Urging the President to designate 2009 as the "Year of the Military Family".

Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of House Concurrent Resolution 64, which urges the President to designate 2009 as the ``Year of the Military Family,'' and I thank the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Representative Skelton, for offering it.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute today to the force behind the force--the military family. It has long been known that the military services recruit individuals but retain families. This has never been more true nor more critical than it is today. The support our troops receive from their loving families--mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, spouses and children--is intangible, and it is nothing less than a powerful force multiplier.

Dedicating a year to honor the service and sacrifice of our military families is the least we can do to say thank you and to call attention to this sometimes forgotten resource. Today, Mr. Speaker, millions of Americans have one or more family members serving in the Armed Forces. These incredible families attempt to lead normal lives while their loved ones stand in harm's way, fulfilling our Nation's oath to serve and protect.

But they do not just wait. They also serve. Military spouses spend countless hours volunteering in family readiness programs and wounded warrior networks, all while managing to be two parents at once. Military children, numbering almost 2 million in our country, attempt to be like other children while trying their hardest not to let sadness and worry overcome them.

Mr. Speaker, the strength of the military family is astonishing. As we celebrate military families, let us not forget the sacrifice of parents. Military parents give their sons and daughters to the Nation and pray ceaselessly for their safe return. They look forward to every letter and every phone call, while fearing the ringing of the phone and the doorbell at the same time.

Military children, Mr. Speaker, are a very different breed of young adult. They do not always have hometowns, but they do have a heightened sense of family, both in the traditional sense and in the special characteristics of the military community. Their home is where the military chooses to send them, and their family becomes all who surround them.

They do not hesitate to support their family when their father or mother walks out the door for 6 months, 8 months, or even more often now, a year. In most cases they are Mom or Dad's biggest fans. Many times the oldest child takes over as second in charge while serving as a rock for the youngest.

Even at a young age, military children know what the words ``ultimate sacrifice'' means, and these words are in the back of their minds every day that goes by. Military families have an uncanny resilience. They are some of the strongest citizens in this country, and I am privileged to recognize them not only today, but every day.

I have many such dedicated families in my strongly military district, the Fifth District of Colorado.

I urge my colleagues to support this very important resolution because without the support of our military families, our Armed Forces would not be the incredible power that they are today.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to a new member of the Armed Services Committee, but she's already starting to make a strong contribution, the gentlelady from Oklahoma (Ms. Fallin).

At this point, I yield 4 minutes to someone who's made a strong contribution to the military--until January, he served for many years on the Armed Services Committee--the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for offering this resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 64) urging the President to designate 2009 as the ``Year of the Military Family''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 64, which I introduced, along with my ranking member, John McHugh, and the majority of my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee.

House Concurrent Resolution 64 calls for the President to designate 2009 as the ``Year of the Military Family.''

For over 7 years, our Nation has been in sustained conflict. Our servicemembers are facing multiple deployments, but they are not the only ones who are shouldering the burden of the war. Nearly 2 million of our military families have also shared in that burden.

While I am proud of Americans across this great Nation who have volunteered or contributed funds and supplies to support our deployed and injured troops, those who have been on the forefront of those efforts are the military families. Over the last several years, military families have faced months of separation, some as long as 18 to 20 months. With over 1 million children between the ages of birth and 23 years of age who have parents in uniform, there have been many missed birthdays, graduations, holidays, and a child's first words and other major life accomplishments that are all too common as troops continue to experience back-to-back deployments.

Military families endure such hardship and sacrifices so their servicemember can proudly continue to serve the Nation. Military families often provide moral support, as well as comfort, to each other, especially during these difficult times. However, many families, especially those in the Reserves and Guard, do not have that luxury. Often these families must face these hardships alone, far from support programs and far from facilities that are located on military bases.

The President and Mrs. Obama have stated that military families will be a top priority for this administration. I applaud the President and Mrs. Obama for their commitment to their military families.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the President to continue this commitment and recognize the sacrifices of military family members who have given support to their servicemember and this nation, and declare this to be the ``Year of the Military Family.''

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this important resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Becerra).

I yield such time as he may consume to a cosponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman).

Most of us Members of Congress have had the opportunity to witness military units as they are ready to deploy. We have also seen military units as they have returned, or individual members of our service returning, and watch their families greet them with happiness and with tears. It is difficult to put ourselves in their places, but the best we can do is to show our appreciation, and that our thoughts and our prayers are with them as well as their loved ones who are serving. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of urging the President to designate 2009 as the ``Year of the Military Family.''

Our military's ability to perform its mission abroad is directly related to the strength of our families at home.

Without families willing to sign up for military life alongside their soldier, sailor, airman or marine, we would not have the tremendous all-volunteer force we have today.

Our military has been at war for nearly eight years against persistent and determined enemies thousands of miles away. And in many ways, so have our military families.

With loved ones deployed to theatres of combat, our families have lived with the enormous uncertainty brought by every ring of the phone and every knock on the door.

For far too many, that unexpected phone call or visitor announced the tragic loss of a spouse or parent.

For thousands more, injuries sustained in battle require a spouse or child to take on the responsibility of caretaker.

I am continually amazed at their resilience and ability to continue with their lives under such difficult circumstances.

Every family signed up knowing the requirements of duty.

However, regular assignments to theatres of war will challenge even the strongest families.

Like many of my colleagues, I hear the frustration and sense the pain that frequent, dangerous and unpredictable deployments are having on military communities.

