A bill to redesignate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues in the House from both parties for joining me as cosponsors of H.R. 24, legislation to redesignate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. As of today, this legislation has 278 bipartisan cosponsors.

For the past 7 years, the language of this bill has been part of the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act. Each year, the full House of Representatives has supported this change. This year, I am grateful to have the support of Senator Pat Roberts, a former marine, who introduced the same bill in the Senate, S. 504. With his help, I am hopeful that this will be the year the Senate supports the House's position and joins in bringing proper respect to the fighting team of the Navy and Marine Corps.

The Navy and Marine Corps have operated as one entity for more than two centuries, and H.R. 24 would allow the name of their Department to illustrate this fact. This legislation is not about changing the responsibilities of the Secretary of the Department, reallocating resources between the Navy and Marine Corps or altering their missions. Redesignating the Department as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps is a symbolic gesture, but it is important to the team.

Over the years, I have been encouraged by the overwhelming support for this change that I have received from so many members of the United States Armed Forces. Last month, I received a letter from retired Marine Colonel Giles Kyser, who kindly expressed his support for H.R. 24.

He wrote, ``As a combat commander of marines and sailors in Iraq, I submit that no one understands the parity of the two services better than the corpsmen and chaplains serving alongside `their marines.' I dare say, if you asked any one of those sailors to voice an opinion about the proposed change, most would wonder why our country took so long to take this simple action.''

The colonel further wrote, ``When President Truman considered disbanding the Marine Corps after World War II in 1946, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, Medal of Honor recipient Alexander Vandergrift brought the issue before the Congress of the United States. The general merely presented the Marine Corps' combat lineage and let those actions speak for themselves. After hearing the general's remarks, our congressional leaders did the right thing: not only preserving our Corps but ensuring its roles, missions; and even its size became part of the law of the land.''

The colonel further stated in his letter, ``The stroke of a pen, adding three words `and Marine Corps,' will complete General Vandergrift's action of some 63 years ago; will ensure our leaders, their staffs and their constituents clearly recognize the coequal status of the Marine Corps; and will ensure once and for all time the equality of our marines in the eyes of the Nation and its people.''

Madam Speaker, I submit the full text of Colonel Kyser's letter for the Record.

May 14, 2009.

Congressman Walter B. Jones

House of Representatives,

Rayburn Building, Washington, DC.

Congressman Jones, Per our discussions on 12 May I wanted

to pass on a few suggestions regarding your proposed Bill

(H.R. 24) ``To redesignate the Department of the Navy as the

Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.'' I believe your

initiative comes at a time in the history of our Nation and

of our Navy and Marine Corps when permanently establishing

the Marine Corps' parity as an equal service with the Army,

Navy, and Air Force constitutes an ethical and practical

imperative not only from the standpoint of history, but from

the standpoint of educating key leaders and their staffs.

Your efforts to-date clearly underscore why according the

Marine Corps equal status within the Department of Defense

constitutes the ``right thing to do.'' The contributions of

our Marines, written in blood across the globe during our

current contingency operations merit a change raising the

awareness of the Nation and its leaders regarding the role

our Marines play in their defense. Moreover, and if only as a

supporting argument, how many Americans truly at understand

that the sacrifices made since September 11 2001 by our

Marines always take place with Sailors at their side on the

battlefield? Those Sailors, who while at

their side, often provide either the immediate aid that saves

their lives, or the special comfort of a comrade during their

final moments on this earth. Such is the unshakable bond of

the Marines and Sailors who live at the tip of the spear,

where the measure of a man or woman's life is defined by

actions, and where moments of courage and compassion confer a

nobility that clearly compels equal recognition in the eyes

of the citizens they defend.

As a combat commander of Marines and Sailors in Iraq, I

submit that no one understands the parity of the two services

better than the Corpsmen and Chaplains serving alongside

``their Marines.'' I dare say that if you asked any one of

those Sailors to voice an opinion about the proposed change

that they would support the change with the same degree of

commitment they always show ``their Marines'' and, most would

wonder why our country took so long to take this simple

action.

