[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 317 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 317

   Expressing the sense of the Senate to congratulate and thank the 
members of the United States Armed Forces who participated in the June 
 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Europe for forever changing the course of 
            history by helping bring an end to World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 June 7 (legislative day, June 6), 2000

Ms. Landrieu submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate to congratulate and thank the 
members of the United States Armed Forces who participated in the June 
 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Europe for forever changing the course of 
            history by helping bring an end to World War II.

Whereas General George C. Marshall, President Roosevelt's chief of staff, 
        appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to the war plans division of the 
        United States Army in December 1941 and commissioned General Eisenhower 
        to design an operational scheme for Allied victory in World War II;
Whereas in January 1943, the plan was adopted and given the code name Operation 
        ``Overlord'';
Whereas the June 6, 1944, invasion of Europe, commonly known as ``the D-Day 
        invasion'', was the largest single assault in the most massive military 
        conflict in history;
Whereas participants in that invasion included 156,000 British, Canadian, and 
        United States servicemembers and approximately 30,000 vehicles and 
        600,000 tons of supplies, and those servicemembers, backed by 
        paratroopers and bombers, stormed a 50-mile stretch of beach in 
        Normandy, France;
Whereas on June 6, 1944, D-Day, and in the seven months that followed, 
        approximately 3,500,000 British, Canadian, and United States 
        servicemembers embarked for Europe from Southampton, England;
Whereas approximately 31,000 United States servicemembers and more than 3,000 
        vehicles embarked for the D-Day invasion on 208 vessels at Weymouth and 
        Portland, England;
Whereas between 15,000 and 20,000 tons of bombs were dropped in support of the 
        D-Day invasion in the 24 hours between the night of June 5 and the night 
        of June 6, 1944;
Whereas landing forces in the D-Day invasion were compelled to cross more than 
        200 yards of treacherous beach blanketed by mines, heavy machine-gun 
        fire, and rifle fire;
Whereas the D-Day invasion was supported by more than 13,000 fighter, bomber, 
        and transport aircraft, against which the German Air Force, the 
        Luftwaffe, was able to deploy fewer than 400 aircraft of all types;
Whereas by June 11, 1944, the invasion force had established a bridgehead 50 
        miles wide and 12 miles deep, into which were landed 326,547 men, 54,186 
        vehicles, and 104,428 tons of supplies;
Whereas of the 156,000 British, Canadian, and United States servicemembers who 
        took part in the initial D-Day invasion landings, 10,000 were casualties 
        on the first day of the invasion;
Whereas total United States casualties on D-Day numbered 6,303, including 2,499 
        casualties among members of two airborne divisions participating in the 
        invasion;
Whereas those casualties included 1,465 killed in action, 3,184 wounded in 
        action, 1,928 missing in action, and 26 prisoners of war;
Whereas the success of the D-Day invasion was responsible for starting the 
        liberation of occupied Europe from Nazi Germany and marked the beginning 
        of the end of World War II; and
Whereas of the approximately living 25,000,000 United States veterans, 
        approximately 1,500 die each day of whom two-thirds are veterans of 
        World War II: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate to congratulate and 
thank the members of the United States Armed Forces who participated in 
the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Europe for forever changing the 
course of history by helping bring an end to World War II.
                                 <all>