Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 3.djvu/43

 PUBLIC LAW 106-398—APPENDIX 114 STAT. 1654A-1 APPENDIX—H.R. 5408 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. (a) SHORT TITLE. —This Act may be cited as the "Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001". (b) FINDINGS. —Congress makes the following findings: (1) Representative Floyd D. Spence of South Carolina was elected to the House of Representatives in 1970, for service in the 92d Congress, after serving in the South Carolina legislature for 10 years, and he has been reelected to each subsequent Congress. (2) Representative Spence came to Congress as a distinguished veteran of service in the Armed Forces of the United States. (3) Upon graduation from college in 1952, Representative Spence was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Naval Reserve. After entering active duty, he served with distinction aboard the USS CARTER HALL and the USS LSM- 397 during the Korean War and later served as commanding officer of a Naval Reserve Surface Division and as group commander of all Naval Reserve units in Columbia, South Carolina. Representative Spence retired from the Naval Reserve in 1988 in the grade of captain, after 41 years of dedicated service. (4) Upon election to the House of Representatives, Representative Spence became a member of the Committee on Armed Services of that body. During 30 years of service on that committee (4 years of which were served while the committee was known as the Committee on National Security), Representative Spence's contributions to the national defense and security of the United States have been profound and long lasting. (5) Representative Spence served as chairman of that committee while known as the Committee on National Security during the 104th and 105th Congresses and serves as chairman of that committee for the 106th Congress. In addition, Representative Spence served as the ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services during the 103d Congress. (6) Dozens of awards from active duty and reserve military, veterans service, military retiree, and industry organizations and associations have recognized the distinguished character of Representative Spence's service to the Nation. (7) Representative Spence has been a leading figure in the debate over many of the most critical military readiness, health care, recruiting, and retention issues currently confronting the Nation's military. His concern for the men and women in uniform has been iinwavering, and his accomplishments in promoting and gaining support for those issues that preserve

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