Depending on the capabilities and availability of specific units, and the needs of local communities, the Armed Forces can assist civilian authorities in addressing a significant number of domestic problems. Role Models I would put at the top of the list role models. One of the key strengths of the Armed Forces is developing role models. Hard- working, disciplined men and women who command respect and honor in their very presence can serve as a very powerful force among our young people especially where family structures are weakened by poverty, drugs, and crime. We should enhance opportunities for good role models to interact with our young people. Take, for example, the case of Sergeant First Class Lenard Robinson, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, who actively corresponded with learning handicapped children at a school in California while he was overseas during Operation DESERT STORM. Typically, learning handicapped children have great difficulty expressing themselves in writing. Sergeant Robinson's vivid descriptions of his experiences overseas, combined with photos and videos that he sent, have inspired many children to read his letters. And many of the children, who never wrote more than a few words before they heard of Sergeant Robinson, now write long letters to him. We have thousands of Sergeant Robinsons in our military services today. The YESS program in Michigan is a collaborative effort between the private sector, non-profit organizations, and the Michigan National Guard to provide disadvantaged young people with role models and specific educational skills. Young people live on a military base for 5 days, receiving science and math tutoring, as well as exposure to military hardware and operations. This provides an exciting, stimulating environment to not only enhance their educational skills, but also to provide them with role models that encourage these young people to set goals for their own lives. It enables them to look at others who have come from similar circumstances and say, "If they did it, I can do it also." Senator Levin brought this program to my attention. He's very familiar with the program, and will be describing it in more detail when he speaks on this subject. Why not expand this program so that it can benefit young people throughout our nation? The nation is familiar with our senior military leaders, many of whom are black who served our nation so well during Operation DESERT STORM, such as General Colin Powell and Lieutenant General Calvin Waller. Over 400,000 members of the Armed Forces today who serve our nation well and ably who are black, and over 90,000 who are Hispanic, whose service, in Operation DESERT STORM and elsewhere, represent a model for every citizen in our country. These include Marines such as Captain Ed Ray, a light infantry company commander whose testimony before our committee about combat in Operation DESERT STORM demonstrated the professionalism and competence of our junior officers. Or Specialist Jonathan Alston of the Second Armored Division whose heroism in DESERT STORM earned him the Silver Star and who is featured in the television docudrama "The Heros of DESERT STORM." These individuals can serve, not just those who've been in DESERT STORM but thousands of others who have achieved great professionalism, can serve as a role model in community service programs throughout our country. But there must be a structured program to enable community organizations to benefit from the capabilities and qualities of military role models. Military leadership, at both the officer and enlisted level, is an example of unique national resources. Why not use this resource as an example to tens of thousands of inner city and rural youth who, for example, may never have had a father in their own home? Rehabilitation and Renewal of Community Facilities Mr. President, all across this country, schools, public housing, and recreational facilities, as well as roads and bridges, need repair in areas where government funds and private sector involvement are simply not available. Active duty and reserve units, particularly those with engineering capabilities, could participate in restoring part of our infrastructure in this country. Military construction units may need to be beefed-up and perhaps redistributed to ensure that capabilities exist in all geographic areas to meet this important need. Bill Guilfoil of the Atlanta Project at the Carter Center in Georgia reported to me that at least 1500 public housing units are boarded-up and unoccupied in Atlanta because of their state of disrepair. Meanwhile, the city's homeless population numbers at least 12,000. I think this story would be repeated in city after city after city across our land. There are dozens of combat engineer units, located in Georgia, that really need to do construction and maintenance training in order to keep up their proficiency because that's what they do. That's what they have to do in any kind of conflict. I think it makes sense to put those domestic needs and our military engineering resources together. Army combat engineering units could be effectively used to repair dilapidated public housing, repair aging schools, and refurbish old recreational facilities. They could also provide temporary facilities to meet pressing public needs. As noted in an article, I believe it was The Washington Post last week, the WIC (Women's Infants and Children) Program center that served the south central Los Angeles area was destroyed in the riots, leaving the area without the capability to ensure that children and pregnant mothers receive vital nutrition. The military has the capability to provide temporary buildings on a very short notice. Why not use this capability to deal with such an emergency? Last year, in Operation PROVIDE COMFORT in Iraq, military maintenance and construction units built housing, laid cement roads, put in plumbing systems-and the list goes on and on-for the desperate Kurds. We have desperate people in America. Why not put those resources to work at home? In many areas, these units are located right next door to blighted areas. National Guard Bureau for a National Guard Youth Corps The military should examine ways to refocus local reserve component training on local community support initiatives whenever feasible and operationally justified. I will be proposing a pilot program to be implemented by the National Guard Bureau for a National Guard Youth Corps. Last year in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1992, Congress appropriated funds for the National Guard Bureau to develop a program designed to demonstrate how disadvantaged youth can be aided through a program, based on a military model, of education, personal and skills development, and work in service to their communities. This initiative was sponsored by Senator Byrd and I compliment him on his proposal. The National Guard Bureau has since completed its work on designing a pilot program. I think it's very promising. As it is currently envisioned, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau would be authorized to enter into agreements with the governors of 10 states to operate a military-based training program to improve basic skills and employability of high school dropouts. In this regard, I will be working with Senator Byrd, and with Senator Glenn, who chairs our Manpower Subcommittee, to include a provision in our defense markup this year authorizing such a pilot program which is really being enthusiastically requested by the Guard Bureau. The program would require a relatively modest investment of the talent that is already available in National Guard units. I also have been informed that General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is interested in expanding the Junior ROTC training program, an effort, which I applaud, which could benefit from the types of assistance that I have outlined in these remarks. An expansion of the Junior ROTC program, particularly in our inner cities, could be very beneficial. I look forward to getting that proposal from General Powell and others he is working with. If these plans