[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4721-S4722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 COMMENDING GENERAL PETER J. SCHOOMAKER

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Armed 
Services Committee be discharged from further consideration of and the 
Senate now proceed to consider S. Res. 139.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 139) commending General Peter J. 
     Schoomaker for his extraordinary dedication to duty and 
     service to the United States.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 139) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 139

       Whereas General Peter J. Schoomaker, the 35th Chief of 
     Staff of the United States Army, will be released from active 
     duty in April 2007, after over 35 distinguished years of 
     active Federal service;
       Whereas General Schoomaker, a native of Wyoming, graduated 
     from the University of

[[Page S4722]]

     Wyoming in 1969, served in a variety of command and staff 
     assignments with both conventional and special operations 
     forces, including participation in numerous combat 
     operations, such as Desert One in Iran, Urgent Fury in 
     Grenada, Just Cause in Panama, Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 
     Southwest Asia, and Uphold Democracy in Haiti, and supported 
     various worldwide joint contingency operations, including 
     those in the Balkans;
       Whereas General Schoomaker has been awarded the Defense 
     Distinguished Service Medal, 2 Army Distinguished Service 
     Medals, 4 Defense Superior Service Medals, 3 Legions of 
     Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals, 2 Defense Meritorious Service 
     Medals, 3 Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Service 
     Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the 
     Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge and 
     HALO Wings, the Special Forces Tab, and the Ranger Tab;
       Whereas General Schoomaker was recalled from retirement, 
     spent the last 4 years of his career in the highest position 
     attainable in the Army, and has proven himself a tremendous 
     wartime leader who has demonstrated unselfish devotion to the 
     Nation and the soldiers he leads;
       Whereas General Schoomaker's efforts to prepare the Army to 
     fight a long war today while transforming it for an uncertain 
     and complex future have been unprecedented;
       Whereas General Schoomaker has demonstrated strategic 
     leadership and vision and has had a remarkably positive and 
     lasting impact on the Army by leveraging the momentum of the 
     Global War on Terror to accelerate the transformation of the 
     Army;
       Whereas General Schoomaker, through modularization, 
     rebalancing the total Army, development of a force generation 
     model, restationing, and restructuring the Future Combat 
     Systems, kept the Army focused on developing capabilities to 
     meet traditional, irregular, catastrophic, and disruptive 
     challenges threatening the interests of the United States;
       Whereas General Schoomaker recognized that technological 
     and organizational change requires intellectual and emotional 
     transformation and tirelessly cultivated a learning and 
     adaptive Army culture, while reaffirming the predominance of 
     the human dimension of war;
       Whereas General Schoomaker reflected the spirit of the 
     warrior ethos he sought to instill in the United States 
     Army--always placing the mission first, never accepting 
     defeat, never quitting, and never leaving a fallen comrade;
       Whereas General Schoomaker exemplifies the nonnegotiable 
     characteristics exhibited by all great leaders--a strong 
     sense of duty, honor, courage, and a love of country;
       Whereas General Schoomaker has been selfless in his service 
     to the Nation through peace and war;
       Whereas one of General Schoomaker's predecessors, George C. 
     Marshall, once remarked that ``it is not enough to fight, it 
     is the spirit we bring to the fight that decides the issue''; 
     and
       Whereas when history looks back at the Army's 35th Chief of 
     Staff, it will be clear that he had the spirit at a critical 
     time in the Nation's history: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends General Peter J. Schoomaker for his 
     extraordinary dedication to duty and service to the United 
     States throughout his distinguished career in the U.S. Army; 
     and
       (2) directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an 
     enrolled copy of this resolution to General Peter J. 
     Schoomaker.

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