[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 8843-8844]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      ENCROACHMENT ON THE MILITARY

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I wish today to address briefly the issue 
of urban encroachment on our military training.
  Mr. Speaker, for too long we have paid lip service to the fact that 
our American military will always be the

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best trained military in the world. Unfortunately, as a Nation, we are 
on the verge of breaking that promise and breaking faith with those who 
have volunteered to serve our Nation.
  The Armed Forces' readiness is being eroded by urban expansion, 
environmental regulation, and commercial competition for our airspace, 
for ranges and for communication frequencies, encroachment issues that 
are threatening the ability of our servicemen and women to effectively 
prepare for the challenges which may face our Nation.
  The iron law of our military is that training saves lives. When 
training goes down for whatever reason, accidents and casualties go up. 
Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker. Encroachment is like a cancer, eating 
away at our training capabilities. We must always be vigilant to this 
encroachment and act quickly to revitalize our training so as to keep 
our faith with those sworn to protect us.

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