[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 1137-1138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING THE USO FOR 75 YEARS OF SERVICE TO OUR TROOPS AND THEIR 
                                FAMILIES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ANDER CRENSHAW

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 2, 2016

  Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the hard working men 
and women of the USO in celebration of their 75th Birthday of 
entertaining and supporting our troops and families. I especially 
applaud the work of the Greater Jacksonville Area USO which makes it 
its mission to lift the spirits of our service members and their 
families. This small army of mostly volunteers reaches out to active 
duty military at our three large navy bases, Naval Air Station 
Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. 
They also support our United States Coast Guard men and women, the 
Marines at Blount Island Command, Army personnel stationed in the area, 
and those serving in the Florida National Guard.
  The USO was formed in 1941 at the request of President Franklin D. 
Roosevelt who realized he needed a civilian organization to handle on-
leave recreation. This call to action led six agencies to coordinate 
their civilian war efforts and resources to form a new organization--
the USO, United Service Organizations. Today, the USO is a private, not 
for profit organization, supported entirely by donations from citizens 
and organizations.
  Since its inception, the USO has been that ``Home Away From Home'' 
for our military during wars and during peace time. The Greater 
Jacksonville Area USO was established as an independent branch of the 
national USO in 1979. Today, its three centers continue to serve over 
250,000 military and families with quality of life and morale boosting 
programs.
  I have had the privilege of working with the USO and its many 
volunteers in serving dinners prior to pay days. They are called No 
Dough Dinners and are hugely popular with our junior ranking families. 
In addition, our USO mails over 15,000 goodie boxes to front line 
troops and distributes hundreds of calling cards for deployed troops to 
call home. Here in Jacksonville, the USO operates Internet cyber cafes, 
assists families and troops with programs like United Through Reading 
where the deployed member reads a book on a DVD to his or her children 
back home. Two of the USO's most popular programs are the Welcome 
Center at our airport and free or reduced cost tickets to local 
sporting and cultural events.
  On February 4, 2016, the Greater Jacksonville Area USO will celebrate 
75 years of serving our military and providing help on the home front 
for those who give their all for the security of this nation. The 
Greater Jacksonville Area USO is 100 percent self-funded and relies on 
donations from citizens and corporations like Boeing, Jacksonville 
Jaguars, W.W. Gay, VyStar Credit Union, Siemens, Northrop Grumman, 
Florida Blue, Jacksonville International Airport and the PGA Tour among 
others.

[[Page 1138]]

  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and Members of the House of Representatives to 
join me in acknowledging the 75th Birthday of the USO and its 
commitment to our active duty military.

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