After all is said and done, the substance of the proposed

change focuses us on the young men and women who willingly

gave the last full measure of devotion to this country. The

redesignation honors them and constitutes an ethical

imperative. * * * it is the right thing to do and we must do

it.

The second imperative revolves around a very practical

truth. In an environment where decisions taken find their

foundation in understanding the context of the issue, most

Americans, even those here in the rarefied air of Washington

DC, simply do not realize that the Department of the Navy

includes both the Navy and Marine Corps. The practical result

of that lack of knowledge finds very concrete expression in

the history of deliberation and budgets within the Department

of Defense. Many Congressional, White House, and even

Department of Defense staffers must constantly be reminded

that the Department of the Navy, and its total obligation

authority includes both the Navy and the Marine Corps in

order to avoid cutting away the muscle of the Corps as it

competes for funding. The Marine Corps' advertising efforts

and information campaign within the Capital Region help to

overcome the challenge, but why should the Marine Corps and

the Department of the Navy have to begin their efforts from a

position of informational weakness? Certainly, the stroke of

a pen changing the existing designation provides a

demonstrable first step in overcoming the positional deficit

plaguing the Corps since its inception some two hundred and

thirty-four years ago.

Indeed, when President Truman considered disbanding the

Marine Corps after World War II in 1946, then Commandant of

the Marine Corps, Medal of Honor recipient Alexander

Vandergrift brought the issue before the Congress of the

United States. The General merely presented the Marine Corps'

combat lineage and let those actions speak for themselves. He

refused to, in his words, come on ``bended knee'' to argue

the case for Marines and Sailors who served so bravely and

brilliantly in places like Tripoli, Montezuma, Belleau Wood,

Tarawa, and Iwo Jima. After hearing the General's remarks,

our Congressional Leaders did the right thing; not only

preserving our Corps, but ensuring its roles, missions, and

even its size became part of the law of the land.

It is time again for our Congressional Leaders to ``do the

right thing'' in a time when fiscal reality might again place

our Marines and the Sailors who serve with them at a

disadvantage born not from malice aforethought as was the

case in 1946, but born of a lack of education existing for

more than two hundred and thirty years. The stroke of a pen,

adding three words ``and Marine Corps'' will complete General

Vandegrift's action of some sixty-three years ago, will

ensure our leaders, their staffs, and their constituents

clearly recognize the co-equal status of the Marine Corps

and, will ensure once and for all time, the equality of our

Marines in the eyes of the Nation and its people. This is not

a request made from a ``bended knee.'' It is a request made

from the position of attention, facing forward, but not

forgetting the sacrifice of those Marines and Sailors of the

past. The change constitutes an ethical and practical

imperative and is ``the right thing to do.''

Very respectfully,

James Giles Kyser IV,

Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired).

Madam Speaker, the marines who are fighting today deserve this recognition--those living and fighting and those who have given their lives for this country.

I have beside me an actual copy of a letter that was sent to a marine family. This is the way it is today--the Secretary of the Navy with the Navy flag. ``Dear Marine Corps family, on behalf of the Department of the Navy, we extend our deepest sympathy in the loss of your loved one.''

Madam Speaker, if H.R. 24 and Senate 504 become the law of the land, it will be the way it should be to a family--to a Marine family who gave a life for this country. It will say the Secretary of the Navy and the Marine Corps, and it will have the Navy flag and the Marine flag. It will say, ``Dear Marine Corps family, on behalf of the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps, please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of your loved one.''

This is all it is about--bringing the team together. It is time that the Marine Corps is recognized as part of the fighting team.

