[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1241 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                         July 22, 2008.
Whereas Ensign DeCarol Davis is the first African American female to serve as 
        the valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy;
Whereas Ensign Davis is from Woodbridge, Virginia, and was the 2004 Forest Park 
        High School valedictorian;
Whereas Ensign Davis's academic and military achievements at the Coast Guard 
        Academy in a class of more than 200 cadets earned her the honor of 
        graduating as valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy's class of 2008;
Whereas Ensign Davis's accomplishments include selection as a 2007 Truman 
        Scholar, receipt of the 2008 Connecticut Technology Council Women of 
        Innovation Award, selection as a 2006 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Womens Basketball 
        First Team Sports Scholar, and selection to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine 
        Academic All-District I College Women's Basketball First Team;
Whereas Ensign Davis's community outreach during her four years at the Coast 
        Guard Academy significantly impacted the lives of others, including 
        those at a local elementary school where Ensign Davis wrote and directed 
        a play that introduced engineering as a career to the students;
Whereas the Coast Guard Academy serves a critical role in training future 
        leaders of the Coast Guard to carry out the service's missions, 
        including protecting the lives and safety of those at sea and ensuring 
        the safe operation of the marine transportation system; protecting the 
        United States ports, waterways, and coastal communities and defending 
        the United States homeland and United States national interests against 
        hostile acts; enforcing United States maritime sovereignty and United 
        States law, international conventions, and treaties including securing 
        our borders against unlawful aliens and drugs; safeguarding United 
        States marine resources; and responding to the threat of terrorism at 
        ports and incidents of national significance, including transportation 
        security incidents, to preserve life and to ensure the continuity of 
        commerce and critical port and waterway functions;
Whereas the Coast Guard Academy has few minorities within the cadet population;
Whereas on April 24, 2008, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 2830, the 
        Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2008, which included several provisions 
        to improve the diversity of the Coast Guard Academy; and
Whereas Ensign Davis gave her valedictorian address on May 21, 2008: Now 
        therefore be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) congratulates Ensign DeCarol Davis for becoming the first 
        African American to serve as valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy; 
        and
            (2) encourages the Coast Guard to seek diverse candidates for the 
        cadet corps at the Coast Guard Academy and to continue to train and 
        graduate cadets of a quality that the Coast Guard needs to fulfill each 
        of its missions.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.