[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16891]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE VETERANS' 
                             ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 203, which was submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 203) recognizing the 75th anniversary 
     of the establishment of the Veterans' Administration.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 203) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 203

       Whereas in the history of the United States more than 
     48,000,000 citizen-soldiers have served the United States in 
     uniform and more than 1,000,000 have given their lives as a 
     consequence of their duties;
       Whereas as of July 21, 2005, there are more than 25,000,000 
     living veterans;
       Whereas on March 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln 
     expressed in his Second Inaugural Address the obligation of 
     the United States ``to care for him who shall have borne the 
     battle and for his widow and his orphan'';
       Whereas on July 21, 1930, President Herbert Hoover issued 
     an executive order creating a new agency, the Veterans' 
     Administration, to ``consolidate and coordinate Government 
     activities affecting war veterans'';
       Whereas on October 25, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed 
     into law the Department of Veterans Affairs Act (Public Law 
     100-527; 102 Stat. 2635), effective March 15, 1989, 
     redesignating the Veterans' Administration as the Department 
     of Veterans Affairs and establishing it as an executive 
     department with the mission of providing Federal benefits to 
     veterans and their families; and
       Whereas in 2005, the 230,000 employees of the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs continue the tradition of their predecessors 
     of caring for the veterans of the United States with 
     dedication and compassion and upholding the high standards 
     required of them as stewards of the gratitude of the public 
     to those veterans: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the 75th anniversary of the establishment of 
     the Veterans' Administration; and
       (2) acknowledges the achievements of the employees of the 
     Veterans' Administration and the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs and commends these employees for serving the veterans 
     of the United States.

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