HRES361JUL22

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 22, 2005

House Resolution 361 recognizing the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Veterans Administration on July 21, 1930.

BRIEF

48 million is the calculated number of those who served in the US military since the country began. One million have died in the effort and there are currently 25 million veterans.

The VA (Veterans Administration) was begun by President Hoover in 1930, the Resolution preamble said, to consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans and was made an executive agency in 1989.

The Resolution recognizes the 75^th anniversary of the VA and acknowledges its’ accomplishments.

Sponsor: Representative Steve Buyer (R-IN-4^th)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote (July 18, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.

MORE INFORMATION

Whereas in the history of the United States, more than 48,000,000 citizen-soldiers have served the Nation in uniform, of whom more than 1,000,000 gave their lives as a consequence of their duties;

Whereas as of July 21, 2005, there are more than 25,000,000 living veterans;

Whereas the Nation's obligation to its veterans is encapsulated in the following words of President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, delivered on March 4, 1865, `. . . to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan';

Whereas on July 21, 1930, President Herbert Hoover issued an executive order creating a new agency, the Veterans Administration, to `consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans';

Whereas on October 25, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Department of Veterans Affairs Act (Public Law 100-527) under which, effective as of March 15, 1989, the Veterans Administration was established as an executive department and redesignated as the Department of Veterans Affairs, with the mission of providing Federal benefits to veterans and their families; and

Whereas in 2005, the 230,000 employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs continue the tradition of their predecessors, caring for the Nation's veterans with dedication and compassion and upholding the high standards required of them as stewards of the public's gratitude to those veterans: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Veterans' Administration; and

(2) acknowledges the achievements of the employees of the Veterans Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs and commends them for their contributions to the Nation's veterans.

No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.