III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 585 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the USS John 

F. Kennedy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2018 

Mr. NELSON (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. KAINE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the commissioning 

of the USS John F. Kennedy. 

Whereas the USS John F. Kennedy (CV–67) was named in 

honor of the 35th president of the United States; 

Whereas, on May 27, 1967, President John F. Kennedy’s 9- 

year-old daughter, Caroline Kennedy, christened the USS 

John F. Kennedy at the Newport News Shipbuilding and 

Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia; 

Whereas, on September 7, 1968, during the height of the 

Cold War, the USS John F. Kennedy entered service at 

its home port of Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, as the only ship of her class and the last conventionally powered carrier built for the United States Navy; 


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•SRES 585 IS 

Whereas the USS John F. Kennedy was a stalwart for the 

Atlantic Fleet of the United States Navy, sailing to Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and across the Arctic 

and Pacific Oceans; 

Whereas, on March 28, 1977, the USS John F. Kennedy became the first United States aircraft carrier to make a 

port call at Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia; 

Whereas, on December 4, 1983, the USS John F. Kennedy 

launched 10 aircraft to bomb Syrian anti-aircraft and artillery positions near Hammana, Lebanon, in response to 

attacks against aircraft of the United States Armed 

Forces; 

Whereas, on July 3 and 4, 1986, the USS John F. Kennedy 

hosted more than 8,000 people during the International 

Naval Review honoring the 100th anniversary of the 

Statue of Liberty and hosted President Ronald Reagan 

on Independence Day; 

Whereas, on January 4, 1989, the USS John F. Kennedy 

launched two F–14 aircraft from Fighter Squadron 32 to 

intercept and destroy 2 hostile MiG–23s from the Libyan 

Air Force; 

Whereas, on December 29, 1990, the USS John F. Kennedy 

entered port in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the first United 

States aircraft carrier to visit Saudi Arabia; 

Whereas, on January 17, 1991, the USS John F. Kennedy 

launched its first strikes in Operation Desert Storm as 

part of a multi-country coalition to drive the military of 

Iraq out of neighboring Kuwait; 

Whereas, from the beginning of hostilities on January 16, 

1991, to their cessation on February 28, 1991, the USS 

John F. Kennedy launched 2,895 aircraft sorties, which 


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struck 114 targets, delivered 3,500,000 pounds of ordnance, and provided 11,263 aircraft combat hours; 

Whereas, on September 22, 1995, the USS John F. Kennedy 

was transferred to Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, as the new home port of the vessel; 

Whereas, on November 1, 1999, the USS John F. Kennedy 

became the first United States aircraft carrier to make 

a port call in Al Aqabah, Jordan, and hosted the King 

of Jordan; 

Whereas, on September 11, 2001, the USS John F. Kennedy 

was called upon to secure the mid-Atlantic seaboard to 

‘‘help calm a fearful and shocked nation’’; 

Whereas, from March 11 to July 17, 2002, the USS John 

F. Kennedy deployed and launched strikes in support of 

Operation Enduring Freedom, and those strikes dropped 

64,000 pounds of ordnance on Taliban and Al Qaeda targets; 

Whereas, from July 10 to November 20, 2004, the USS John 

F. Kennedy deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and launched 8,296 aircraft sorties, which dropped 

54,000 pounds of ordnance; 

Whereas, on December 13, 2004, the USS John F. Kennedy 

returned from its 21st and final deployment; 

Whereas the USS John F. Kennedy was decommissioned at 

her final homeport of Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 23, 2007, stricken from the 

Naval Vessel Register on October 16, 2009, and lays in 

wait at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pending final disposition or the call to serve again in the United States Navy; 

and 


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Whereas, from August 23 to 26, 2018, the former crews and 

supporters of the USS John F. Kennedy will meet in 

Norfolk, Virginia, to honor the 50th anniversary of the 

commissioning of the vessel: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the 50th anniversary of the com3 missioning of the USS John F. Kennedy (CV–67); 

4 and 

5 (2) honors the USS John F. Kennedy, its crew, 

6 and all of the courageous sailors and Marines of the 

7 United States who have served on board in the past. 

Æ 


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