44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2000

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE NAVY TO DESIGNATE THE NEXT VIRGINIA-CLASS NUCLEAR POWERED ATTACK SUBMARINE THE USS NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, soldiers of the union army turned back the confederate army's rapid march west toward gold mines that would have added desperately needed funds to the south's coffers at the battle of Glorieta pass in New Mexico, turning the tide in favor of the union's effort; and

WHEREAS, some three hundred fifty-eight New Mexicans made up the largest contingent to serve in the volunteer rough riders military unit under the command of Theodore Roosevelt in the bloodiest fighting of the Spanish-American War liberating Cuba and seizing control of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines; and

WHEREAS, the Navajo code talkers of New Mexico protected vital military information by transmitting coded messages in their native, unwritten language that enemy listeners could not crack during World War II, turning the tide in the Pacific theater; and

WHEREAS, some one thousand eight hundred New Mexicans in the 200th and 515th coast artillery courageously fought enemy bombers in the Philippines during World War II only to be captured and forced to march up the Bataan peninsula for ten days with no food and little water, with less than nine hundred returning home after surviving the Bataan death march; and

WHEREAS, the scientists of Los Alamos dedicated themselves to ending World War II by developing and testing the atomic bomb in the desert lands of New Mexico, which brought an immediate end to the war; and

WHEREAS, the people of New Mexico have continued to support the nation's military engagements across the globe through the service of its men and women at Cannon air force base, Holloman air force base, Kirtland air force base and White Sands missile range; and

WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico has a long history of contributing to the defense of the United States through the service of its men and women in combat and the development of military technologies; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico is a leader in developing twenty-first century technologies, and much of the work at the department of energy laboratories in Los Alamos and Albuquerque continues to keep this country strong and free; and

WHEREAS, naming the next Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarine the USS New Mexico would confirm New Mexico's place on the United States map and focus attention on the contributions the state makes to national defense; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of Albuquerque and Santa Fe have proven themselves to be highly supportive of their respective namesake submarines and their crews, the USS Albuquerque for the past eighteen years and the USS Santa Fe for the past seven years; and

WHEREAS, many submariners of New Mexico gave their lives in the Pacific theater during World War II and remain on eternal patrol, and many other New Mexico submariners have served with pride and honor in the United States naval submarine force, which this year celebrates its one hundredth anniversary; and

WHEREAS, the naming of the USS New Mexico would honor the thousands of military personnel this state has produced for the armed forces, and in the same spirit that the state's namesake battleship once honored those who served;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the United States secretary of the navy be requested to designate the next Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarine the USS New Mexico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the United States secretary of the navy and the New Mexico congressional delegation.