Charles Skelton

Mr. Speaker, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the gentlewoman from North Carolina for a matter of paying attention to people she represents and trying to heal their financial reverses as a result of serving our Nation as…

Missourian Mark Twain once said that a person should live so that if someone says something bad about him, no one would believe it. That is the way I think the U.S. Marine Corps finds themselves today. I do not think anyone can say…

let me join my friend from Texas in complimenting the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Porter] and our ranking member the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey]. I represent a district that has Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leonard Wood, both…

the lead story on the radio last evening was the fact that there will be a Federal investigation into the Union Pacific because of its merger and the fact that the employees of Union Pacific are under such stress and fatigue because of the…

recently the aircraft carrier Nimitz sailed into the Persian Gulf ahead of its scheduled rotation. The purpose of the deployment was to warn Iran and Iraq against sending aircraft into the no-fly zone that the United Nations has mandated…

Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage support for this conference report. Not long ago, there were nine men from the 305th Air Mobility Wing recently reported missing and last seen in the skies over the south Atlantic. For reasons unknown…

today, it is my pleasure to share with my colleagues a good news story, one about our Nation's military and, in particular, our Army. It involves a materiel acquisition program first developed in the 1980's for Army soldiers. It is called…

The purpose of our military in this country is to protect our freedoms and to protect American interests. Today I speak for the veterans, I speak for those in uniform, I speak for the military who fought for America against Saddam Hussein…

when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell often described the men and women he led as an exquisite military force. I do not believe he was overstating the situation. Soldier for soldier, sailor for sailor…

Mr. Chairman, in these days with the cold war behind us, Berlin Wall having come down, we find ourselves in a comparable era, as we did in the 1920's and the early 1930's where there was no known adversary on the horizon. I support the…

we have a very interesting and telling decision before us, the three choices that may be made in all of this Bosnia business today. The first is to adopt an amendment, which I oppose, to take our troops out by the end of December of this…

I was sorry to hear a few moments ago the gentleman from Florida say this is not about the defense of our country. It is about the defense of the young men and young women in uniform, those who are on the firing line, those who are nearing…

Mr. Chairman, I offer the amendment at this time, which changes the law as it relates to veterans and veterans' burials. It is like the amendment that was passed in the Senate at the behest of Senator Torricelli, the gentleman from New…

I at this time wish to discuss very briefly amendments 32, 32 and 33. The first: In an effort to collect, evaluate, and assess the efforts of the U.S. Government to combat international terrorism, the amendment requires the director of the…

It is 1 year ago that we lost our friend, our colleague, my fellow Missourian, Bill Emerson. In his stead and in his shoes today is that charming and wonderful gentlewoman from Missouri, Mrs. Jo Ann Emerson, who represents the Eighth…

Let us look at these elements very briefly in the time that we have. I think it is absolutely right; what are we defending? Then, on the domestic front, we have the grandest civilization ever known in the history of mankind. That is what…

I am convinced, after being on the committee on which I serve, formerly known as the Armed Services Committee and now the Committee on National Security, and meeting with them in all parts of this country and other countries where they are…

I want to vote for a balanced budget amendment tonight, but I cannot do it in all good conscience should the Shuster substitute pass. I suppose in speaking for a balanced budget, on the one hand, and against the Shuster substitute, I could…

Gen. George Patton, as vigorous a proponent of advanced military technology as ever served in the U.S. Armed Forces, once said, "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by people." Today, in the last of three speeches I am making…

in all of this budget business, which has been in the headlines, I found not one word referring to the budget for national security. Thus, this second of three speeches I am making about the future of the U.S. military is not only…

Today is the first of three speeches I intend to make on the future of the U.S. military. This afternoon I will address the principles that should shape U.S. military strategy in coming years. In the second speech I will discuss whether…

I had the opportunity and the privilege for some 7 to 8 years to ride to and from McLean, VA to the Capitol with my fellow Missourian, Bill Emerson. We would start out the day, we would solve all of the problems of the world and…

Mr. Speaker, we have witnessed this afternoon tributes to a wonderful American, great Missourian, Bill Emerson. I have not seen such an outpouring in my time here in the Congress of the United States. Habit is a funny thing. Habits…

We cannot cut this defense budget anymore. It is interesting in all this debate, not much has been said about the soldier. The first place that you cut, the easiest place that you cut is from the soldier, himself or herself from those who…

I speak against this amendment. Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is a military medical school. It is one that specializes and prepares doctors, young men and young women, to stay in the military and to serve those who…