[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2783]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING WOMEN SERVING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Con. Res. 
8.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 8) recognizing women 
     serving in the United States Armed Forces.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the concurrent resolution be agreed 
to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be 
printed in the Record.
  Mr. President, before you rule on this, last week they had a very 
good series on National Public Radio about women in the military. It 
was really wonderful. It was so full of information. They talked about 
a woman who had served in the military in World War II. They had a 
general, a woman, the first four star general to be a woman. The show 
had a woman who had been in the military in the 1980s and a daughter 
who is a graduate from West Point now, going to medical school as a 
result of her military service. It was really terrific.
  Of course, the issue the Pentagon is working through, and it is quite 
difficult, is combat for women. They had one woman there on this 
program who was awarded the Silver Star for her gallant actions, her 
heroic actions. She was part of a caravan. It was attacked and she was 
the hero of the battle. The shooting went on for 45 minutes.
  I am very happy to be reading this into the Record. I ask the Chair 
to rule that this is without objection because it certainly is the 
right thing to do, to recognize women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 8) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                             S. Con. Res. 8

       Whereas women have served with distinction in the United 
     States Armed Forces since the American Revolution and have 
     made significant and lasting contributions to the security of 
     the United States;
       Whereas in 2011, women comprise nearly 16 percent of the 
     United States Armed Forces and serve in positions of 
     responsibility in the active and reserve components of the 
     Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, as 
     compared with less than 5 percent in 1976 when women were 
     first integrated into the service academies;
       Whereas women serve at the highest levels in the Department 
     of Defense and other governmental organizations contributing 
     to the defense of the United States; and
       Whereas the accomplishments of generations of women have 
     contributed to the history of the United States Armed Forces 
     and to the strength of the United States: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the importance of women to national defense 
     throughout the history of the United States; and
       (2) encourages the people of the United States to honor 
     women who have served and who continue to serve the United 
     States in the United States Armed Forces.

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