Texas 2011 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR16 Introduced / Bill

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                    82R6126 MMS-D
 By: Nelson, et al. S.C.R. No. 16


 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 WHEREAS, Each year, Americans pause during the month of March
 to pay special tribute to the contributions that women have made to
 our national life, and outstanding among the myriad roles that
 women have assumed over the course of this country's history have
 been those undertaken as part of the nation's armed forces; and
 WHEREAS, Long before they gained regular admission to the
 military, thousands of women assisted the uniformed branches in a
 variety of ways; they worked as nurses, water bearers, laundresses,
 and cooks, sometimes served as spies and saboteurs, and on occasion
 even took up arms; and
 WHEREAS, In 1901, the United States Army broke new ground by
 creating an actual nurses corps, and the navy followed in 1908; the
 ranks of these units swelled during World War I, when nearly 23,000
 women served as nurses with the American military; the U.S. Navy and
 Marine Corps enlisted nearly 13,000 additional women as yeomen and
 reservists and assigned them to duty stateside, to free their male
 counterparts for combat at sea and abroad; and
 WHEREAS, The participation of women in the military surged
 during World War II, with more than 400,000 filling posts at home
 and overseas; to more fully utilize their abilities, the army
 established the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, later known as the
 Women's Army Corps and commanded with consummate ability by the
 Texan Oveta Culp Hobby; the army also created the WASP (Women
 Airforce Service Pilots), while the navy organized the WAVES (Women
 Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), the Marine Corps
 established the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, and the Coast Guard
 created a reserve unit known as the SPARs; in spite of widespread
 misgivings about their suitability for the work, women proved
 themselves in a wide array of assignments, and in 1948 an Act of
 Congress granted them permanent status in the regular and reserve
 forces; and
 WHEREAS, Barriers to the participation of women in the
 military continued to fall; legal provisions placing a two percent
 cap on the number of women serving and a ceiling on the highest
 grade a woman could achieve were repealed in 1967; by 1972, the
 various ROTC programs were opened to women, and in 1976 women were
 admitted to the service academies; they are now eligible to enter
 more than 90 percent of all career fields in the armed forces; and
 WHEREAS, Women have continued to deploy in times of conflict:
 some 1,000 served in theater during the Korean War and 7,500 during
 the Vietnam War; hundreds saw duty in operations in Central America
 in the 1980s, and in 1991, 41,000 women served in theater in
 Operation Desert Storm; and
 WHEREAS, Today, approximately 344,500 women are serving in
 the U.S. military; they constitute about 14 percent of active duty
 personnel and about 10 percent of the American forces in Iraq and
 Afghanistan; and
 WHEREAS, The operations focused on those two countries have
 placed enormous demands on all who have taken part; like their male
 compatriots, many women have served multiple tours, and large
 numbers have been injured, many grievously; as of mid-January 2011,
 136 women had given their lives in those two wars; and
 WHEREAS, The increased involvement of women in the military
 is reflected by the number of women veterans, which now totals 1.8
 million; Texas is home to more than 150,000 women veterans, the
 second highest number of any state in the nation; and
 WHEREAS, Texans have always honored the selflessness and
 sacrifice of those who perform military service, and these women
 are indeed worthy of that recognition; it is also fitting that needs
 they have incurred in connection with that service be acknowledged
 and alleviated, whether they concern physical or psychological
 wounds or the challenges of caring for their families or
 reintegrating into civilian life; and
 WHEREAS, The women who have served in the United States armed
 forces have demonstrated tenacity, courage, and professionalism,
 and they are deserving of their fellow citizens' deepest gratitude
 and unfailing support; now, therefore, be it
 RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
 hereby designate the month of March each year from 2011 through 2020
 as Women Veterans Month in tribute to the immeasurable
 contributions that women in the military have made to this nation.