[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 88 (Tuesday, July 11, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H5792-H5796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ROSIE THE RIVETER/WORLD WAR II HOME FRONT NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK 
                       ESTABLISHMENT ACT OF 2000

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4063) to establish the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home 
Front National Historical Park in the State of California, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4063

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Rosie the Riveter/World War 
     II Home Front National Historical Park Establishment Act of 
     2000''.

     SEC. 2. ROSIE THE RIVETER/WORLD WAR II HOME FRONT NATIONAL 
                   HISTORICAL PARK.

       (a) Establishment.--In order to preserve for the benefit 
     and inspiration of the people of the United States as a 
     national historical park certain sites, structures, and areas 
     located in Richmond, California, that are associated with the 
     industrial, governmental, and citizen efforts that led to 
     victory in World War II, there is established the Rosie the 
     Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park (in 
     this Act referred to as the ``park'').
       (b) Areas Included.--The boundaries of the park shall be 
     those generally depicted on the map entitled ``Proposed 
     Boundary Map, Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front 
     National Historical Park'' numbered 963/80000 and dated May 
     2000. The map shall be on file and available for public 
     inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park 
     Service.

     SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.

       (a) In General.--
       (1) General administration.--The Secretary of the Interior 
     (in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall 
     administer the park in accordance with this Act and the 
     provisions of law generally applicable to units of the 
     National Park System, including the Act entitled ``An Act to 
     establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes,'' 
     approved August 35, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1 through 
     4), and the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 
     461-467).
       (2) Specific authorities.--The Secretary may interpret the 
     story of Rosie the Riveter and the World War II home front, 
     conduct and maintain oral histories that relate to the World 
     War II home front theme, and provide technical assistance in 
     the preservation of historic properties that support this 
     story.
       (b) Cooperative Agreements.--
       (1) General agreements.--The Secretary may enter into 
     cooperative agreements with the owners of the World War II 
     Child Development Centers, the World War II worker housing, 
     the Kaiser-Permanente Field Hospital, and Fire Station 67A, 
     pursuant to which the Secretary may mark, interpret, improve, 
     restore, and provide technical assistance with respect to the 
     preservation and interpretation of such properties. Such 
     agreements shall contain, but need not be limited to, 
     provisions under which the Secretary shall have the right of 
     access at reasonable times to public portions of the property 
     for interpretive and other purposes, and that no changes or 
     alterations shall be made in the property except by mutual 
     agreement.
       (2) Limited agreements.--The Secretary may consult and 
     enter into cooperative agreements with interested persons for 
     interpretation and technical assistance with the preservation 
     of--
       (A) the Ford Assembly Building;
       (B) the intact dry docks/basin docks and five historic 
     structures at Richmond Shipyard #3;
       (C) the Shimada Peace Memorial Park;
       (D) Westshore Park;
       (E) the Rosie the Riveter Memorial;
       (F) Sheridan Observation Point Park;
       (G) the Bay Trail/Esplanade;
       (H) Vincent Park; and
       (I) the vessel S.S. RED OAK VICTORY, and Whirley Cranes 
     associated with shipbuilding in Richmond.
       (c) Education Center.--The Secretary may establish a World 
     War II Home Front Education Center in the Ford Assembly 
     Building. Such center shall include a program that allows for 
     distance learning and linkages to other representative sites 
     across the country, for the purpose of educating the public 
     as to the significance of the site and the World War II Home 
     Front.
       (d) Use of Federal Funds.--
       (1) Non-federal matching.--(A) As a condition of expending 
     any funds appropriated to the Secretary for the purposes of 
     the cooperative agreements under subsection (b)(2), the 
     Secretary shall require that such expenditure must be matched 
     by expenditure of an equal amount of funds, goods, services, 
     or in-kind contributions provided by non-Federal sources.
       (B) With the approval of the Secretary, any donation of 
     property, services, or goods from a non-Federal source may be 
     considered as a contribution of funds from a non-Federal 
     source for purposes of this paragraph.
       (2) Cooperative agreement.--Any payment made by the 
     Secretary pursuant to a cooperative agreement under this 
     section shall be subject to an agreement that conversion, 
     use, or disposal of the project so assisted for purposes 
     contrary to the purposes of this Act, as determined by the 
     Secretary, shall entitle the United States to reimbursement 
     of the greater of--
       (A) all funds paid by the Secretary to such project; or
       (B) the proportion of the increased value of the project 
     attributable to such payments, determined at the time of such 
     conversion, use, or disposal.
       (e) Acquisition.--
       (1) Ford assembly building.--The Secretary may acquire a 
     leasehold interest in the Ford Assembly Building for the 
     purposes of operating a World War II Home Front Education 
     Center.
       (2) Other facilities.--The Secretary may acquire, from 
     willing sellers, lands or interests in the World War II day 
     care centers, the World War II worker housing, the Kaiser-
     Permanente Field Hospital, and Fire Station 67, through 
     donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, 
     transfer from any other Federal Agency, or exchange.
       (3) Artifacts.--The Secretary may acquire and provide for 
     the curation of historic artifacts that relate to the park.
       (f) Donations.--The Secretary may accept and use donations 
     of funds, property, and services to carry out this Act.
       (g) General Management Plan.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 3 complete fiscal years 
     after the date funds are made available, the Secretary shall 
     prepare, in consultation with the city of Richmond, 
     California, and transmit to the Committee on Resources of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 
     Natural Resources of the Senate a general management plan for 
     the park in accordance with the provisions of section 12(b) 
     of the Act of August 18, 1970 (16 U.S.C. 1a-7(b)), popularly 
     known as the National Park System General Authorities Act, 
     and other applicable law.
       (2) Preservation of setting.--The general management plan 
     shall include a plan to preserve the historic setting of the 
     Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical 
     Park, which shall be jointly developed and approved by the 
     city of Richmond.
       (3) Additional sites.--The general management plan shall 
     include a determination of whether there are additional 
     representative sites in Richmond that should be added to the 
     park or sites in the rest of the United States that relate to 
     the industrial, governmental, and citizen efforts during 
     World War II that should be linked to and interpreted at the 
     park. Such determination shall consider any information or 
     findings developed in the National Park Service study of the 
     World War II Home Front under section 4.

