[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 7, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H4147-H4148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AUTHORIZING NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY TO AWARD DEGREE OF MASTER OF 
            SCIENCE IN JOINT CAMPAIGN PLANNING AND STRATEGY

  Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1490) to amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize 
the National Defense University to award the degree of Master of 
Science in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 1490

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AUTHORITY FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY AWARD OF 
                   DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN JOINT CAMPAIGN 
                   PLANNING AND STRATEGY.

       (a) Joint Forces Staff College Program.--Section 2163 of 
     title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

     ``Sec. 2163. National defense university: master of science 
       degrees

       ``(a) Authority to Award Specified Degrees.--The President 
     of the National Defense University, upon the recommendation 
     of the faculty of the respective college or other school 
     within the University, may confer the master of science 
     degrees specified in subsection (b).
       ``(b) Authorized Degrees.--The following degrees may be 
     awarded under subsection (a):
       ``(1) Master of science in national security strategy.--The 
     degree of master of science in national security strategy, to 
     graduates of the University who fulfill the requirements of 
     the program of the National War College.
       ``(2) Master of science in national resource strategy.--The 
     degree of master of science in national resource strategy, to 
     graduates of the University who fulfill the requirements of 
     the program of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
       ``(3) Master of science in joint campaign planning and 
     strategy.--The degree of master of science in joint campaign 
     planning and strategy, to graduates of the University who 
     fulfill the requirements of the program of the Joint Advanced 
     Warfighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College.
       ``(c) Regulations.--The authority provided by this section 
     shall be exercised under regulations prescribed by the 
     Secretary of Defense.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 2163 
     in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 108 of 
     such title is amended to read as follows:

``2163. National Defense University: master of science degrees.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--Paragraph (3) of section 2163(b) of 
     title 10, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), 
     shall take effect for degrees awarded after May 2005.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Virginia (Mrs. Drake) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake).


                             General Leave

  Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks on H.R. 1490, the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1490, offered today 
by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), the ranking Democrat on 
the House Committee on Armed Services and a long-time advocate of the 
necessity for joint professional military education for Armed Forces 
personnel.
  Today, America's Armed Forces successfully operate together, and with 
allies, across the globe in incredibly complex wartime undertakings 
that would not have been possible if it were not for an underlying 
system to educate military officers and other national security leaders 
in joint, multinational and interagency operational-level planning and 
warfighting.
  For nearly 60 years, the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, 
Virginia, which I proudly represent, has been a critically important 
part of that joint professional military educational system. This week, 
the Joint Forces Staff College achieves another educational milestone 
with the graduation of the first class to complete the requirements for 
the Master of Science Degree in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy.
  These graduates of the Joint Advanced Warfighting School will be 
assigned to critical roles on the Joint Staff and in the joint 
warfighting commands. These graduates will bring with them a high 
degree of skill in joint planning, as well as capability for critical 
analysis that will allow them to be effective, creative, conceptual and 
innovative planners and commanders.
  This bill, H.R. 1490, provides the statutory authorization to the 
Department of Defense to award these and future graduates of the Joint 
Advanced Warfighting School their masters-level degrees. It is a 
milestone not only for these first graduates but also for the Nation. 
These officers and those who follow are certain to be our future senior 
military leaders. Their success will be America's success.
  I thank the Member from Missouri for his enduring commitment to the 
education of America's military leaders and urge all my colleagues to 
vote yes on H.R. 1490.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume; and I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake) for her 
support for this very, very important bill and thank her for her keen 
interest in professional military education.
  I rise today to support H.R. 1490, which would award a masters of 
science degree to the officers who complete the Joint Advanced 
Warfighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College. As the 
gentlewoman from Virginia noted, this bill will give the Department of 
Defense the authority to award graduates of the Joint Advanced 
Warfighting School their masters-level degrees. I also urge my 
colleagues to vote yes on this bill.
  It is important that Congress pass the bill and the President sign it 
so that we can present those men and women with the accolades that they 
have earned when the first class of that program graduates this coming 
Thursday at 9 o'clock in the morning.

[[Page H4148]]

  Madam Speaker, as my colleagues know, I have spent a great deal of my 
career promoting the need for a rigorous program of joint professional 
education. We have two missions as I see it: to fight the war that we 
are fighting today and to prepare for the next. It was the professional 
military education system that sustained the warfighting competency 
during the lean years between the First World War and Second World War. 
Men like General Troy Middleton, who went on to command an Army corps 
during the Battle of the Bulge, spent years and years in the school 
system studying the art and science of war. Warfare is becoming more 
complex at lower and lower levels, and our professional military 
education system must continue to evolve to develop the thinking 
warriors the future will require.
  The Joint Advanced Warfighting School, or JAWS as it is called, at 
the Joint Forces Staff College is a wonderful example of how joint 
professional military education has grown to meet the new and unique 
challenges military professionals face. This first class of JAWS has 
given its graduates the tools to be able to create campaign-quality 
concepts, employ all elements of national power, and succeed as joint 
force operational and strategic level planners as well and commanders. 
These graduates will populate the Joint Staff and Combatant commands 
with officers expert in the joint planning processes and capable of 
critical analysis in the application of all aspects of national power 
across the full range of military operations.
  The student of the JAWS program have spent the past year immersed in 
a rigorous course of study. They have completed a curriculum focused on 
``high end'' operational art consisting of courses such as Foundations 
in Theory of War, Strategic Foundations, and Operational Art and 
Campaigning, all of which blend theory foundations and historical 
evidence to provide them with a developmental framework. They have 
honed their decision-making, problem-solving, and planning skills using 
seminar exercises, war games, as well as simulations.
  Additionally, the JAWS course included several field research trips. 
The students participated in a comprehensive historical staff ride to 
Gettysburg, for example. They also traveled here to Washington and 
spent a week with senior military and governmental policymakers as well 
as practitioners.
  Madam Speaker, I am sure my colleagues will agree that joint 
professional military education is so very important. Sir William 
Francis Butler put it very well when he said, years and years ago, 
``The Nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation 
between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its 
fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards.''
  That is why I believe, Madam Speaker, that Congress should vote to 
support H.R. 1490 so we may recognize the students of the Joint 
Advanced Warfighting School with a degree they have properly earned.
  Madam Speaker, having no further speakers, I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mrs. DRAKE. Madam Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1490, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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