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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 90 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 90

  Recognizing the dedication and honorable service of members of the 
    Armed Forces who are serving or have served as military nurses.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2007

Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mr. Moran of Virginia, 
   Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. McDermott, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. 
    Boswell, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. McCotter) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
  Recognizing the dedication and honorable service of members of the 
    Armed Forces who are serving or have served as military nurses.

Whereas military nurses have served as bright examples in leadership, courage, 
        and service before self, with their service to the United States 
        beginning on the battlefields of the American Revolution, when women 
        serving as nurses tended to the sick and wounded;
Whereas during the Civil War, more than 5,000 women served as nurses, under the 
        leadership of such legendary figures as Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix, 
        and these nurses dramatically advanced patient care and profoundly 
        transformed military nursing;
Whereas nurses staffed government and regimental hospitals of both the Union and 
        Confederacy and provided care at the front lines, and their service 
        saved lives and cemented the importance of nurses in post-war 
        professional medicine;
Whereas over 1,500 nurses served with the Army during the Spanish-American War 
        in Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico, on the hospital ship 
        Relief, and in State-side hospitals, and their nursing skills so lowered 
        mortality rates that the Army and Navy were inspired to create official 
        uniformed nursing corps;
Whereas Dita Kinney, a former contract nurse, became the first Superintendent of 
        the Army Nurse Corps in 1901, and Esther Voorhees Hasson, one of the 
        nurses on the hospital ship Relief during the war, became the first 
        Superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908;
Whereas the first uniformed women to go overseas during World War I were 
        military nurses who served without rank and without the pay and benefits 
        of other military members, but they nevertheless served on the 
        battlefields of that war, and, ultimately, more than 23,000 Army and 
        Navy nurses proudly served during that war, including 400 nurses who 
        died in the line of duty;
Whereas approximately 70,000 Army and Navy nurses served during World War II, 
        providing care as officers with ``relative rank'' in every theater of 
        war, on the seas and in the skies, and military nurses accompanied 
        invasion forces setting up hospitals and carrying for the sick and 
        wounded;
Whereas approximately 239 Army and Navy nurses died in the line of duty during 
        World War II, and 83 military nurses became prisoners of war;
Whereas many women supported the war effort during World War II by joining the 
        Public Health Service, working hand-in-hand with the military, and 
        nursing care was so vital that the Government formed the Cadet Nurse 
        Corps and trained approximately 124,000 women as nurses;
Whereas by 1945, the fear of a nurse shortage was so great that the President 
        requested a nurse draft, and the resulting bill passed the House of 
        Representatives, but the war ended in Europe before it was considered by 
        the Senate;
Whereas, while it was always understood that nurses would be a part of the 
        military, their status as commissioned officers in the Army and Navy was 
        formalized in 1947 with the Army-Navy Nurse Act, and, when the Air Force 
        was established following the war, its Nurse Corps was soon created;
Whereas during the Korean War, hundreds of military nurses were quickly deployed 
        to the battle theater with Army nurses serving close to the front lines, 
        Navy nurses aboard hospital ships offshore, and Air Force nurses on 
        medical evacuation flights;
Whereas 17 military nurses died in the line of duty during the Korean War, and 
        more than 10,200 military nurses served during the Korean War, caring 
        for the sick and wounded overseas and members of the Armed Forces and 
        their families in the United States;
Whereas nearly 6,000 American military nurses served in Southeast Asia during 
        the Vietnam War, assigned to military hospitals, air evacuation units, 
        hospital ships, and field units;
Whereas some of these military nurses were wounded and eight died in the line of 
        duty, one as a result of enemy fire, and the eight nurses are 
        memorialized on the wall at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial;
Whereas on November 8, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 90-
        130, which removed the limitations on the promotion of female members of 
        the Armed Forces that had kept women out of the general and flag officer 
        ranks, and in 1970, the first woman ever to be promoted in the Armed 
        Forces to general officer was a nurse, Anna Mae Hayes;
Whereas in 1979, another Army nurse became the first African-American women 
        general officer in the history of the Armed Forces, and each of the 
        military services now has at least one nurse who is a general or flag 
        officer;
Whereas American military nurses were deployed for Operation Desert Shield and 
        Operation Desert Storm and have supported United States military 
        operations in Grenada, Panama, Honduras, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, 
        Rwanda, Haiti, and the Middle East;
Whereas as of today, military nurses serve across the spectrum of military 
        medicine, from commanding hospitals to serving in field operating rooms, 
        on hospital ships and medical evacuation aircraft, and in family 
        practice clinics, psychiatric wards, and research facilities, literally 
        everywhere military medicine is needed by the Armed Forces;
Whereas hundreds of military nurses are serving currently in locations around 
        the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Europe, and the Far 
        East, and military nurses persevere in providing outstanding healthcare 
        in a dangerous world;
Whereas terrorist organizations continue to challenge the peace and security of 
        the United States, and natural disasters have taken a huge toll in death 
        and devastation, but military nurses are trained, well equipped, and 
        ready to respond anytime, anywhere at the call of their country;
Whereas military nurses provide the world's best healthcare services to wounded 
        soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and Coast Guardsmen, and are saving 
        the lives of people with injuries that would have been fatal in earlier 
        wars;;
Whereas during World War I, 8.1 percent of the wounded died of their wounds, but 
        now lifesaving medical capability is closer to the battlefield than ever 
        before, and in Iraq only 1.4 percent of the wounded die of their wounds; 
        and
Whereas the synergy of advanced nursing practice, combining aeromedical 
        evacuation crews with critical care air transport, additional high-
        technology equipment, advances in pain management, and more extensive 
        nurse training has enabled the Armed Forces the opportunity to transport 
        more critically ill patients than ever before: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That Congress acknowledges and recognizes the dedication and 
significant contributions of all members of the Armed Forces, 
especially members who are serving or have served as military nurses, 
and supports programs to strengthen and increase the nursing workforce.
                                 <all>
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