[[Page H5793]]

     SEC. 4. WORLD WAR II HOME FRONT STUDY.

       The Secretary shall conduct a theme study of the World War 
     II home front to determine whether other sites in the United 
     States meet the criteria for potential inclusion in the 
     National Park System in accordance with Section 8 of Public 
     Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5).

     SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       (a) In General.--
       (1) Oral histories, preservation, and visitor services.--
     There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
     necessary to conduct oral histories and to carry out the 
     preservation, interpretation, education, and other essential 
     visitor services provided for by this Act.
       (2) Artifacts.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
     $1,000,000 for the acquisition and curation of historical 
     artifacts related to the park.
       (b) Property Acquisition.--There are authorized to be 
     appropriated such sums as are necessary to acquire the 
     properties listed in section 3(e)(2).
       (c) Limitation on Use of Funds for S.S. RED OAK VICTORY.--
     None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this 
     section may be used for the operation, maintenance, or 
     preservation of the vessel S.S. RED OAK VICTORY.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
George Miller) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I 
rise in support of H.R. 4063, as amended, introduced by the gentleman 
from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking minority member from 
the Committee on Resources. The gentleman from California deserves a 
lot of credit for crafting this bill, which establishes the Rosie the 
Riveter-World War II Home Front National Historical Park in the State 
of California. The historical park would commemorate the industrial, 
governmental and citizen efforts that eventually led the United States 
to victory in World War II, and includes sites, structures, and areas 
that are associated with the home front efforts.
  The historical park would be administered by the Secretary of the 
Interior as a unit of the National Park System. The bill also allows 
the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements for the acquisition 
and curation of historic artifacts and materials related to the park 
along with providing for the preservation and interpretation of the 
park and sites selected by the Secretary as representative of the World 
War II home front. H.R. 4063 also stipulates that any Federal funds 
used in the cooperative agreements must be matched by an equal amount 
of funds from non-Federal sources.
  I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this bill. This bill creates a park 
unit which interprets an important part of the history of World War II. 
I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 4063, as amended.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4063, which is to 
create the Rosie the Riveter-World War II Home Front National Historic 
Park. By passing this bill today and sending it over to hopefully 
expeditious consideration in the other body, we honor all of those who 
served in the war, in uniform and in coveralls, wearing helmets or 
bandanas, hoisting a machine gun or a welder's torch.
  The Rosie the Riveter National Park would salute the role of the home 
front during World War II, particularly recognizing the significant 
changes in the lives of women and minorities that occurred during that 
era. I am very pleased by the wide support this legislation has 
received not only in our home community of Richmond, California, but 
from groups like Kaiser Permanente and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) and the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) for their solid support for this 
legislation, which will give this House an opportunity to go on record 
as honoring the millions of women who served in the home front during 
World War II. I want to thank the members of the Committee on Resources 
who voted unanimously to report this legislation to the House last 
month.
  There has been a great deal of discussion about the significance of 
World War II this year which marks the 55th anniversary of the end of 
that horrific conflict. Just last month, the D-Day Museum was opened in 
New Orleans with a great deal of attention paid to the critical role in 
the successful invasion of the Higgins boat and those who manufactured 
it.
  H.R. 4063 allows this Nation to honor permanently, through the 
creation of a national historic park, all of the millions of women and 
minorities in particular who were the forgotten soldiers of World War 
II, those who made enormous contributions to this Nation during World 
War II on the home front. Their migration to industrial centers like 
Richmond, California, and their ability to move into jobs formerly held 
only by white males who had moved into the Armed Forces changed the 
course of the war, the course of history, and the course of social and 
economic policies in this country forever. It should be noted that 
thousands of them gave their lives as part of the war effort.
  I would like to note that in the report from the National Park 
Service, they note that between Pearl Harbor in 1941 and January of 
1944, that 37,000 people lost their lives on the home front working to 
build the military mechanism that we used to defeat the Axis, that over 
4 million people were temporarily disabled, and 210,000 people were 
permanently disabled. So in fact the war, the war that World War II was 
creating, was creating the casualties also on the home front for those 
who responded to the national need.
  Rosie the Riveter has survived as the most remembered icon of the 
civilian workforce that helped win World War II and had a powerful 
resonance in the women's movement, the National Park Service tells us 
in their feasibility study. The National Park Service also found that 
the Rosie the Riveter-World War II Home Front National Historic Park is 
nationally significant and that Richmond offers an exceptional 
opportunity to interpret the many layers of World War II home front 
experience, including migration and resettlement for jobs, integration 
of the workforce, industrial and employee service innovations, and the 
remarkable effort by government, industry, communities and unions to 
enable America to win the war.
  At the hearing we held on this bill, we heard from former Rosies and 
Wendy the Welders, through the moving testimony of Ludie Mitchell. We 
heard what it was like for minority women to journey from the South to 
the West Coast of the United States, to areas that they had never been, 
had never seen and had barely heard of, to take up a welder's torch, to 
climb into the belly of a ship under construction and do their job and 
at one point complete the construction of that ship within 4 days.
  We also heard from Ruth Powers, who worked in the child care center 
which was necessitated by the construction schedule in the Kaiser 
shipyards for 24-hour child care. In fact, what we found in the 
discussions during the hearing was that today as we talk about the 24 
and 7 economy, the fact that dot coms and the new technology cause 
people to work around the clock with the globalization of the economy, 
what in fact we find out that 24 and 7 existed long before that. It 
existed in the home front battle in World War II where we had 24-hour 
child care, 24-hour food service, 24-hour health care, movie shows ran 
24-hour schedules and in many instances boarding houses ran 24-hour 
schedules because one shift would sleep while the other shift was 
working and then the others would come in so that there would be enough 
housing for all of the workers who migrated to the West Coast shipyards 
in Richmond, California.
  What this legislation is really about is about a celebration of the 
American spirit. It is about a celebration of Americans' ability to 
sacrifice. It is about a celebration of Americans responding to the 
call of the country to the national need and responding to problems in 
other parts of the world, because that is what America did in the home 
front during World War II. America responded with every being in the 
country to contribute to that effort.
  As white America, white male America went off to the war, quickly the 
Roosevelt administration found itself

[[Page H5794]]

with the inability to conduct that war because America was not prepared 
for that war.

