to counter the Soviet nuclear 
threat. At that time the Soviet Union had produced nuclear and 
thermonuclear bombs and was pursuing an aggressive rocket technology 
program culminating in the October 1957 launch and orbit of the Sputnik 
satellite.
  General Schriever led the development of the new United States 
ballistic missile program and headed the Western Development Division, 
later called the Ballistic Missile Division, which was solely 
responsible for planning, programming and developing the 
intercontinental ballistic missile. In fact, the size and funding of 
the Western Development Division was actually larger than the Manhattan 
Project.
  On December 17, 1957, the Air Force conducted the first successful 
test launch of an Atlas missile, and by 1963 the Strategic Air Command 
had deployed 13 Atlas missile squadrons with nearly 120 missiles on 
alert to meet the contemporary Soviet Union threat. General Schriever 
oversaw the simultaneous development of the Atlas missile and the 
intermediate-range ballistic missile, Thor, which achieved an initial 
operating capability in 1959. Furthermore, the more advanced Titan 
intercontinental ballistic missile reached initial operating capacity 
by April 1962. And by October of 1962, 10 Minuteman intercontinental 
ballistic missiles were placed in service in response to the Cuban 
missile crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, it is nothing short of amazing that General Schriever's 
efforts produced, within only 8 years, four complete missile systems 
for the United States, each system being more advanced and more 
complicated than its predecessor. Both the Atlas and the Titan systems 
were modified and became the workhorses for America's space program, 
and the Atlas missile is still used as a satellite launch vehicle 
today.

  General Schriever retired in 1966 as a four star general, and 
continued his service to the United States as a member of the 
President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the Defense Science 
Board, and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization Advisory 
Committee. His expertise is still sought in the continuous development 
of America's space systems.
  Walter J. Boyne, former director of the National Air and Space Museum 
of the Smithsonian Institution, wrote, ``Today's navigational, 
meteorological, intelligence, and communication satellites owe their 
existence to the work of Schriever and his team.'' Furthermore, the Air 
Force in its official biography of General Schriever recognizes him as 
``the architect of the Air Force's ballistic missile and military space 
program.''
  Furthermore, the Falcon Air Force base outside of Colorado Springs 
was renamed the Schriever Air Force Base.
  Mr. Speaker, during my service in the United States Air Force, I had 
the opportunity to work on many of the systems that General Schriever 
and his team pioneered. His name was spoken with an air of reverence, 
and the enormity of his accomplishments in developing a viable 
deterrent to the Soviet threat and ensuring American predominance in 
space was not lost on all of the Air Force personnel. I remember an 
article in Air Force News back in 1999 where General Schriever stated, 
``We envisioned that space would become critical to our warfighters. 
Even back in the 1950s when we were talking about deterrent 
capabilities, we believed space would become an important factor. 
Nowadays, thanks to space, in the first few days of a conflict, we can 
shut their eyes, ears and their ability to talk. Then you can apply 
your forces with much less risk. Just look at what happened in the 
Persian Gulf and the Balkans, entirely different from Korea and 
Vietnam. Space had everything to do with that.''
  General Schriever continues to uphold that premise, as he recently 
stated at a ceremony last month honoring space and missile pioneers 
when he said, ``We have to be number one in space. We need to keep that 
position to deter that kind of capabilities to make war.''
  Mr. Speaker, America's dominance in space today is due in large part 
to the leadership, talent, and selfless service of General Bernard A. 
Schriever. I stand here today to state that Congress recognizes and 
honors him for his dedication and service to the United States Air 
Force, for his essential service in the development of the United 
States ballistic missile program, and for his lifetime of work to 
enhance the security of the United States.
  Thank you, General Schriever. God bless you, and God bless America.

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