SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 6

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION, THE VETERANS' SERVICES DEPARTMENT, AN APPROPRIATE INTERIM LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE AND THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE TO WORK WITH THE LAS VEGAS VETERANS COMMITTEE ON A FEASIBILITY STUDY OF THE FUNDING THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO CREATE THE LAS VEGAS ARMORY CENTER.

     WHEREAS, the development of the Las Vegas armory center, formerly known as the "old armory building", has been initiated by a group of veterans who served with three New Mexico national guard battalions; and

     WHEREAS, the members of the three New Mexico national guard battalions, in anticipation of war, volunteered early, fifteen months before the attack on Pearl Harbor; and

     WHEREAS, one of the three battalions, the 200th coast artillery, was the first to fight but lacked support because the country was not fully prepared; and

     WHEREAS, the second battalion, the 120th combat engineer battalion, together with the southwestern 45th infantry, saw the most days of direct combat, five hundred eleven, of any division in the Pacific or Atlantic theaters; and

     WHEREAS, the 120th combat engineer battalion was the first national guard unit federalized to go to Bataan; and

     WHEREAS, the 45th infantry had the largest number of Hispanics and Native Americans of any division; and

     WHEREAS, the 45th infantry was lauded by General George Patton as the first to serve under his command, and Marshall Kesselring, overall German commander in the Mediterranean area, said that it was one of the two best United States divisions against which he had ever fought; and

     WHEREAS, the third battalion, the 804th tank destroyer battalion, saw honorable action in Italy and Germany; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico veterans have served with distinction throughout the state's history, and there are currently over one hundred ninety thousand veterans in the state; and

     WHEREAS, the community of Las Vegas voted to preserve the old armory building and create the Las Vegas veterans center in order to serve the needs of northern New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, there is a coordinated initiative, through the Las Vegas veterans committee, to use the "old armory building" as the Las Vegas armory center for education, training, housing, medical and social services and general economic development for veterans;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the work of the Las Vegas veterans committee to preserve and restore the "old armory building" and convert it into the Las Vegas armory center be recognized; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Las Vegas veterans committee be requested to work with the New Mexico congressional delegation, the veterans' services department, an appropriate interim legislative committee and the legislative finance committee to complete, by October 31, 2005, a study of the feasibility of obtaining the funding that would be needed to make the Las Vegas armory center a reality; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the Las Vegas veterans committee, the New Mexico congressional delegation, the veterans' services department, the New Mexico legislative council and the legislative finance committee.

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