With that, Madam Speaker, before I yield back my time, I will ask God to please bless our men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq. I will ask God to, please, with his loving arms, hold the families who have given children, dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. I close three times by asking God: God, please, God, please, God, please continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Heinrich for his kind words about this legislation. I also want to take time to thank Chairman Ike Skelton and Ranking Member Buck McKeon, who have been very supportive of this legislation for the last 8 years. It is because of the leadership of both, and especially the chairman, that this bill is on the floor today, for which I am very grateful.

Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Heinrich said, it is kind of interesting that the Marine Corps, which has such a history, that is so revered by so many Americans, just like those who serve in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, yet it is a fact that the Marine Corps is somewhat like a child at the family reunion, meaning that they are part of the family, but they just aren't seen as the family.

I make that mention for this reason. A few years ago, this cap was given to me by the Secretary of the Navy, and the cap says, ``Navy- Marine Corps, One Fighting Team,'' and yet this one fighting team doesn't carry the name of both services.

Again, I want to thank the 426 cosponsors. We turned in 11 names today so that for this debate they could be part of the effort that Mr. Heinrich made reference to, so it is 426.

Many people would say, well, why do you and others want so badly to build that type of support? It is because, as Mr. Heinrich said, the Senate has always been the downfall of this effort, and I can honestly say, Mr. Speaker, that in the past 8 years there have been so many comments by people who support this legislation and groups, that I would just like to name a few in the time that I have.

First of all, this year alone, H.R. 24 has these associations that support it: The Fleet Reserve Association; the Marine Corps League; the National Defense Political Action Committee; National Association of Uniformed Services; Veterans of Foreign Wars; and Marine Parents.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to this, years ago in this effort that Mr. Heinrich made reference to, 8 years, I want to read just one statement from the Honorable Wade Sanders, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs. This is what he said, and I read verbatim:

``As a combat veteran and former Naval officer, I understand the importance of the team dynamic, and the importance of recognizing the contributions of team components. The Navy and Marine Corps team is just that, a dynamic partnership, and it is important to symbolically recognize the balance of that partnership.''

Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, I would like to share with the debate today, it caught me by surprise back in 2005 from your home State, I was notified that the Chicago Tribune had editorially supported this bill in 2006. I just want to read a paragraph.

``Step up for the Marines. The Marines have not asked for complete autonomy. Nothing structurally needs to change in their relationship with the Navy, which has served both branches well. The Corps only asks for recognition. Having served their Nation proudly and courageously since colonial days, the leathernecks have earned a promotion.''

I want to thank this House again. All we are saying is, the Marine Corps deserves recognition.

Mr. Speaker, if I could make a couple other points, and then I would reserve my time.

One of the opponents to this legislation is in the Senate. I looked up the history. He was a member of the class of 1958. In 1958, the football field at Annapolis was known as the Navy Memorial Football Stadium. After that distinguished gentleman graduated in 1959, they changed the name of the football stadium at Annapolis to the Navy- Marine Corps Memorial Football Stadium.

This year, when we were here on a weekend, I was watching the Notre Dame-Navy football game, and I noticed a jersey that Annapolis was wearing. I know you probably can't see this, but I can make my point.

Mr. Speaker, on the front it says ``Navy.'' On the left sleeve is the Marine Corps anchor and globe. On the right sleeve is the Navy anchor. They understand teamwork, they understand one fighting team, and the House understands one fighting team. That is why it is so important today that we are having this debate.

Again, I thank each and every one that has been part of this.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Schiff for those excellent remarks about this bill and the need for this proper recognition. Again, it is no more, no less than just recognizing the Marine Corps as part of one fighting team, the Navy and Marine Corps.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Schiff for also mentioning Gunnery Sergeant Lee Ermey, who has become the national spokesman. In fact, there is a Web site called MarineCause.Com that anybody that would like to see more about this issue and maybe join in on a petition, they could do that.

We did a news conference about 5 weeks ago with the Marine Corps League, and I want to thank Mike Blum and the League for hosting this news conference. It was in the Cannon Building. Lee Ermey came. He is quite an interesting American. He is quite a patriot as well.