                              {time}  1600

  So some 10 million people went off to military service. That meant 
that somebody else was going to have to take the jobs in the shipyards 
and the tank manufacturing facilities and all of the war material 
plants across this country. That fell to Rosie the Riveter and to 
minority workers, who were not allowed at that time to join the battle 
front. They had to stay on the home front.
  And respond they did. In my hometown of Richmond, California, a 
sleepy western town on the edge of San Francisco Bay, it went from 
23,000 people to over 90,000 people in a matter of months, as Henry 
Kaiser responded to the call of President Roosevelt to create the 
infrastructure to build the ships.
  In the 1930s, I think I am correct, America launched about 30 ships. 
In the 1940s, very few, until the war started. In this shipyard we 
built over 747 ships, and at one point in the historical report they 
tell us the Robert E. Perry liberty ship was constructed in Richmond 
Shipyard Number 2 in 4 days, 15 hours and 29 minutes and it was ready 
to go battle overseas. In 4 days, 15 hours, the shipyard workers 
constructed a liberty ship. That is one of the remarkable efforts that 
is celebrated by this legislation and would be celebrated by the Rosie 
the Riveter Park.
  It is also celebrated as the integration of the workforce. For the 
first time, out of the South blacks and whites were forced to work 
together if in fact we were going to defeat our enemies in World War 
II. So in this case, not only was the workforce becoming more female, 
it was becoming integrated. Again, that changed the social dynamics, 
not only of our civilian structure, where people were living in the 
same housing, there was no time to segregate them, it was too 
expensive, people came together in integration in the workplace, in 
child care centers and health care facilities, and in housing, but 
eventually it also changed to the integration of the armed services in 
responding to this.
  But it was not just the Rosie the Riveters and the welders responding 
and sacrificing and responding to the call of President Roosevelt and 
the needs of our nation. Other Americans were doing the same thing. 
Those of that generation will remember the efforts to ration gasoline, 
to ration all the critical materials, any metals, rubber, tires, 
bicycles, vacuum cleaners. All of these things had to last. They had to 
last longer than normal because we needed the materials for the Second 
World War.
  Some people will remember the slogans: ``Use it all up. Don't waste 
it. Wear it out. Make it do or do without.'' Victory gardens cropped up 
all over the Nation, all part of the home front battle.
  The effort of this legislation is to remember that and create a 
repository for so many of the artifacts that continue to exist, to 
create oral histories of the women and the men and the minorities that 
worked in the shipyards and the home front effort.
  A couple of years ago, under the leadership of Councilwoman Donna 
Powers, we had a celebration in Richmond, California, where, to the 
best of our knowledge, we tried to invite many the women who worked in 
the shipyards during World War II to come back and to participate in 
the celebration, recognizing their contribution to the winning of World 
War II.
  The fact is that over 100 women came from all across the country, 
with their daughters, with their granddaughters. In some cases 
granddaughters and daughters came because their mother or grandmother 
had passed on, but they wanted to come see where their mother or 
grandmother or great grandmother worked and to participate in that 
piece of history. Hopefully the creation of this Home Front Historic 
Park will allow other families to participate in that historic journey 
on behalf of their families and the contributions that these women made 
to winning the war effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I would hope that the House would give its overwhelming 
support to this legislation so that we can follow up on the finding of 
value of this park by the National Park Service and we can pay proper 
tribute to all of those who participated in the battle for the home 