are implemented, they could do much to help the young people of our country. Why not put our military resources to work on this type endeavor? Summer Programs Our young people need other kinds of help. I believe we should investigate ways to refocus DoD summer hire programs to recruit disadvantaged students where feasible. In areas where the DoD operates schools, teachers and perhaps facilities could be involved in summer school outreach to disadvantaged children. Why not put these resources to work in areas of greatest need? Job Training and Education There is a dire need for job training and education especially in the inner cities-to enable men and women to meet the needs of the evolving workplace. While our educational system and private industry must bear the primary responsibility for training and education, there may be opportunities in specific locations for civil-military cooperation in use of military training facilities to assist in meeting these needs. Why not look at our military resources as a resource for this kind of training and education? Medical Transport Our ability to transport people to medical facilities i ' n an emergency can never be fast enough, particularly for trauma victims. Every day, military medevac: units must log certain hours of flight training. That's what they train for all year long, to be ready in a contingency. That's what they're in business to do, to help evacuate people in a conflict situation. I submit that they should be allowed to do so while helping our own citizens at the same time. Currently, 97 percent of the aeromedical evacuation units are in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. These units provide long distance medical evacuation. In addition, one reserve and 17 active helicopter units in the Army, and one Air Force reserve helicopter unit, provide short distance emergency medical evacuation under the Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic Program already available in a number of states. In Georgia, for example, the 498th medical company at Fort Benning has provided critical emergency medical support to assist communities throughout southwest Georgia, particularly in rural areas. I believe that these units can be more centrally integrated and managed as they train to provide even more assistance to our communities. Communities that do not have access to current military or civilian medical transportation services need these resources. Why not look at the inventory of our military resources, determine which areas can be matched up, determine where the private sector is not able to provide this kind of service, and use the military in meeting these critical needs. Public Health Outreach In a similar vein, there are many citizens in both urban and rural areas who lack the very basics of health and medical services. There may be opportunities in specific locations to use DoD medical capabilities to assist civilian authorities in providing public health outreach to these urban areas. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta estimates that fewer than half of all American children are fully immunized against diseases such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, and rubella. Infant vaccination and basic medical treatment are services that the military provides routinely in humanitarian missions abroad. Why not use these resources at home? Nutrition There may be areas in which the military could even play a useful role by assisting civilian authorities in addressing the serious problem of hunger in America. The Food Research and Action Center-which recently honored our colleague Senator Lugar for his leadership on this issue-has estimated that 5 million children under age 12--one in eight in America--suffer from hunger. An old military saying is that "the Army travels on its stomach." The military has extensive food storage, preparation, and distribution systems. Military units responsible for these systems, including those in the National Guard and Reserve, could play an important role in the distribution of surplus food. They could help provide transportation, storage, and preparation assistance to federal, state, and local agencies while they are preparing for their basic mission. Where civilian agencies need this assistance, and military units are capable of providing it, why not put these resources to work? AN OPPORTUNITY FOR POSITIVE CHANGE Mr. President, the time to turn these ideas into action, I think, is this year-during this window of change and flexibility. As we reconfigure our military forces for our future defense requirements, I believe that we can reduce some of the combat missions that have been assigned to the National Guard and Reserves. At the same time, because warning times will be much longer, we should realign more of the military's support missions to the National Guard and the Reserves. These support units must be distributed in a regionally balanced way to provide a more effective capability for each state, with the added benefit of facilitating the opportunities for civil- military cooperation. Pentagon officials should put greater emphasis on coordinating military training with the potential benefits that such training can have in improving our communities. They need authority to do so and they need an expression from the congressional branch of government to do so. I am confident that this Civil-Military Cooperative Action Program can be structured in a manner consistent with our military needs, without competing with the private sector or other government agencies. It is imperative that we not undercut private enterprise. But we can all look at the cities of our country today, we can look at the problems in Los Angeles and the problems in Atlanta and the problems in Chicago and the problems in New York and Boston, and on and on, and we can easily say, without any fear of being repudiated that the private sector cannot handle the job that needs to be done. All we have to do is look at the federal budget deficit and know that there is not going to be an instant solution with huge, billions and billions of dollars of new expenditures. There are many opportunities for the military to get involved. I don't pretend the military can solve all these problems. They would have to be carefully tailored to each individual base, each individual unit's capability, and we'd have to keep our focus on the military mission, first and foremost, but there are many opportunities for military assistance to community needs that cannot be met with current private sector or civilian public resources. Mr. President, I watched the faces of the people who fought in DESERT STORM. I watched the faces of those who provided relief to people who were dying on the desert who they'd been fighting with a few minutes before, and I watched the young people, and the satisfaction they had in helping people who were dying in need. I also talked to many people who came back from helping the Kurds. I talked to people who've come back from Bangladesh in helping there. Nothing gives military people more pride than carrying out a mission of humanity, a mission of peace, a mission of mercy. This is something they enjoy doing. It gives them tremendous satisfaction and it's something they do well. By using the capabilities we have in the military, we can assist civilian authorities in addressing the critical fundamentals upon which a healthy society, a healthy economy, and a healthy military are built. I believe this is a sensible investment we can make in our future, and a vital one. I look forward to working with my colleagues in receiving suggestions, additions, warnings, caveats, and so forth to this proposal. I look forward to working with the senior leadership of the Defense Department-Secretary Cheney, General Powell--I've already discussed this with General Sullivan of the Army. I have talked about it with several other individuals and I believe that working together we can develop a vibrant Civil-Military Cooperative Action Program to begin working on some of these problems that afflict our nation. 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