At the news conference, the speakers that day, I made the opening remarks, and then Senator Pat Roberts, who has put a companion bill in on the Senate side, S. 504, and he himself is a retired Marine officer, he spoke.

Then we had this young man named Eddie Wright. I never will forget him. Eddie Wright lost both hands in Iraq for this country. He came, and at the news conference he told the story of how much he loved the Navy. He said,

``Here I am a Marine. I would have died without the corpsmen saving my life.'' He said, ``We are one family. That is why I think this legislation is so important.'' Again, Eddie Wright has lost both hands.

In addition, there was a father, Dick Lynn, from Richmond, Virginia. He was telling the story about when he received the condolence letter when his son died in Iraq for this country. This is the condolence letter. We have taken the names out of it. It is not the one that Mr. Lynn received. But it is just so ironic that the Marine family, whose son died for this country, that they receive a letter that says ``The Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C.,'' with a Navy flag, and it says, ``On behalf of the Department of Navy, please accept our very sincere condolences.''

A condolence letter certainly is important. But if this should become the law, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Lynn and every other family would receive a condolence letter that would say, ``The Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps,'' with the Navy flag and the Marine flag. ``On behalf of the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps, please accept my sincere condolences on the loss of your loved one.''

Mr. Lynn gave one example about the importance of ``team.'' He said, My father was a World War II Navy veteran. He is buried in Culpeper, Virginia. Next to my father is buried my son, who was in the United States Marine Corps. And on both headstones, the father, ``United States Navy,'' the son, ``United States Marine Corps.''

As I begin to close, I want to thank Mr. Heinrich for being on the floor today and Mr. Schiff for being on the floor today. I want to thank the chairman of the committee, Ike Skelton, for being a supporter of this for over 8 years. I want to thank Buck McKeon for being a supporter of this for over 8 years.

It is time that the Senate, I hope, will look at the fairness of this issue that will be sent to the United States Senate. That is all it is, is recognition and fairness to the United States Marine Corps, who are loved and endeared by the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was humbled, but also pleased, that the House of Representatives passed legislation that would rename the Department of the Navy to be the Department of Navy and Marine Corps, and I want to thank 426 cosponsors of this legislation for joining us yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, the history on this issue is that this is the tenth year that the House of Representatives, not with a vote on the floor of the House, but in the Armed Services Committee, has put language in the House Armed Services authorization bill that would do the same thing, and that is to say, that the Department of the Navy would become the Department of Navy and Marine Corps.

The reason yesterday was very important that we would have this vote on the floor of the House was to say to the Senate, who for 10 years has stopped this effort to recognize two great services, the Navy and Marine Corps, which are known as one fighting team and would carry the name Department of Navy and Marine Corps, it

was to say to the Senate, ``Please take a look at this and please look at this seriously because this is important to a large number of people in both the Navy and Marine Corps.''

There is no cost to this. This does not affect the budget. It doesn't affect even the stationery. It would just make it so that in the future, as changes come about, it would be known as the Department of Navy and Marine Corps.

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell a story about a news conference. About 6 weeks ago, the Marine Corps League held a news conference in the Cannon Office Building to announce their support of this legislation. At the news conference we had Senator Pat Roberts, a retired Marine officer who serves in the United States Senate, who has put in a companion bill, S. 504. In addition, we had a former Commandant, Al Gray, to speak on behalf of this legislation. We had a four star Marine General, Anthony Zinni, to speak on behalf of this legislation.

In addition, we had a young man named Eddie Wright. Eddie Wright lost both hands in Iraq for this country. And he told a very compelling story. He is a Marine, and he said, ``I love the Navy.'' He said, ``I love the corpsmen who came on the battlefield and saved my life.''

