RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT, NEW YORK.

WHEREAS, the United States military academy at West Point, New York, was established by an act of congress on March 16, 1802 and signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson; and

WHEREAS, this year, 2002, is the bicentennial of the establishment of the academy; and

WHEREAS, during its term of existence, the academy has graduated fifty-eight thousand four hundred seventy-three cadets; and

WHEREAS, in keeping with the mission of the academy, it developed them as leaders of character for the United States army and inspired them to careers as commissioned officers and a lifetime of selfless service to our nation; and

WHEREAS, some of those graduates have distinguished themselves as leaders in the armed services, such as Generals Ulysses S. Grant, George A. Custer, Douglas MacArthur, George S. Patton, Omar N. Bradley, Dwight D. Eisenhower and H. Norman Schwarzkopf; and

WHEREAS, some have become presidents of the United States, such as Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower; and

WHEREAS, some have become astronauts, such as Frank Borman and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin; and

WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico is currently represented by fifty-one cadets, and of those cadets twelve will be graduating with the bicentennial class; and

WHEREAS, those cadets are: Jerrod Adams of Farmington, Gregory Barber of Albuquerque, Francis Brink of Las Cruces, Andrew Chavez of Santa Fe, Tyler Donnell of Albuquerque, Justin Hawthorne of Ruidoso, Josef Michaels of Raton, Andrew Pruett of Santa Fe, Nicholas Ryan of Espanola, Thomas Strum of Las Vegas, Christopher Walls of Raton and Sarah Wolberg of Socorro; and

WHEREAS, the long gray line of West Point has never failed our country;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that gratitude and support be expressed to the United States military academy for its two hundred years of existence and its long line of graduates in service to our country; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we declare our support for the academy; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be sent to the superintendent of the United States military academy, Lieutenant General William J. Lennox, Jr., and to the New Mexico cadets who will graduate with the bicentennial class of 2002.