June 12, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a Resolution, introduced by Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, honoring former President, and Kennebunkport resident, George H.W. Bush on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The Resolution also honors former First Lady Barbara Bush who also celebrated a birthday this week.
Text of the Senate resolution is as follows and can also be viewed by clicking here.
RESOLUTION
Honoring former President George H.W. Bush on the occasion of his 90th birthday and Barbara Bush on the occasion of her 89th birthday and extending the best wishes of the Senate to former President Bush and Mrs. Bush.
Whereas George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1924;
Whereas on his 18th birthday, George H.W. Bush enlisted in the Armed Forces of the United States;
Whereas George H.W. Bush was the youngest pilot in the United States Navy when he received his wings;
Whereas George H.W. Bush flew 58 combat missions during World War II, including a mission over the Pacific as a torpedo bomber pilot during which he was shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire and later rescued from the water by a United States submarine, the U.S.S. Finback;
Whereas George H.W. Bush was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for his service during World War II;
Whereas George H.W. Bush was honorably released from active duty in 1945, achieving the rank of Lieutenant;
Whereas in January 1945, George H.W. Bush married Barbara Pierce;
Whereas George H.W. Bush graduated from Yale University, where he was captain of the baseball team and excelled in academics;
Whereas in 1966, George H.W. Bush was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served with integrity for two terms;
Whereas in 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed George H.W. Bush to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a post he held for two years after con-firmation by the Senate;
Whereas in 1974, President Gerald R. Ford appointed George H.W. Bush as chief of the United States Liaison Office in the People’s Republic of China, where his efforts helped foster the development of positive relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China;
Whereas from January 1976 to January 1977, George H.W. Bush served as the Director of Central Intelligence, and the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters was later designated the George Bush Center for Intelligence in his honor;
Whereas from 1981 to 1989, George H.W. Bush served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States;
Whereas George H.W. Bush was elected the 41st President of the United States in 1988;
Whereas George H.W. Bush directed the negotiation of and signed the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at Moscow July 31, 1991 and entered into force December 5, 1994 (the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 (START I)), which required the United States and the Soviet Union to reduce their nuclear arsenals by 1⁄3;
Whereas during his Presidency, George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and Public Law 101-549 (commonly known as the ‘‘Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990’’) (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.);
Whereas since leaving office, George H.W. Bush has been an international ambassador of United States goodwill and a strong supporter of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, which was named for the former President in 1997;
Whereas George H.W. Bush was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011;
Whereas, on June 8, 2014, former First Lady Barbara Bush, George H.W. Bush’s wife of 69 years, who has dedicated herself to promoting family literacy and improving the lives of the people of the United States through learning, celebrated her 89th birthday; and
Whereas, on June 12, 2014, George H.W. Bush celebrates his 90th birthday: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate—(1) honors former President George H.W. Bush on the occasion of his 90th birthday; and (2) extends the congratulations and best wishesof the Senate to former President Bush and Barbara Bush.
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In addition, Senator Collins spoke from the Senate floor to pay tribute to the former President and First Lady.
Video of Senator Collins remarks can be viewed by clicking here.
Below is the text of her remarks:
I rise today to honor a great American, President George Herbert Walker Bush, on the occasion of his 90th birthday. As I reflect upon his remarkable life, I am amazed that he has managed to pack so many accomplishments into just 90 short years. In fact, today President Bush will mark this milestone by doing what he has done on other birthdays so many times: He will jump out of an airplane. Or, as Barbara Bush once put it, he will jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
President Bush has spent every summer of his life, except during the war years, at the family home in Kennebunkport, Maine. A few years ago, his neighbors in Kennebunkport came together to acquire a Navy ship’s anchor in his honor. It is a fitting tribute, as President Bush so often describes Walker's Point in Maine as his “anchor to the windward.”
It is fitting in another way. As a Navy aviator in World War II, as a member of Congress, as UN Ambassador, as an envoy to China, as Director of the CIA, as Vice President, and as President, George Bush embodies the values that are the anchor of American society. Courage, duty, honor, and compassion define our nation and his life.
I am sure that it is a great joy for him to share this special day with his First Lady, Barbara Bush—who also recently celebrated a birthday, and who has done so much to promote family literacy in this country.
Last night, our Senate colleagues unanimously passed a resolution that I introduced with dozens of our colleagues, including Maine Senator Angus King, the two senators from Texas, and our two leaders wishing both President and Mrs. Bush the happiest of birthdays and honoring them. The love within this extraordinary family anchors their commitment to one another, to their community, to their home states, and to their nation.
Another great President, Abraham Lincoln, spoke a great many eternal truths that still inspire us today. Nothing he said was ever truer than this: “It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” President George H.W. Bush has filled his years with a lifetime of service and contributions marked by integrity and humility. I wish him and his family many, many more years of celebration, and I thank him for his extraordinary service and dedication to the country he loves so much.
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