A resolution honoring former President George H.W. Bush on the occasion of his 90th birthday and Barbara Bush on the occasion of her 89th birthday and extending the best wishes of the Senate to former President Bush and Mrs. Bush.

Whereas George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1924;

Whereas on his 18^th birthday, George H.W. Bush enlisted in the Armed Forces of the United States;

Whereas George H.W. Bush was the youngest pilot in the United States Navy when he received his wings;

Whereas George H.W. Bush flew 58 combat missions during World War II, including a mission over the Pacific as a torpedo bomber pilot during which he was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire and later rescued from the water by a United States submarine, the U.S.S. Finback;

Whereas George H.W. Bush was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for his service during World War II;

Whereas George H.W. Bush was honorably released from active duty in 1945, achieving the rank of Lieutenant;

Whereas in January 1945, George H.W. Bush married Barbara Pierce;

Whereas George H.W. Bush graduated from Yale University, where he was captain of the baseball team and excelled in academics;

Whereas in 1966, George H.W. Bush was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served with integrity for two terms;

Whereas in 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed George H.W. Bush to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a post he held for two years after confirmation by the Senate;

Whereas in 1974, President Gerald R. Ford appointed George H.W. Bush as chief of the United States Liaison Office in the People’s Republic of China, where his efforts helped foster the development of positive relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China;

Whereas from January 1976 to January 1977, George H.W. Bush served as the Director of Central Intelligence, and the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters was later designated the George Bush Center for Intelligence in his honor;

Whereas from 1981 to 1989, George H.W. Bush served as the 43^rd Vice President of the United States;

Whereas George H.W. Bush was elected the 41^st President of the United States in 1988;

Whereas George H.W. Bush directed the negotiation of and signed the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at Moscow July 31, 1991 and entered into force December 5, 1994 (the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 (START I)), which required the United States and the Soviet Union to reduce their nuclear arsenals by 1/3;

Whereas during his Presidency, George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and Public Law 101–549 (commonly known as the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990) (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.);

Whereas since leaving office, George H.W. Bush has been an international ambassador of United States goodwill and a strong supporter of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, which was named for the former President in 1997;

Whereas George H.W. Bush was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011;

Whereas, on June 8, 2014, former First Lady Barbara Bush, George H.W. Bush's wife of 69 years, who has dedicated herself to promoting family literacy and improving the lives of the people of the United States through learning, celebrated her 89^th birthday; and

Whereas, on June 12, 2014, George H.W. Bush celebrates his 90^th birthday: Now, therefore, be it