Then we also had a father named Dick Lynn from Richmond, Virginia. Dick Lynn's son was killed in Iraq. He was a Marine. And Mr. Lynn told the story of his father, who had served as a World War II Navy veteran, and the fact that in Culpeper, Virginia, his son, a Marine, is buried next to his grandfather. And Dick Lynn told the story of having the headstone that says ``United States Navy'' that identified his father who was deceased, and then beside his father was his son's headstone that had ``United States Marine Corps''.

I bring that up, Mr. Speaker, because we can see beside me is a poster of an actual condolence letter from the United States Navy to the family of a Marine captain who was killed in Iraq. And it says, ``The Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C.,'' with the Navy flag. I certainly took the names out of the condolence letter for this poster. Mr. and Mrs. Joe American Marine. ``Dear Marine Corps Family: On behalf of the Department of the Navy, please accept my very sincere condolences.''

Mr. Speaker, the Navy and Marine Corps are one fighting team. They deserve to be respected as one fighting team by carrying the name Navy and Marine Corps.

Mr. Speaker, if this bill is accepted by the Senate, what we would see in a condolence letter would be ``The Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps,'' with the Navy flag and the Marine Corps flag. And it would say, ``Dear Marine Corps Family: On behalf of the Department of Navy and Marine Corps, we extend our condolences.'' That's the story that Mr. Lynn tried to say at the news conference.

Why cannot the Senate understand the importance of paying the respects with the recognition to the Marine Corps which the Navy has, the Army has, the Air Force has? This is a very simple change of three words, with no cost to the American taxpayer.

Mr. Speaker, in closing I would like to say there is a national Web site. It's called MarineCause.com. Gunnery Sergeant Lee Ermey, a movie star who himself served in the Marine Corps, in the movie Full Metal Jacket, which is about Vietnam, he is the DI in that movie. He is also on the Military Channel with Lock 'N Load and Mail Call. He is our national spokesman on this Web site. So I hope that the American people would join in this effort.

Madam Speaker, the Navy and Marine Corps have operated as one entity for more than two centuries, and H.R. 24 would enable the name of their department to illustrate this fact.

For the past 7 years, the full House of Representatives has supported this change as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. This year I'm grateful to have the support of Senator Pat Roberts, a former Marine who recently introduced a companion bill in the Senate, S. 504. I hope that the Senate will support the House position and join in bringing proper respect to the fighting team of the Navy and Marine Corps. The Marines who are fighting today in Afghanistan and Iraq deserve this recognition.

Madam Speaker, last month I had the privilege of addressing more than 200 Marine Corps veterans and retirees at the Marine Corps League's mid-winter conference. The Marine Corps League has nearly 70,000 members nationwide, and their shared mission is preserving the traditions and promoting the interests of the United States Marine Corps.

As in years past, I spoke to their mid-winter conference about legislation introduced like H.R. 24 to designate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. The Marine Corps League has proudly endorsed this legislation and has pledged to work with my office to secure its passage by the House and Senate. Over the years I have been encouraged by the overwhelming support I have received for this change from so many members and veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

I am honored to have the support of Michael Blum, the national executive director of the Marine Corps League. He's a highly decorated combat marine, who served honorably off the coast of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He also served his country in the Philippines, Korea, and Vietnam. It is because of great marines like Michael Blum that I continue to champion this cause for the United States Marine Corps.

Madam Speaker, I want to also thank Senator Pat Roberts for joining me on the Senate side in this effort to rename the Department of Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

And before I close, I would like to point out the importance of this. There are many important reasons why this should take place. The history of both the Navy and Marine Corps, the fact that they are one fighting team. But, Madam Speaker, with our Marines and Army and other personnel dying in Afghanistan and Iraq, I want to show you exactly why and how this would be important to a Marine family who lost a loved one fighting for this great Nation.

I have a poster that is actually a letter from the current Secretary of the Navy. It's a condolence letter. Certainly I took the family's name out and the deceased's name. And I will read just one sentence, Madam Speaker: From the Secretary of the Navy, November 18, 2008: ``On behalf of the Department of the Navy, please accept my very sincere condolences on the loss of your son Captain Joseph A. Marine.'' Obviously we substituted that last name out of respect.

