[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL P. CLINE

 Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, today, I recognize of retired MSG 
Michael P. Cline for his years of distinguished service with the 
Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, 
EANGUS. His efforts as one of the longest serving executive directors 
in the military association community are to be commended, and I thank 
him for his 38-plus years of military service to this country.
  Mike has held the position of EANGUS executive director since 1990 
and was selected as an honorary chief master Sergeant for the Air 
National Guard in 1999. For the previous 11 years, he has also served 
on the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Education. 
Over the years, he has also remained very active in the Military 
Coalition, TMC, a consortium of nationally prominent uniformed services 
and veterans associations representing over 5.5 million members. In 
addition to being a founder of the TMC Guard and Reserve Committee, he 
served as president of TMC for 5 years and codirector for 8 years.
  Throughout his career of advocacy, Mike has worked tirelessly on 
behalf of the U.S. military, as well as our servicemembers, veterans, 
and their families. In particular, he has frequently led the fight to 
ensure that the men and women of our National Guard and Reserves 
receive enhanced care and benefits that are more commensurate with 
their increased service to our Nation.
  In recent years, Mike and EANGUS have been at the forefront of 
efforts to provide larger military pay increases, health care that is 
more affordable for servicemembers and military retirees, enhanced 
educational benefits for servicemembers and veterans, and expanded 
access to retirement benefits for the men and women of the National 
Guard. He also played an active role in securing legislation providing 
burial and retirement flags for reservists, drill pay for funeral 
honors duty, increased health care benefits for reservists and 
retirees, and special compensation for severely disabled retirees.
  Over the years, it has been a pleasure for me and my staff to work 
closely with Mike on a number of issues of great importance to our 
National Guard. In particular, we have worked to improve the readiness 
of our National Guard by providing greater access to medical, dental, 
and mental care for Selected Reservists. We have also called for an 
increase in the Montgomery GI Bill rate for members of the Reserve 
components and in the travel reimbursement for those traveling to drill 
duty. Additionally, we have championed legislation that would justly 
grant full veteran status to members of the Reserve components who have 
20 years or more of service and do not otherwise qualify under law. The 
list goes on and on.
  Due in large part to the dedication, counsel, and passion of 
advocates such as Mike Cline, the courageous men and women of our Armed 
Forces and their families have seen a number of significant 
improvements to their way of life in recent years. These efforts have 
also strengthened our ability to recruit and retain more quality men 
and women to serve in uniform and have increased their readiness as an 
operational force in the continued defense of our Nation.
  I am extremely proud of Mike's long record of distinction and will 
always be grateful for his service to our Nation and our military. 
Along with my colleagues, I wish him all the very best in his 
retirement, and to EANGUS for its continued success.

                          ____________________