[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 12, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY 
                                RESERVE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JEFF MILLER

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 12, 2015

  Mr. MILLER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise and 
recognize the Centennial Anniversary of the United States Navy Reserve.
  Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Secretary of the Navy 
Josephus Daniels and Assistant Secretary and future President Franklin 
D. Roosevelt initiated plans to formally launch a world-class naval 
reserve force necessary to protect the United States. On March 3, 1915, 
Congress passed legislation establishing the United States Naval 
Reserve, which is known today as the United States Navy Reserve.
  The creation of the Navy Reserve harkens back to our Nation's 
tradition of Citizen Sailors protecting and defending the shores of the 
United States, when residents of seaside towns along the New England 
coast engaged British warships in the Atlantic before the Continental 
Congress officially established the Continental Navy. The Navy Reserve 
has built on this proud tradition, and during the years following its 
original inception, the Navy Reserve grew tremendously.
  The successful growth of the Navy Reserve proved to be crucial during 
World War II. Ten out of eleven sailors in the Navy during World War II 
were reservists, and, according to former Secretary of the Navy John L. 
Sullivan, who served as the first Secretary of the Navy following the 
creation of the Department of Defense, the three and a half million 
Naval Reservists that served during World War II made possible the 
rapid expansion of our naval service into the largest the world has 
ever known. Navy Reservists were there from the very beginning of the 
war. In fact, Navy Reserve Sailors from Minnesota aboard the USS Ward 
fired the first shots by the United States against Japanese forces on 
the day of Pearl Harbor, destroying a Japanese mini-submarine. With the 
outbreak of the war, the reserves grew further, and in 1942, the Naval 
Aviation Cadet Program was created, African-American males were 
accepted for enlistment, and the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency 
Service (WAVES) program was created, which allowed women to volunteer 
for service within the Navy Reserves. By the end of World War II, 
91,000 women were actively serving, and over its century of service, 
five Presidents--John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, 
Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush--have served in the Navy Reserves.
  The Navy Reserves continued to support the United States Navy through 
the Korean War, Cold War, the Berlin Crisis, Vietnam, Operations Desert 
Shield and Desert Storm, and our continued fight against terrorism. 
Since September 11, 2001, the Navy Reserve has completed more than 
70,000 mobilizations in support of contingency operations around the 
world and continues to be a vital component of the United States Navy.
  Mr. Speaker, throughout our Nation's history, Citizen Sailors and 
then Navy Reservists have protected the United States with honor, 
courage, and commitment. The millions of Americans who have served and 
the thousands who serve today are testaments to the patriotism and 
professionalism of the best Navy Reserve force the world has ever seen, 
and I am honored to recognize its Centennial Anniversary and thank the 
men and women of the Navy Reserve for their steadfast service and 
dedication to the cause of Freedom.