[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 720]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             TROOP STRENGTH

  (Mr. BLUNT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk for a minute about the 
importance of maintaining America's all-volunteer military in order to 
fight and win the global war on terror.
  That military is very dependent on the integrated Armed Forces, our 
guardsmen and Reserves who are available to us at what I think should 
be times of crisis or need.
  I would like to place before the House today six guidelines that I 
intend to use as we move forward toward looking at our decisions on 
military preparedness.
  The first of those points is simply to maintain our commitment to a 
fully integrated force.
  Number two, to challenge the administration to allocate resources in 
a manner that ensures that our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines 
are well-equipped and well-funded.
  Number three, achieve the right size of force.
  Number four, establish the right mix of force.
  Number five, retain the force by doing those things necessary for 
relieving the burden on soldiers and their families.
  Number six, preserve the long-term dominance of America's fighting 
force.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no greater responsibility than to provide for 
our national defense. The Founders of our government stated this very 
clearly in the Preamble to our Constitution. We must continue to 
maintain that constitutional commitment.

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