front.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4063 which would create the 
``Rosie the Riveter-World War II Home Front National Historic Park.'' 
By passing this bill today, and sending it over to hopefully 
expeditious consideration in the other body, we honor all those who 
served in the war, in uniform and in coveralls, wearing helmets or 
bandanas, hoisting a machine gun or a welder's torch.
  The Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park would salute the role of 
the home front during World War II, and particularly recognize the 
significant changes in the lives of women and minorities that occurred 
during that ear. I am very pleased by the wide support this legislation 
has received not only in our home community of Richmond, California, 
but from groups like Kaiser Permanents and the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars.
  I want to thank Chairman Don Young of the Resources Committee, and 
Parks Subcommittee Chairman Jim Hansen for their solid support for this 
legislation, and for expediting consideration of this bipartisan and 
noncontroversial legislation so that the House would have the 
opportunity to go on record as honoring the millions of women who 
served on the home front during World War II. And I also want to thank 
the members of the Resources Committee who voted unanimously to report 
this legislation to the House last month.
  There has been a great deal of discussion about the significance of 
World War II this year, which marks the 55th anniversary of the end of 
that horrific conflict. And just last month, D-Day museum was opened in 
New Orleans, and a great deal of attention was paid to the critical 
role in the successful invasion of the Higgins boat and those who 
manufactured it.
  H.R. 4063 allows the nation to honor permanently, through creation of 
a National Historic Park, all of the millions of women and minorities 
in particular who were the ``forgotten soldiers'' of World War II--
those who made enormous contributions to this nation during World War 
II on the home front. Their migration to industrial centers like 
Richmond, and their ability to move into jobs formerly held only by 
white males who had moved into the armed forces, changed the course of 
the war, the course of history, and the course of social and economic 
policies in this country forever. And, it should be noted, thousands of 
them gave their lives as part of the war effort.
  As the National Park Service Feasibility Study on the project 
concluded, ``Rosie the Riveter has survived as the most remembered icon 
of the civilian work force that helped win World War II and has a 
powerful resonance in the women's movement.''
  This legislation has been carefully developed by local officials and 
organizations in the Richmond and East Bay Area in conjunction with the 
National Parks Service pursuant to legislation enacted by the last 
Congress. The bill is based on the Feasibility Study prepared pursuant 
to that legislation. I would note that Assistant Secretary Donald Barry 
has stated: ``The study found that the area proposed as the Rosie the 
Riveter-World War II Home Front National Historic Park is nationally 
significant [and that] Richmond offers an exceptional opportunity to 
interpret the many layers of World War II Home Front experience, 
including migration and resettlement for jobs, integration of the 
workforce, industrial and employee service innovations, and the 
remarkable efforts by government, industry, communities and unions to 
enable America to win the war.''
  At the hearing we held on this bill, we heard from former Rosies and 
Wendy the Welders--through the moving testimony of Ludie Mitchell. We 
heard what it was like for minority women to journey to new areas of 
the country, to take up welders' torches and climb into the belly of 
ships under construction, building, in one case, a complete ship in 
just four days.
  We also heard from Ruth Powers, who worked in the child care center 
that was necessitated by the round-the-clock schedule of the Kaiser 
Shipyards. In fact, child care and group health pioneered by Kaiser 
were among the most historic social developments to emerge from World 
War II, and at the Rosie Historic Site, we have original buildings from 
both.

