[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6842]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



         COMMANDER IN CHIEF'S AWARD FOR INSTALLATION EXCELLENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as the elected 
representative of North Carolina's Third Congressional District, I have 
the privilege of representing several fine military bases. As such, I 
am honored to represent the men and women in uniform at these 
installations who give their all to make the United States military the 
greatest fighting force in the world.
  They carry out their duties daily knowing that at any moment they 
might be asked to put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms.
  While I feel this same dedication to all of the military personnel in 
my district and around the world, I am here today to pay special 
tribute to two of the bases in my district, Seymour Johnson Air Force 
Base and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
  On March 23, the Pentagon announced the winners of the Commander in 
Chief's Award for Installation Excellence. Camp Lejeune was named best 
of the Marine Corps and Seymour Johnson was honored as being the best 
of all military bases across the services.
  Each year, U.S. military installations around the world compete 
within their branch of service for this award. Five awards are given 
out to the best of the best of all of the bases. It is quite a 
distinction. The criterion for qualifying is daunting. So I cannot 
truly express the pride that I felt to learn that two of the five best 
bases in the world are in the Third District of North Carolina.
  These awards are a tribute to commitment to excellence of the men and 
women who serve at these bases. They are also tributes to the fine 
leadership at each installations: General Norman Seip at Seymour 
Johnson Air Force Base and General Ron Richard at Camp Lejeune.
  I commend all of them for not just the dedication that it takes to 
win these pivotal awards but to their great service to our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, this Friday the five bases that received the Commander 
in Chief's Award for Installation Excellence will be honored during a 
ceremony at the Pentagon.

                              {time}  1615

  While schedule conflicts will unfortunately prevent me from attending 
the ceremony, I wanted the men and women who serve at Seymour Johnson 
Air Force Base and the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune to know I am truly 
humbled and honored to be their representative in the United States 
Congress.
  So I offer my most heartfelt congratulations to Marine Corps Base 
Camp Lejeune and the people of Jacksonville, North Carolina, and to 
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and the people of Goldsboro, North 
Carolina, on being recognized for what we in North Carolina have known 
all along, that they are indeed the best in the world.

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