[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 62 (Thursday, April 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S2807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 3284. A bill to designate a Distinguished Flying Cross National 
Memorial at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague, Senator 
Feinstein, to introduce legislation to honor recipients of the 
Distinguished Flying Cross--the oldest military aviation award created 
by Congress.
  This bill would designate the Distinguished Flying Cross National 
Memorial at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California as the 
National Distinguished Flying Cross Memorial. Companion legislation was 
introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Ken Calvert 
and recently passed by a vote of 410-0.
  The Distinguished Flying Cross honors members of the armed forces who 
perform an act of ``heroism or extraordinary achievement while 
participating in an aerial flight.'' Since it was established by 
Congress in 1926, tens of thousands of brave Americans have been 
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, including Wilber and Orville 
Wright, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, former President George H. 
W. Bush, Senator John McCain, former Senator John Glenn, Chuck Yeager, 
General Jimmy Doolittle, and Admiral Jim Stockdale.
  More recently, it has been awarded to a number of American men and 
women serving our Nation in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am proud that so 
many of the service members who have received the prestigious 
Distinguished Flying Cross are from my home State of California.
  This legislation has the support of the Distinguished Flying Cross 
Society, the Military Officers Association of America, the Air Force 
Association, the Air Force Sergeants Association, the Association of 
Naval Aviation, the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, and the 
China Burma Indian Veterans Association.
  This is a fitting tribute to those who have served our country with 
honor and distinction. I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring 
these brave service men and women by supporting this legislation, and I 
look forward to seeing it enacted into law.
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