IIA 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. J. RES. 70 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 9, 2008 

Received 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Congratulating the Army Reserve on its centennial, which 

will be formally celebrated on April 23, 2008, and commemorating the historic contributions of its veterans and 

continuing contributions of its soldiers to the vital national security interests and homeland defense missions 

of the United States. 


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Whereas on January 9, 1905, the 26th President of the 

United States, Theodore Roosevelt, dispatched a ‘‘special 

message’’ to the Senate and the House of Representatives that ‘‘earnestly recommended passage’’ of legislation 

to establish a Federal reserve force of skilled and trained 

personnel to bring ‘‘our Army . . . to the highest point of 

efficiency’’; 

Whereas on December 14, 1905, the then-Secretary of War 

and later 27th President of the United States, William 

Howard Taft, transmitted to the Senate and the House 

of Representatives a draft bill and letter authored by 

Major General Leonard Wood, ‘‘strongly commending . . . 

proposed legislation’’ to ‘‘increase the efficiency of the 

Medical Corps of the Army’’ by establishing a Federal reserve force comprised of specially trained personnel; 

Whereas in response to the recommendations of President 

Theodore Roosevelt and senior military and civilian leaders, the 60th Congress enacted Public Law 101, entitled 

‘‘An Act to increase the efficiency of the Medical Department of the United States Army’’, ch. 150, 35 Stat. 66, 

which was signed into law on April 23, 1908, by President Theodore Roosevelt; 

Whereas Public Law 101 authorized the establishment of the 

first Federal reserve force and the first reservoir of 

trained officers in a reserve status for a United States 

military service; 

Whereas Congress subsequently adapted, expanded, and 

amended the reserve organization of the Army to include 

additional military occupational specialties and capabilities and established the organization today known as the 

Army Reserve; 


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Whereas the Army Reserve has played a major role in the defense of our Nation and in furtherance of United States 

interests for 100 years; 

Whereas many distinguished Americans have served honorably and with distinction in the Army Reserve, including 

Presidents Harry S Truman and Ronald W. Reagan, the 

former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General 

Henry H. Shelton, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Major General William J. Donovan (Director 

of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II), 

Drs. Charles H. Mayo and William J. Mayo, and Captain 

Eddie Rickenbacker; 

Whereas the Army Reserve contributed 169,500 soldiers to 

the Army during World War I; 

Whereas the Army Reserve contributed 200,000 soldiers and 

29 percent of the Army’s officers during World War II 

and was recognized by General George C. Marshall for its 

unique and invaluable contributions to the national defense; 

Whereas 240,500 soldiers of the Army Reserve were called to 

active duty during the Korean War; 

Whereas more than 60,000 Army Reserve soldiers were called 

to active duty during the Berlin Crisis; 

Whereas 35 Army Reserve units were activated and deployed 

in support of operations in Vietnam, where they served 

with distinction and honor; 

Whereas the Army Reserve contributed more than 94,000 

soldiers in support of Operations Desert Storm and 

Desert Shield in 1990 and 1991; 

Whereas the Army Reserve contributed more than 48 percent 

of the reserve component soldiers mobilized in support of 


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Operation Joint Endeavor and Operation Joint Guard in 

Bosnia; 

Whereas since September 11, 2001, the Army Reserve has 

provided indispensable and sustained support for Operations Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle, and Iraqi Freedom, with 98 percent of units either deployed or providing mobilized soldiers, and more than 147,000 individual soldiers being mobilized (of which more than 

110,000 individual soldiers have deployed) in support of 

the Global War on Terrorism; 

Whereas more than 39,000 individual soldiers of the Army 

Reserve have served multiple deployments since September 11, 2001; 

Whereas 13,003 Army Reserve soldiers were forward-deployed in the Central Command Area of Responsibility on 

October 31, 2007, and 102 soldiers of the Army Reserve 

had borne the ultimate sacrifice in support of Operations 

Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom through October 

31, 2007; 

Whereas the Army Reserve is organized into 3 components, 

the Ready Reserve, the Standby Reserve, and the Retired 

Reserve, which together contain more than 601,000 soldiers; 

Whereas the Army cannot go to war or sustain a military operation without the highly skilled and trained personnel 

of the Army Reserve; 

Whereas the Army Reserve provides more than 37 percent of 

the mission essential combat support and combat service 

support forces of the Army; 

Whereas 100 percent of the Army’s Internment Settlement 

Brigades, Judge Advocate General Units (Legal Support 


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Organizations), Medical Groups, Railway Units, and 

Training and Exercise Divisions are in the Army Reserve; 

Whereas more than 66 percent of the Army’s Civil Affairs 

Units, Psychological Operations Units, Theater Signal 

Commands, Expeditionary Sustainment Commands, and 

Medical Capabilities are in the Army Reserve; 

Whereas the Army Reserve is no longer a force held in strategic reserve but today functions as an integral and essential operational reserve in support of the missions of 

the active Army; 

Whereas the Army cannot go to war or sustain a military operation without the skilled and trained Ready Reserve 

and Retired Reserve soldiers of the Army Reserve; 

Whereas the Selected Reserve component of the Army Reserve is comprised of more than 30,000 officers and 

150,000 enlisted soldiers who have volunteered their personal service in defense of the Constitution and their fellow citizens; 

Whereas the Army and the Army Reserve are recognized as 

institutions that have played historic and decisive roles in 

promoting the cause of individual dignity and the value 

of integration; 

Whereas nearly one in four Selected Reserve soldiers and 

more than one in five Individual Ready Reserve soldiers 

are women whose contributions are consistently characterized by a high degree of commitment, professionalism, 

and military bearing; 

Whereas the ability of individual soldiers and the Army Reserve to perform their wartime missions is contingent on 


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the active engagement and support of their families, employers, and local communities; 

Whereas the Army Reserve is a community-based force with 

an active presence in 1,100 communities and 975 Army 

Reserve centers in operation throughout the United 

States; 

Whereas Sir Winston Churchill once remarked that ‘‘Reservists are twice the citizen’’, a sentiment that applies especially to the soldiers of the Army Reserve; and 

Whereas the Army Reserve makes these contributions to the 

security of our Nation in return for less than 5 percent 

of the Army’s total budget: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 That the Congress— 

4 (1) congratulates the Army Reserve on the oc5 casion of the 100th anniversary of the enactment of 

6 its original authorizing law; 

7 (2) recognizes and commends the Army Reserve 

8 for the selfless and dedicated service of its past and 

9 present citizen-soldiers whose personal courage, con10 tributions, and sacrifices have helped preserve the 

11 freedom and advance the national security and 

12 homeland defense of the United States; and 

13 (3) extends its gratitude to the veterans, sol14 diers, families, and employers whose essential and 

15 constant support have enabled the Army Reserve to 


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1 accomplish its vital missions and renews our Na2 tion’s commitment in support of their noble efforts. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 8, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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