[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 51 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1740
 
                     D-DAY NATIONAL REMEMBRANCE DAY

  Mrs. BYRNE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Post Office and Civil Service be discharged from further 
consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 303) to designate June 
6, 1994, as ``D-day National Remembrance Day,'' and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Coppersmith). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentlewoman from Virginia?
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I yield under 
my reservation to the gentleman from California [Mr. Lantos], who is 
the chief sponsor of House Joint Resolution 303.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, June 6, 1994, will be the 50th anniversary of the 
largest amphibious operation in the history of this world.
  It was the D-day assault known as Operation Overlord in which 5,000 
Allied ships, 11,000 Allied aircraft, and 153,000 American, British, 
and Canadian troops participated. We suffered significant losses. There 
were 6,500 American casualties.
  But D-day was among the most critical events of World War II, and 
with the success of this Allied landing in Normandy, our troops 
provided a foothold for the liberation of France, the eventual Allied 
breakthrough into Germany, leading ultimately to Allied victory in 
Europe.
  This summer there will be hundreds of thousands of Americans visiting 
our military cemeteries in Europe. The endless rows of snow-white 
marble crosses and Stars of David should remind us of the sacrifice a 
previous generation paid so that this generation may live in freedom 
and in peace.
  I want to thank all of my colleagues who joined with me in this 
resolution, and I want to thank the President and Members of Congress 
who will be in Normandy on June 6 to pay our tribute to the gallant men 
and women who fought so valiantly against the forces of evil during the 
Second World War and who brought us victory in Europe.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I 
rise in support of this resolution which affords proper recognition to 
one of the most pivotal events in world history.
  In just a few weeks, we will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of 
the Allied invasion of the Normandy beaches in France. That day 
operations overseas immediately became known as ``D-day,'' even though 
in military parlance, there have been many other D-day's before and 
since. In the public mind, however, June 6, 1944 is and always will be 
the only D-day.
  It is easy, from a vantage point of 50 years in the future, to 
underestimate the success of our forces on that June day. In 
retrospect, the success of the Normandy invasion, as well as the final 
defeat of Nazi Germany within the following 11 months, seems 
preordained and inevitable. However, we must never forget that, at the 
time, the Normandy invasion was far from a guaranteed success, and were 
it not for a combination of skilled planning, valor, and just plain 
luck, the success of D-day could readily have gone the other way.
  Throughout World War II, the carnage and waste of World War I were 
never far out of the minds of the governmental and military 
leadership--and of our fighting forces. World War I, we must remember, 
was fought less than 30 years prior to D-day. Virtually every soldier 
in the foxhole, every sailor at sea, had heard stories from their own 
fathers, from other World War I veterans, from motion pictures and 
books, and from their own commanding officers about how it was common 
during that earlier conflict to expend a loss of thousands upon 
thousands of casualties to gain a few square yards of land. They were 
all familiar with the static trench warfare of 1914 to 1918, during 
which a generation of European youth was killed off or maimed without 
any significant change in the location of the fighting front. They were 
well aware that World War I was a bloody stalemate, with an 
unprecedented loss of life, and which resulted only in the rise of 
Naziism and a renewed conflict within a generation.
  They did not want this to happen again.
  At the time of D-day, the Allies were under tremendous pressure from 
the Kremlin to initiate an invasion of Western Europe to relieve the 
brunt of military combat which the Russian Army was absorbing on the 
eastern front. Many well-meaning American citizens, British subjects, 
and French freedom fighters joined in this call for a Western front. 
Both the government and the military resisted this pressure. Roosevelt 
and Churchill, as well as Generals Marshall and Eisenhower, well 
remembered the carnage of 1914-1918. They did not want the wholesale 
slaughter to be repeated, nor would they countenance a return to the 
bloody and fruitless trench warfare of World War I.
  They determined that France would not be invaded from the west until 
the Allies were guaranteed overwhelming military superiority--despite 
the entreaties of the Soviet Union.
  The mastermind of D-day was one of the military giants of all time: 
Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was ``Ike'' who supervised the accumulation of 
materiel in Britain; who made the decision which beaches would be the 
most productive to invade; and made the final decision on the date. 
Gen. ``Ike'' Eisenhower had the personality, the charisma, and the 
leadership capabilities to take the often diverse and divergent 
military leadership of the various Allied nations and mold them into a 
united, efficient, fighting machine.

  We all know that ``Ike'' deserves the credit for the incredible 
success which resulted from the gamble on D-day. Few Americans realize, 
however, that ``Ike'' was prepared to take the sole blame if the 
invasion proved a failure. He had, in fact, prepared a press release in 
which he contended that the failure of D-day was the result of his own 
miscalculations and that no one should be blamed other than he. As we 
all know, that press release was never issued, and, in fact, its 
existence was unknown until after General Eisenhower's death.
  Originally, D-day was supposed to take place on June 5. Weather 
conditions prohibited this, and the forecasts predicted June 6 would 
not be much better. However, if the invasion did not take place at this 
time it would be many weeks before the tidal conditions were right for 
an invasion of this nature, and Eisenhower was convinced that his 
security could not remain tight and that the secret of the invasion 
would be leaked if postponed again. So, ``Ike'' took a gamble that the 
weather would hold on June 6 long enough for sufficient forces to 
secure the shore.
  We all know what happened next: the names of Normandy beaches will be 
emblazoned in all of our histories as long as valor and dedication are 
honored.
  But, so much could have gone wrong on that June morning, 50 year ago. 
If the weather did not hold out; if the Germans had taken the invasion 
seriously and counterattacked immediately; if Roosevelt and Churchill 
had caved in to Stalin and authorized the invasion before our forces 
were ready; if Hitler had authorized the development of V-1 and V-2 
missile rockets and other military hardware earlier--if any of these 
thing had gone differently, we may well not be here today saluting the 
bravery and valor of D-day.
  But, thanks to our superior military leadership and the incredible 
gallantry of American and Allied soldiers, sailors, and pilots. D-day 
is a glorious day: a day when the ideals of liberty and justice were 
guaranteed to Western Europe, and, in fact, because the wave of the 
future for the rest of the world.
  It is fitting that we adopt this resolution, so that future 
generations can be reminded of what D-day should mean to us all.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the joint resolution, as follows:

                             H.J. Res. 303

       Whereas June 6, 1994, marks the fiftieth anniversary of D-
     Day, the day of the beginning of the Allied assault at 
     Normandy, France, during World War II;
       Whereas the D-Day assault, known as Operation Overlord, was 
     the most extensive amphibious operation ever to occur, 
     involving on the first day of the operation five thousand 
     ships, over eleven thousand sorties of Allied aircraft, and 
     one hundred and fifty-three thousand American, British, and 
     Canadian troops;
       Whereas five separate beaches were assaulted, with American 
     forces commanded by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley attacking 
     Omaha and Utah beaches and British and Canadian forces 
     commanded by General Miles Dempsey attacking Gold, Juno, and 
     Sword beaches;
       Whereas American troops suffered significant losses during 
     the assault, including over six thousand five hundred 
     casualties;
       Whereas the D-Day assault was among the most critical 
     events of World War II, with the success of the Allied 
     landings in Normandy providing the foothold for the 
     liberation of France and the eventual Allied breakthrough 
     into Germany and leading ultimately to the Allied victory in 
     Europe; and
       Whereas June 6, 1944, is one of the most significant dates 
     in the history of the United States; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That June 6, 
     1994, is designated as ``D-Day National Remembrance Day'', 
     and the President is authorized and requested to issue a 
     proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to 
     observe such day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
     activities.

  The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed and read a third 
time, and was read the third time, and passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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