Madam Speaker, if this should become the law of the land, and it is so, so justified that we would have the Department of Navy and Marine Corps as one, one fighting team, this is what the condolence letter would say, Madam Speaker. It would say the Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps, Washington D.C., November 18 of 2008, and it would say, ``Dear Marine Corps Family: On behalf of the Department of Navy and Marine Corps, please accept my very sincere condolences.''

Madam Speaker, this is only right. I want to thank the House of Representatives, Congressman and former Chairman of the Armed Forces Committee, Duncan Hunter, and present Chairman Ike Skelton for always supporting this legislation, and my many colleagues who have done so. This year, with the help of Senator Pat Roberts, I think this can become a reality.

With that, Madam Speaker, I ask God to continue to bless our men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq, to bless their families, to bless the families who have given a loved one dying for freedom. And I ask God three times, please, God; please, God; please God, continue to bless America.

Madam Speaker, in each Congress since 2001, I have introduced legislation aimed at giving the Marine Corps the recognition it deserves as one of the official branches of the military. This year, I introduced H.R. 24, a bill to redesignate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. Then the Secretary of the Navy would be the Secretary of the Navy and the Marine Corps.

On June 25, 2009, the language of H.R. 24 was passed by the House as part of H.R. 2647, the House version of this year's National Defense Authorization Act.

In a matter of days, Members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committee will meet to work out a final version of this bill, and the language of H.R. 24 will become law if the Senate agrees to the House position. Right now, Madam Speaker, the Senate is opposed to this language.

With the help of Senator Pat Roberts, a former marine who introduced S. 504, a companion bill in the Senate, and the bill's 308 cosponsors in the House, I'm hopeful that this will be the year the Senate will support the House position and the Marine Corps will be recognized as an equal partner of the United States Navy and Marine Corps team.

During my 15 years in Congress, whenever a chief of naval operations or commandant of the Marine Corps has come to testify before the House Armed Services Committee, I have heard that the Navy and the Marine Corps are ``one fighting team.'' If this is true, then why should not the team bear the name of Navy and Marine Corps?

Changing the name of the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps is a symbolic gesture, but it is important to the team. This change has received support from at least three former Navy Secretaries, the Marine Corps League, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Fleet Reserve Association, MarineParents.com, and many other individuals and groups.

As a Chicago Tribune editorial titled, ``Step up for the Marines,'' noted: ``The Marines have not asked for complete autonomy. Nothing structurally needs to change in their relationship with the Navy, which has served both branches well. The Corps only asks for recognition. Having served their Nation proudly and courageously since colonial days, the leathernecks have earned a promotion.''

In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to show what this change could mean to the members of the United States Marine Corps, including the 41,000 marines and nearly 3,000 sailors stationed in my district at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. On August 19, 2009, in the Jacksonville Daily News, an article titled ``Navy Secretary Visits Local Troops'' described Secretary Mabus' recent visit with Camp Lejeune marines and sailors deployed to Iraq. It was touching to read about the Secretary's visit to see firsthand the terrific work of the United States Navy and Marine Corps team in Iraq. Yet I couldn't help but think the team's unity would be better illustrated if the title could have read, ``Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps Visits Local Troops.''

Madam Speaker, right now I'm going to show that this is the actual news release. It says, Secretary of the Navy visits local troops, and it talks about the marines in Iraq and the Navy. If this should ever become law, what it would have said: ``Navy and Marine Corps Secretary Visits Local Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.''

Madam Speaker, before I close, I regret that the Senate does not see the importance of giving this recognition to the Marine Corps. So if I can close by saying this, as I do every night on the floor, God, please bless our men and women in uniform. God, please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. God, in your loving arms, hold the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. Dear God, I ask you to please bless the President of the United States with the wisdom and courage that he will do what's right for this country. And three times I will ask, God please, God please, God please continue to bless America.