Honoring the life of Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 134 Honoring the life of Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 14, 2019 Mr. DELGADO (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr. BUDD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services RESOLUTION Honoring the life of Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent. Whereas Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent was born in Pine Plains, New York, to Stephen and Mary Smith; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent enlisted in the United States Navy on December 11, 2003, after graduating with honors from Stissing Mountain High School, New York; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent, a 2005 graduate of the Defense Language Institute, was fluent in five languages and six dialects of Arabic; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent quickly rose through the ranks and served as a member of the Cryptologic War- fare Unit of the Navy, stationed at Fort Meade, Mary- land; VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR134.IH HR134 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 134 IH Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent deployed with the Navy SEALs to Iraq three times from 2007 to 2011 and to Af- ghanistan in 2012; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent was diagnosed with and survived thyroid cancer in 2016; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent was deemed cancer free by her doctors and cleared for all physical activity; Whereas, in March 2018, Chief Petty Officer Kent was se- lected to participate in a special officer program to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent was disqualified, having not met the physical standards established under Depart- ment of Defense Instruction 6130.03, from seeking the commission as an officer in the Armed Forces required to participate in the special program because of her his- tory of thyroid cancer; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent appealed to the Depart- ment of the Navy to establish a standardized waiver proc- ess for members of the Armed Forces who meet retention and deployment standards but fail to meet the heightened accession standards regarding the physical fitness of such members; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent received an ‘‘outstanding’’ rating on her Physical Readiness Test in May 2018, deeming her medically fit to serve in a combat zone while she remained medically unfit to pursue a Ph.D.; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent, having been denied a waiver and an appeal from the Department of the Navy to seek a commission as an officer in the Armed Forces, deployed to Syria in November 2018; VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR134.IH HR134 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 134 IH Whereas, on January 16, 2019, at 35 years of age, Chief Petty Officer Kent was killed in a suicide bombing in Manbij, Syria, while supporting Joint Task Force–Oper- ation Inherent Resolve; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent served in five combat tours in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and fi- nally Syria; Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent was the recipient of the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, two Joint Service Com- mendation Medals, the Navy and Marine Corps Com- mendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Joint Service Achievement Medal, among other deco- rations and awards; and Whereas Chief Petty Officer Kent is survived by her husband and two children: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) honors the life of Chief Petty Officer Shan- 2 non M. Kent; 3 (2) recognizes the meritorious service of Chief 4 Petty Officer Kent to the United States in combat 5 operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria; 6 (3) expresses condolences to the family of Chief 7 Petty Officer Kent on her passing; and 8 (4) urges the Department of the Navy and the 9 Department of Defense to continue to review and 10 engage with Congress regarding the effect of chapter 11 15 of the Manual of the Medical Department of the 12 Navy and Department of Defense Instruction 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR134.IH HR134 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 134 IH 6130.03 on members of the Armed Forces who meet 1 retention and deployment standards but fail to meet 2 accession standards. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR134.IH HR134 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS