On the recordApril 21, 2016
today I wish to recognize the Civil Air Patrol as it celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The Civil Air Patrol has been a tremendous contributor in our great State, and I am honored to recognize and congratulate it on this important milestone. The Civil Air Patrol was founded on December 1, 1941, the week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, by a group of brave civilians interested in donating both their aviation skills and free time to protecting the Nation's coastlines during World War II, in addition to contributing to other civil defense missions. During this time, pilots volunteering with the Civil Air Patrol flew more than 500,000 hours and helped in a variety of ways, including patrolling the coastline for submarine activity, monitoring our forests and southern borders, and searching for ships and personnel in distress. On July 1, 1946, the Civil Air Patrol was established as a federally chartered nonprofit corporation by President Harry Truman. Following this, on May 26, 1948, Congress passed a law, designating the Civil Air Patrol as the Air Force Auxiliary and establishing primary missions for the Civil Air Patrol. The legislation established that the Civil Air Patrol would focus on emergency services, cadet programs, and aerospace education. Today this important organization is a national community service group with 31,000 professionally trained civilian volunteers and serves as a partner to the U.S.…