We know that these deployments are often measured not by weeks or months, but by anniversaries, birthdays and important life moments.

Describing the length of her husband's deployment, one of my constituents told me how her husband ``missed his older son's graduation from college, and his youngest son's graduation from High School.'' Her frustration was clear.

As Chairman Skelton mentioned earlier, over a million children have not had a mom or dad or both home for life's important events.

We have tried to take steps to lessen the strain on our families, but high operational tempo and policies like stop-loss still have a significant impact.

As a Navy wife recently told me, ``We are resigned to the necessity of deployment.''

Mr. Speaker, our first commander in chief, President Washington, said, ``The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.''

Today, President Washington's statement should probably read, ``The willingness with which our ``families are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive families of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.''

That is why the Military Personnel Subcommittee will hold a hearing later this year focusing on military families and topics that are unique to military life.

. . . But it will take more than a series of hearings to address the very real concerns felt by families and men and women in uniform.

Just as we must ensure that service members have the equipment they need in the field, so too must we guarantee that families have the support they need at home.

I urge President Obama to honor the commitment of those who ``serve'' behind our men and women in uniform and designate 2009 the Year of the Military Family.

I hope all my colleagues will support this resolution.

I am honored to have a moment to speak on this resolution, and deeply grateful to Chairman Skelton for introducing it and advancing it.

You know, they say that an army travels on its stomach. In other words, the physical well-being of an army has to be taken into consideration. They have to be well fed, they have to be cared for.

The way you win wars though, comes from the heart and mind of our soldiers, sailors, and airmen. And the way that you motivate them is to assure them that this country is providing for their families. That is what they care about more than anything else.

When they go to war, when they choose to serve this country in the Armed Services, their principal motivation, really, is their family. They are doing this to provide security to their children, to their parents, to their loved ones. And that is what this resolution is all about, recognizing the indispensable role that military families play.

We have lost more than 2,000 parents of young children in Iraq. But hundreds of thousands have known that when they say goodbye to their daddy or mommy, they may not see them again. And they have to live with that reality.

They comfort each other, families get to know each other, provide a support network. But it's absolutely essential that we, as a Nation, understand that we are putting these families on the front line. That they are prepared to pay the ultimate sacrifice, that they are fully prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that we have soldiers, sailors, airmen and women who will go to war, will risk their lives, knowing that they have the support of their families at home.

Now, we have tried to put more money into the veterans' bill to improve health care, particularly the type of health care that we have found a particular compelling need for--permanent brain injury, post- traumatic stress disorder, mental illnesses--that have increased dramatically in the last few years, particularly with IEDs and the violence that they cause in Iraq and Afghanistan. But when they come home, if we don't adequately treat them, the price is paid by the family.

It's the family that has to deal with sometimes uncontrollable violent urges, where the veteran of combat finds it difficult to control themselves, to make that transition to the society in which they need to take on the role of husband, wife, or parent.

All of these challenges are even greater than they have ever been before. And that is why this Congress, this Nation, needs to take every opportunity to focus on the needs of these families who show real patriotism and real loyalty to the principles and ideals and values of this Nation, and are willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to uphold those principles, ideals, and values, even the risk of loss of a loved one.

So, with that, Mr. Chairman, again, I thank you for introducing, for promoting this resolution and, most importantly, I thank you for being conscious of what this resolution is all about every single day throughout the year in the legislation that the Armed Services Committee and your colleagues in the Congress pass. It has to be a priority.

So, I know this will pass unanimously, and I appreciate the fact that it's offered on the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 64, urging the President to designate 2009 as the Year of the Military Family. It's going to be difficult to follow the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Moran, what he said out of compassion and love for the military families, but I will humbly try to do so.

Certainly, I would like to say a special thanks to Chairman Skelton, Ranking Member John McHugh, as well as to the members and the staff of the House Armed Services Committee, for the tireless effort in support of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who are bravely defending us at home and abroad.

Mr. Speaker, today we rightfully take time to recognize the families of those brave men and women who have dedicated their lives to the service of our Nation. I stand here and I am thinking about so many families--moms and dads, brothers and sisters--of fallen soldiers in my State of Georgia, and of my district, the 11th Congressional in northwest Georgia. I am not trying to mention all of them, but they are definitely in my mind and in my heart.

For it is not just the members of the military who serve our country, but also their family members, who sacrifice so much in support of these heroes who, day in and day out, protect our freedom.

Mr. Speaker, the families of those who serve our country on the front lines deserve the admiration and appreciation of each and every citizen. These family members often watch their loved ones travel to faraway lands in support of a cause and an ideal so much greater than any one individual.

Indeed, the democracy on display here today with our presence in this Chamber is testament to the courage and valor of our Armed Forces. The support given to our servicemen and women by their loved ones is irreplaceable, as it's a foundation for the bravery inherent in those who labor steadfastly in the defense of liberty.

Any of us who have watched videos and movies about the Civil War and read some of those letters to home that the infantrymen would write, maybe right before a battle and they give their lives to their country, it is indeed moving.

So, let us now honor and say a gracious thank you to each and every military family, every member of those families, for the encouragement, love, and kindness they exhibit in supporting their precious loved ones as they serve a Nation that will forever be free because of their sacrifice. It is to the family members that we now say thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of all of our servicemen and women and are eternally grateful for their efforts in the Global War on Terror. Let us not forget the ones who have provided the closest circle of support for them wherever they may serve around the globe. I urge all my colleagues, of course, to support this.