  We also have some of the remaining dry docks where the Liberty and 
Victory ships were constructed, and some of the unique architecture 
that was transformed into war production facilities or built to 
accommodate defense needs.
  The full story of the Home Front's contributions and sacrifices 
during the war, and Richmond's particular contributions to that effort, 
are outlined in the Feasibility Study at this point.
  Excerpts from Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front Final 
Feasibility Study Report, National Park Service (June 2000):

       In the first year of America's entry to World War II, the 
     U.S. Navy was losing ships

[[Page H5795]]

     faster than they could be built. In the 1930's America had 
     launched only 23 ships. In 1940, it took 14 months to build a 
     typical cargo ship. By 1945, it was being done in eight 
     weeks.
       Four shipyards were built in rapid succession in Richmond 
     beginning in early 1941 and completed by 1942. Employment at 
     the Richmond Shipyards peaked at 90,000 and, along with the 
     rest of the defense industry buildup, forced a national 
     recruitment and migration of workers and integration of the 
     work force that was unprecedented in its magnitude and 
     impact.
       As America went to war, its people fought overseas on the 
     battle fronts and pitched in on the home front; ten million 
     people departed the civilian workplace for active military 
     service. Industry, challenged to undertake a massive 
     overnight buildup, aggressively began recruiting and training 
     an effective workforce from the population left behind.
       ``Rosie the Riveter'' was a propaganda phrase coined to 
     help recruit female civilian workers and came to symbolize a 
     workface that was mobilized to fill the gap. ``Wendy the 
     Welder'' was another less glamorized icon, who in real life 
     was Janet Doyle, a welder in the Richmond Shipyards. After 
     some initial resistance from employers, women replaced men in 
     many traditionally male stateside jobs to support World War 
     II Home Front production efforts as men enlisted in active 
     military service. People of color encountered more lengthy 
     resistance, but ultimately were brought in the Home Front 
     workforce.
       The four Richmond Shipyards, built by industrialist Henry 
     J. Kaiser's firm . . . employed 90,000 including tens of 
     thousands of women of all ages and backgrounds. In Richmond, 
     these women helped build 747 ships in record time for use by 
     the United States Navy and Merchant Marine. Their labor 
     marked an unprecedented entry into jobs never before 
     performed by women and played a critical role in increasing 
     American productivity to meet the demand for ships to 
     overturn the German and Japanese strategy to defeat the U.S. 
     Navy. These four shipyards constitute the largest World War 
     II shipyard operation in the U.S. Richmond also had 55 other 
     wartime support industries and one of the nation's largest 
     wartime housing programs. The Ford Assembly Plant converted 
     from automobile to tank production during the war, processing 
     over 60,000 tanks plus a variety of other military vehicles.
       Nationwide six million women entered the World War II Home 
     Front workforce. The employment opportunities for black women 
     and other women of color were unprecedented. African 
     Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans were 
     eventually employed for the first time to work side by side 
     with whites in specialized, high-paying jobs previously 
     unavailable to them. Women and people of color earned more 
     money than they ever had and mastered job skills that had 
     been solely performed by white men up to that point.
       Many of the Home Front industries were set up at the nexus 
     of railroad lines and harbors where materials could be 
     assembled and shipped overseas. Richmond was ideally situated 
     as a West Coast rail terminus on San Francisco Bay and the 
     Golden Gate opening to the Pacific Ocean.
       During World War II, Richmond's population grew 
     dramatically from 23,642 to over 100,000 attracting people 
     from all over the country. By 1944, 27% of the Richmond 
     Shipyards workforce of 90,000 were women, including over 41% 
     of all welders and 24% of all craft employees. Another 10,000 
     workers, including commuters from other Bay Area cities and 
     towns, worked in Richmond's 55 other war industries.
       The jobs available at World War II Home Front industrial 
     complexes attracted and actively recruited-workers from 
     across the country resulting in massive, mostly permanent 
