[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 12 (Monday, January 22, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H793-H794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SHRINKING MILITARY IS GETTING BIGGER

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, disturbing news: the U.S. military is smaller 
in size than any time in the last 50 years and continues to shrink, 
according to USA Today. But those who apply are larger than ever.
  Only 1.4 million people wear the military uniform; 95 percent of 
those are Reservists and National Guard troops. So the number of full-
time military troops is small considering 300 million people live in 
the U.S. So why the shrinking military? One reason, more Americans do 
not qualify. To be in the best military in the world one must be

[[Page H794]]

in good medical shape, but two-thirds of the 17- to 24-year-olds that 
volunteer are disqualified. The number one reason? They are overweight. 
We have too many young people who are too big to join up.
  This Nation as a whole cannot continue to travel the ever-widening 
path of obesity because large people don't fit into the military. As 
the size of the military unfortunately trims down, the waistline of 
those who apply continues to grow.
  Mr. Speaker, overweight kids have become a national security issue.
  And that's just the way it is.

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