[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15537]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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           OLIVER NORTH ARTICLE ON GENERAL CHUCK KRULAK, USMC

 Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, a couple of weeks ago, I stood on 
the floor in recognition of General Chuck Krulak's retirement as 
Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. Since then, I've attended 
the change of command ceremony at the Marine Barracks, and I must say, 
I was impressed with how General Krulak reminded us once again what 
makes Marines and the U.S. Marine Corps important.
  I am equally impressed with the conduct of General James Jones, the 
new Commandant, and his recognition of the challenge he faces in 
following General Krulak's command. I wish him well and encourage him 
to continue the traditions maintained by his predecessor in dealing 
with Congress.
  I come to the floor again today for one final addition to General 
Krulak's record before Congress. Oliver North wrote an excellent 
editorial recently in the Washington Times that captures the 
exceptional performance of the Commandant. I ask consent to have it 
printed in the Record.
  The material follows:

                             Semper Fidelis

                  (By Lt. Col. Oliver L. North (Ret.))

       Washington, DC.--One recent morning, an invitation arrived 
     in the mail. It was to a retirement ceremony at the Marine 
     Barracks here in our nation's capital. I've probably been to 
     more than a hundred of these rites of passage since I joined 
     the Corps more than three decades ago. I won't be able to 
     attend and had to send my sincere regrets for the invitation 
     was to the retirement ceremony for a friend--General Charles 
     C. Krulak, the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps.
       Now, Marine Lieutenant Colonels, even those of us no longer 
     on active service, aren't in the habit of referring to 
     Generals as friends--particularly when the General in 
     question is the top Marine. And we sure don't offer a public 
     critique of his performance as Commandant of all Marines. It 
     just isn't done.
       But in this case, somebody needs to do it. Because when 
     Chuck Krulak takes off his Dress Blues with those four stars 
     on the shoulders for the last time as he will at the end of 
     this month, the conscience of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will 
     have retired. And in this town, that kind of moral authority 
     is going to be missed more than most people realize.
       For four years, Chuck Krulak has been ``the General who 
     tells it like it is''--in public and in private. Whether in 
     testimony on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon's ``tank'' where 
     the Joint Chiefs of Staff meet, or at the White House, Chuck 
     Krulak could be counted upon to tell the truth--whether they 
     wanted to hear it or not. His reputation for integrity in a 
     city that too little values this virtue is unparalleled--and 
     a credit to the Corps of Marines he has led through some of 
     the most tumultuous events in our history. His steadfast 
     devotion to his 174,000 Marines is evident in all that he has 
     said and done as Commandant. And very little of it endeared 
     him to an administration hell bent on downsizing, feminizing, 
     and de-``moralizing'' America's Armed Forces.
       When General Krulak was appointed Commandant in 1995, the 
     Clinton White House was busy taking an axe to America's 
     defense establishment. By the time these draconian cuts were 
     done, the Army would lose eight active combat divisions. The 
     Air Force and Navy would lose 20 air wings--and 2,000 combat 
     aircraft. Another 232 strategic bombers, 13 ballistic missile 
     submarines, four aircraft carriers, all of our battleships, 
     and more than 100 other combat vessels would be sent to the 
     boneyard. Only the Marine Corps was able to withstand 
     Commander-in-Chief Clinton's quest for a mothballed military.
       And it didn't stop there. The Marines were badgered to make 
     their boot camps co-ed. General Krulak said no. The Corps was 
     told that it should put women in ground combat assignments in 
     their expeditionary forces. Again, the top Marine said no. 
     When the Pentagon started talking about relaxing the standard 
     on sexual misconduct, Chuck Krulak just said, no. And when a 
     Clinton political appointee responsible for ``feminizing'' 
     the military decried the Marines as ``extremists,'' the 
     Commandant fired back a blistering response that yes, they 
     were, ``extremely fit, extremely faithful and extremely 
     patriotic.'' In every case he was right.
       And he didn't give an inch when the vaunted Clinton 
     ``National Security Team'' acted as though the Marines had 
     done so much for so long with so little that they could 
     continue to do everything with nothing forever. Faced with 
     unprecedented global commitments and the prospect of 
     declining readiness, Krulak pulled no punches. He told the 
     House and Senate Armed Services Committees that the Marines 
     were ready to perform Mission Impossible--but that they 
     needed to be better armed and equipped. He got what he 
     wanted.
       While the other branches of our Armed Forces struggle to 
     meet recruiting and retention goals, lower their entrance 
     standards, ease training requirements and try to make 
     military service less ``military''--the Corps has done 
     exactly the opposite. Krulak extended boot camp--adding his 
     ``Crucible Training'' to the already rigorous initiation into 
     the Corps. His Marines loved him for it, and the Corps has 
     thrived.
       The power brokers in Washington, who favor ``yes men'' over 
     honest men, probably won't miss Chuck Krulak very much. But 
     his Marines will. And I will--mostly because I remember him 
     as a young Captain of Infantry, thirty years ago, when we 
     served together in a corner of hell called Vietnam. He was 
     then, as he is today, a warrior and a man of principle, 
     integrity and character. He embodied then, as he does today, 
     the guiding ethos of the Marines--Semper Fidelis--Always 
     Faithful.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I believe you can see how fitting it is 
that this article be included in the Record.

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