[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 134 (Thursday, December 7, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H8922-H8923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NAMING OF ARMED FORCES READINESS CENTER IN HONOR OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM
WYLIE GALT
Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
Senate bill (S. 3759) to name the Armed Forces Readiness Center in
Great Falls, Montana, in honor of Captain William Wylie Galt, a
recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Clerk read as follows:
S. 3759
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. NAMING OF ARMED FORCES READINESS CENTER IN GREAT
FALLS, MONTANA, IN HONOR OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM
WYLIE GALT, A RECIPIENT OF THE CONGRESSIONAL
MEDAL OF HONOR.
The Armed Forces Readiness Center in Great Falls, Montana,
shall be known and designated as the ``Captain William Wylie
Galt Great Falls Armed Forces Readiness Center''. Any
reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or
other record of the United States to such facility shall be
deemed to be a reference to the Captain William Wylie Galt
Great Falls Armed Forces Readiness Center.
{time} 1330
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Hunter) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on the legislation under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. HUNTER. I would also at this time like to yield the balance of my
time, after I finish my opening remarks, to the gentleman from Montana
(Mr. Rehberg), who was the sponsor of this bill, and I ask unanimous
consent that he be allowed to control the time for purposes of debate.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman may proceed.
Mr. HUNTER. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, this is one of these bills that it is good to go out on
as we close down this session of Congress. This is an excellent
initiative by my good friend from Montana to name the Armed Forces
Readiness Center in Great Falls, Montana, in honor of Captain William
Wylie Galt, who was a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Mr. Speaker, we just had a hearing under the leadership of John
McHugh, who is the outgoing chairman of the Personnel Subcommittee in
Armed Services on the Medal of Honor and on the criteria for the award.
And we had some initiatives, some good discussions with our service
representatives on ensuring that we have the appropriate guidelines for
giving this great medal. And it was an uplifting hearing, because it is
a hearing in which the acts of Americans who went far beyond the call
of duty were reviewed and were discussed.
Mr. Speaker, I think anytime somebody passes this, walks by the Armed
Forces Readiness Center in Great Falls, Montana, and they see that it
is named after Captain Galt, they are going to be reminded, perhaps
inspired, of his heroism.
The Congressional Medal of Honor is a symbol of adherence to duty,
honor and country; and I think it is absolutely appropriate that we
name, with this dwindling pool of Medal of Honor recipients, and the
gentleman, as a veteran of the United States Army knows, we now have a
very small pool of living Medal of Honor winners. So I think that
wherever it is possible to name our buildings and our institutions and
installations after Medal of Honor recipients, it is a point of
inspiration for young people that will be enduring.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I fully support Senate bill 3759. It establishes an Armed Forces
Readiness Center in Great Falls, Montana, as a memorial to Captain
William Wylie Galt. And reading his resume, reading his citation,
receiving the Medal of Honor, it is one of courage and selfless
sacrifice. There is no question in my mind this is a very good gesture,
as it should be more often, to those who exhibited the highest type of
valor for our country.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. REHBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I thank the gentleman for his kind words. And there are times in this
responsibility of being a Congressman that sometimes you forget why you
are here. It gives me tingles up the middle of my spine to think about
the Galt family and how much they have contributed to the State of
Montana and to this Nation over the years.
This legislation would name the Armed Forces Readiness Center in
Great Falls, Montana, in honor of Captain William Wylie Galt, a
recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, as was said.
The Armed Forces Readiness Center will house the Army National Guard
and the Army Reserve units who have spent recent tours in Operation
Iraqi Freedom.
William Galt was born on December 19 of 1919 in Geyser, Montana. He
was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant, Infantry, through the Army ROTC
program upon graduation from Montana State University in the spring of
1942.
I sometimes give Mr. Hunter a hard time because he did in fact attend
the University of Montana for 1 year. And I can tell you, Missoula has
not been the same since he left.
Captain Galt was in Italy during World War II. For conspicuous
gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, Captain Galt, at a
particularly critical period following two unsuccessful attacks by his
battalion, of his own volition went forward and ascertained just how
critical the situation was. He volunteered, at the risk of his life,
personally, to lead the battalion against the objective.
When the lone remaining tank destroyer refused to go forward, Captain
Galt jumped on the tank destroyer and ordered it to attack. As the tank
destroyer moved forward, followed by a company of riflemen, Captain
Galt manned the .30 caliber machine gun in the turret of the tank
destroyer, located and directed fire on an enemy anti-tank gun, and
destroyed it.
Nearing the enemy positions, Captain Galt stood fully exposed in the
turret, ceaselessly firing his machine gun and tossing hand grenades
into the enemy's zigzag series of trenches despite the hail of sniper
and machine gun bullets ricocheting off the tank destroyer.
As the tank destroyer moved, Captain Galt so maneuvered it that 40 of
the enemy were trapped in one of the trenches. When they refused to
surrender, Captain Galt pressed the trigger of the machine gun and
dispatched every one of them.
A few minutes later, an 88-millimeter shell struck the tank destroyer
and Captain Galt fell mortally wounded across his machine gun. He had
personally killed 40 Germans and wounded many more.
Captain Galt pitted his judgment and superb courage against
overwhelming odds, exemplifying the highest measure of devotion to his
country and the finest traditions of the U.S. Army.
His courage and unrivaled determination to win for his country led to
a win for America that day, but at the cost of his own life. William
Galt is a true example of not only a Montana hero, but
[[Page H8923]]
an American hero. We are proud to honor him and the great sacrifice he
gave to this country.
The U.S. Army Reserve Center on Gore Hill was dedicated to Captain
Galt in 1958. Unfortunately, in 2005, the Base Realignment Closure
Commission, BRAC, decided to permanently close Galt Hall U.S. Army
Reserve Center on Gore Hill in Great Falls, Montana and relocate units
to a new Armed Forces Readiness Center near Malmstrom Air Force Base
across town.
I believe it is a fitting tribute to name the U.S. Armed Forces
Readiness Center in Great Falls, Montana, the Captain William Wylie
Galt Great Falls Armed Forces Readiness Center. It gives me a great
deal of pleasure to have this legislation passed.
Mr. Skelton, Mr. Hunter, thank you for your patience, thank you for
your cooperation. Thanks for all that you did.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the Senate bill, S. 3759.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds of those voting having
responded in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the Senate
bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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