```

[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 117 (Thursday, August 2, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5975-S5976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-129. A concurrent resolution adopted by the General 
     Assembly of the State of Ohio designating Central State 
     University as Ohio's 1890 land grant university and 
     requesting that the United States Congress pass legislation 
     and the United States Department of Agriculture take steps to 
     recognize that designation and provide the institution with 
     all of the benefits of the designation; to the Committee on 
     Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

                  Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 30

       Whereas, the United States Congress enacted and the 
     President of the United States signed into law the Morrill 
     Act of 1862 permitting each state to designate at least one 
     institution as a ``land grant'' college or university where 
     the leading object is the teaching of agriculture and the 
     mechanic arts, initially endowing such institution with a 
     grant of land or scrip for the receiving state to sell and 
     invest on behalf of the institution; and
       Whereas, the United States Congress enacted and the 
     President of the United States signed into law the Second 
     Morrill Act of 1890 to extend access to higher education by 
     providing sustained federal support for all land grant 
     institutions and to expand and enhance educational 
     opportunities in agriculture and the mechanic arts for Black 
     Americans; and
       Whereas, the State of Ohio established The Ohio State 
     University as the state's land grant university under the 
     Morrill Act of 1862 in order to provide excellent educational 
     opportunities to all Ohioans; and
       Whereas, the State of Ohio, in 1887, created the Combined 
     Normal and Industrial Department of Wilberforce University to 
     provide teacher training and vocational education open to all 
     qualified applicants of good and moral character; and
       Whereas, Central State University is the successor of that 
     institution and continues to provide baccalaureate and 
     graduate educational opportunities in a wide variety of 
     agriculture-related disciplines; and
       Whereas, Central State University is Ohio's only public 
     historically Black college or university; and
       Whereas, Central State University and its predecessor 
     institutions have made the same extraordinary contributions 
     to the education of African Americans in the State of Ohio as 
     other 1890 universities have made in their respective states; 
     and
       Whereas, the Ohio General Assembly desires to designate 
     Central State University as an 1890 land grant university 
     under the Second Morrill Act; therefore be it
       Resolved, That we, the members of the 129th General 
     Assembly of Ohio, in adopting this Resolution, designate 
     Central State University as a land grant university under the 
     Second Morrill Act of 1890 and request that the United States 
     Congress pass legislation, and the United States Department 
     of Agriculture take the necessary steps, to recognize that 
     designation and to provide Central State University with all 
     of the benefits of such designation; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit a duly 
     authenticated copy of this Resolution to the Secretary of the 
     United States Department of Agriculture, the Speaker, 
     Majority Leader, and Minority

[[Page S5976]]

     Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and the 
     President Pro Tempore, Majority Leader, and Minority Leader 
     of the United States Senate.
                                  ____

       POM-130. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the State of Illinois urging the President 
     and Congress to begin an expedited withdrawal of forces from 
     Afghanistan; to the Committee on Armed Services.

                        House Resolution No. 824

       Whereas, the United States of America was attacked in a 
     well-coordinated operation by a group of terrorists on 
     September 11, 2001; and
       Whereas, almost 3,000 innocent men, women, and children 
     were killed as a result of the airplanes that were hijacked 
     by the terrorists and subsequently crashed into the World 
     Trade Center, the Pentagon, and an open field in Shanksville, 
     Pennsylvania; and
       Whereas, the terrorists were proven to be members of the 
     terrorist organization known as al-Qaeda, which was led by 
     Osama bin Laden; and
       Whereas, the al-Qaeda terrorist organization had operated 
     for years from sanctuary locations based in Afghanistan; the 
     group conducted numerous acts of terror over the years 
     against U.S. targets both on the U.S. mainland and in other 
     locations throughout the world, which had been planned in 
     those sanctuary locations; and
       Whereas, in order to disrupt and destroy the al-Qaeda 
     terrorist organization and capture or eliminate its leaders, 
     it was necessary to attack the organization's sanctuary 
     bases; and
       Whereas, in October of 2001, the United States military, 
     acting under orders issued by Commander-in-Chief President 
     George W. Bush, attacked al-Qaeda sanctuary bases in 
     Afghanistan in conjunction with local Afghan forces opposed 
     to the terrorist organization operating in their country; and
       Whereas, the United States military, in the finest 
     traditions of America's fighting forces, had great success in 
     disrupting, dispersing, and destroying al-Qaeda operations 
     and eliminating many of its senior leaders; and
       Whereas, President Barack Obama, succeeding President Bush 
     as Commander-in-Chief, did continue and strengthen the 
     efforts to completely destroy al-Qaeda; such efforts resulted 
     in the killing of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, 
     bringing the world's leading terrorist to justice for the 
     many acts of murder which he and his organization carried 
     out; and
       Whereas, the United States, having joined forces with 
     nations from around the world, led an effort to stabilize 
     Afghanistan by supporting infrastructure projects beneficial 
     to all Afghans and by helping the Afghans understand the 
     positive benefits of equal rights for all, judicial due 
     process, and the rule of law; and
       Whereas, after more than a decade of extended military 
     operations to enhance security and with contributions of 
     hundreds of billions of dollars of nation-building resources 
     having been put into the country to foster development, much 
     progress has been made toward the goals of a free and secure 
     society within Afghanistan; and
       Whereas, while this progress has come at a high financial 
     cost, it has also cost the lives of more than 1,500 brave 
     American service members and dozens of fighting forces of 
     other nations, all of whom made the ultimate sacrifice in 
     service to their country; and
       Whereas, despite this progress, it appears from recent 
     events involving all the International Security Assistance 
     Forces (ISAF) that the presence of the United States military 
     and that of other countries, as well as the civilian 
     consultants that are working to help the Afghan people, has 
     not been accepted by a broad spectrum of the Afghanistan 
     population; and
       Whereas, this lack of acceptance places all foreign 
     military and civilian consultant personnel in grave danger, 
     which results in an inability for those personnel to properly 
     conduct the types of operations in which they are engaged; 
     and
       Whereas, there is already in place a plan to withdraw most 
     forces from Afghanistan in the 2014 time frame; therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, by the House of Representatives of the Ninety-
     Seventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, That we 
     urge the President and Congress to begin an expedited 
     withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, to the fullest extent 
     possible consistent with strategic military objectives, thus 
     accelerating the current withdrawal plan set in place; and be 
     it further
       Resolved, That suitable copies of this resolution be sent 
     to the President, the Speaker of the United States House of 
     Representatives, and the President pro tempore of the United 
     States Senate.
                                  ____

       POM-131. A resolution adopted by the Pecos River Commission 
     requesting that Congress fully fund the National Streamflow 
     Information Program (NSIP) gages associated with the Pecos 
     River Basin and the U.S. Geological Survey place a priority 
     on funding these gages under NSIP; to the Committee on 
     Environment and Public Works.
       POM-132. A resolution adopted by the Pecos River Commission 
     requesting that Congress reauthorize the Water Resources 
     Development Act of 2007, Section 5056, and to appropriate 
     sufficient funds to carry out work related to that 
     legislation; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
     Works.

                          ____________________
```