[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 29, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10153-S10154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 204--DESIGNATING THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 9 THROUGH
NOVEMBER 15, 2003, AS ``NATIONAL VETERANS AWARENESS WEEK'' TO EMPHASIZE
THE NEED TO DEVELOP EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS REGARDING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
VETERANS TO THE COUNTRY
Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Allen, Mr. Baucus, Mr.
Bingaman, Mr. Bond, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Bunning, Mr. Campbell,
Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Carper, Mr. Chambliss, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Cochran, Ms.
Collins, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Dayton, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Dodd, Mr.
Dorgan, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Hatch,
Mr. Hollings, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Johnson, Mr.
Kennedy, Mr. Kohl, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Mrs.
Lincoln, Mr. Lugar, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Miller, Ms. Murkowski, Mrs.
Murray, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Reid, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Rockefeller,
Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Smith, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Stevens, Mr.
Thomas, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Warner, Mr. Kerry, and Mr. Levin) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.
S. Res. 204
Whereas tens of millions of Americans have served in the
Armed Forces of the United States during the past century;
Whereas hundreds of thousands of Americans have given their
lives while serving in the Armed Forces during the past
century;
Whereas the contributions and sacrifices of the men and
women who served in the Armed Forces have been vital in
maintaining the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by
Americans;
Whereas the advent of the all-volunteer Armed Forces has
resulted in a sharp decline in the number of individuals and
families who have had any personal connection with the Armed
Forces;
Whereas this reduction in familiarity with the Armed Forces
has resulted in a marked decrease in the awareness by young
people of the nature and importance of the accomplishments of
those who have served in the Armed Forces, despite the
current educational efforts of the Department of Veterans
Affairs and the veterans service organizations;
Whereas the system of civilian control of the Armed Forces
makes it essential that the future leaders of the Nation
understand the history of military action and the
contributions and sacrifices of those who conduct such
actions; and
Whereas, on November 6, 2002, President George W. Bush
issued a proclamation urging all Americans to observe
November 10 through November 16, 2002, as National Veterans
Awareness Week: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. NATIONAL VETERANS AWARENESS WEEK.
(a) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that the President should designate the week of November 9
through November 15, 2003, as ``National Veterans Awareness
Week''.
(b) Proclamation.--The Senate requests the President to
issue a proclamation--
(1) designating the week of November 9 through November 15,
2003, as ``National Veterans Awareness Week'' for the purpose
of emphasizing educational efforts directed at elementary and
secondary school students concerning the contributions and
sacrifices of veterans; and
(2) calling on the people of the United States to observe
National Veterans Awareness Week with appropriate educational
activities.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today I have the honor of joining with 54
of my colleagues in submitting a resolution expressing the sense of the
Senate that the week that includes Veterans' Day this year be
designated as ``National Veterans Awareness Week.'' This marks the
fourth year in a row that I have submitted such a resolution, which has
been adopted unanimously by the Senate on all previous occasions.
The purpose of National Veterans Awareness Week is to serve as a
focus for educational programs designed to make students in elementary
and secondary schools aware of the contributions of veterans and their
importance in preserving American peace and prosperity. This goal takes
on particular importance and immediacy this year as we find ourselves
again with uniformed men and women in harm's way in foreign lands.
Why do we need such an educational effort? In a sense, this action
has become necessary because we are victims of our own success with
regard to the superior performance of our Armed Forces. The plain fact
is that there are just fewer people around now who have had any
connection with military service. For example, as a result of
tremendous advances in military technology and the resultant
productivity increases, our current Armed Forces now operate
effectively with a personnel roster that is one-third less in size than
just 15 years ago. In addition, the success of the all-volunteer
career-oriented force has led to much lower turnover of personnel in
today's military than in previous eras when conscription was in place.
Finally, the number of veterans who served during previous
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conflicts, such as World War II, when our military was many times
larger than today, is inevitably declining.
The net result of these changes is that the percentage of the entire
population that has served in the Armed Forces is dropping rapidly, a
change that can be seen in all segments of society. Whereas during
World War II it was extremely uncommon to find a family in America that
did not have one of its members on active duty, now there are numerous
families that include no military veterans at all. Even though the
Iraqi war has been prominently discussed on television and in the
newspapers, many of our children are much more preoccupied with the
usual concerns of young people than with keeping up with the events of
the day. As a consequence, many of our youth still have little or no
connection with or knowledge about the important historical and ongoing
role of men and women who have served in the military. This omission
seems to have persisted despite ongoing educational efforts by the
Department of Veterans Affairs and the veterans service organizations.
This lack of understanding about military veterans' important role in
our society can have potentially serious repercussions. In our country,
civilian control of the Armed Forces is the key tenet of military
governance. A citizenry that is oblivious to the capabilities and
limitations of the armed forces, and to its critical role throughout
our history, can make decisions that have unexpected and unwanted
consequences. Even more important, general recognition of the
importance of those individual character traits that are essential for
military success, such as patriotism, selflessness, sacrifice, and
heroism, is vital to maintaining these key aspects of citizenship in
the armed forces and even throughout the population at large.
The failure of our children to understand why a military is
important, why our society continues to depend on it for ultimate
survival, and why a successful military requires integrity and
sacrifice, will have predictable consequences as these youngsters
become of voting age. Even though military service is a responsibility
that is no longer shared by a large segment of the population, as it
has been in the past, knowledge of the contributions of those who have
served in the Armed Forces is as important as it has ever been. To the
extent that many of us will not have the opportunity to serve our
country in uniform, we must still remain cognizant of our
responsibility as citizens to fulfill the obligations we owe, both
tangible and intangible, to those who do serve and who do sacrifice on
our behalf.
The importance of this issue was brought home to me three years ago
by Samuel I. Cashdollar, who was then a 13-year-old seventh grader at
Lewes Middle School in Lewes, DE. Samuel won the Delaware VFW's Youth
Essay Contest that year with a powerful presentation titled ``How
Should We Honor America's Veterans?'' Samuel's essay pointed out that
we have Nurses' Week, Secretaries' Week, and Teachers' Week, to rightly
emphasize the importance of these occupations, but the contributions of
those in uniform tend to be overlooked. We don't want our children
growing up to think that Veterans Day has simply become a synonym for
department store sale, and we don't want to become a nation where more
high school seniors recognize the name Britney Spears than the name
Dwight Eisenhower.
National Veterans Awareness Week complements Veterans Day by focusing
on education as well as commemoration, on the contributions of the many
in addition to the heroism and service of the individual. National
Veterans Awareness Week also presents an opportunity to remind
ourselves of the contributions and sacrifices of those who have served
in peacetime as well as in conflict; both groups work unending hours
and spend long periods away from their families under conditions of
great discomfort so that we all can live in a land of freedom and
plenty.
Last year, my Resolution designating National Veterans Awareness Week
had 55 cosponsors and was approved in the Senate by unanimous consent.
Responding to that resolution, President Bush issued a proclamation
urging our citizenry to observe National Veterans Awareness Week. I ask
my colleagues to continue this trend of support for our veterans by
endorsing this resolution again this year. Our children and our
children's children will need to be well informed about what veterans
have accomplished in order to make appropriate decisions as they
confront the numerous worldwide challenges that they are sure to face
in the future.
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