     population relocations. Many, who relocated from poor, rural 
     places and marginal jobs such as sharecropping, were 
     determined to stay on after World War II. The cities where 
     the World War II industries mobilized were confronted with 
     overwhelming demands on housing, transportation, community 
     services, shopping, and infrastructure. To enable the 24-hour 
     production, the largest companies, such as Kaiser, and the 
     public sector cooperated to provide round the clock child 
     care, food service, health care, and employee services.
       Despite their best efforts, many workers often had to 
     settle for marginal housing, long lines for purchases and 
     lengthy commutes, in addition to the other Home Front 
     sacrifices.
       Working conditions on the Home Front could be difficult and 
     dangerous and took a very high toll. A January 21, 1944 New 
     York times article cited: ``Industrial casualties (women and 
     men) between Pearl Harbor and January 1st of this year 
     aggregated 37,500 killed, or 7,500 more than the military 
     dead, 210,000 permanently disabled, and 4,500,000 temporarily 
     disabled, or 60 times the number of military wounded and 
     missing.'' While the ultimate United States casualty count on 
     the Battle Front reached 295,000, the additional casualties 
     on the Home Front represent the full price America paid to 
     win the War.
       For most Americans, the World War II Home Front experience 
     also involved many day-to-day adjustments to support the War 
     effort. These adaptations involved: collection and recycling 
     of strategic materials such as metal, paper, waste fat, 
     nylon, silk, and rubber. Twenty common commodities, including 
     gasoline, sugar, coffee, shoes, butter, and meat, were 
     carefully rationed. Tires, cars, bicycles, vacuum cleaners, 
     waffle irons and flashlights had to last because they were no 
     longer manufactured. People were asked to ``Use it up/Wear it 
     out/Make it do/or Do without.'' Victory gardens cropped up 
     everywhere. Everyone bought war bonds. National parks were 
     closed. Women replaced men in professional sports leagues, 
     orchestras and many other tasks.
       As World War II drew to a close, war-related industry jobs 
     peaked in early 1945 and began to shut down as the last 
     battles were fought. After the war, jobs for women and people 
     of color diminished dramatically. Post-war jobs were largely 
     reserved for returning servicemen.
       Propaganda messages were re-phrased from telling women to 
     come to work to advise them that their appropriate roles were 
     not at home. While most assumed those who relocated to the 
     Home Front industrial sites would return to where they came 
     from, the majority of migrants were determined to stay.
       The World War II Home Front in Richmond was representative 
     of other industrial centers that emerged specifically to 
     support America's war effort. Many of those who worked in 
     Richmond's industries are part of the community today.

  The effort to preserve these historic sites has been led by the City 
of Richmond, including Mayor Rosemary Corbin and Councilman Tom Butt, 
former Councilwoman Donna Powers, and local preservationists including 
Donna Graves. They have generated not only plans, but substantial 
financial resources to support the restoration and maintenance of the 
historic structures. The National Park Service will play a key role in 
developing the Site, including the maintenance of a visitors' center 
and services, but the major financial responsibilities will remain with 
the local community.
  I do want to pay tribute to Regional Director John Reynolds and Ray 
Murray of the National Park Service who have played a key role in 
producing the Feasibility Study and in working closely with the local 
groups to finalize this project and develop the legislation before us 
today.
  This legislation pays tribute to all those who participated, 
contributed and sacrificed on the home front during World War II. They 
fought that greatest war for all of us, and this legislation will 
ensure that future generations of Americans know what they did, and 
honor them for their sacrifices.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in full support 
of the creation of a Rosie the Riveter-World War Two Home Front 
National Historic Park. This bill establishes the Rosie the Riveter 
World War Two Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, 
California under the direction of the Interior Department and the 
National Park Service.
  Created by Norman Rockwell in 1943, the character ``Rosie'' depicted 
a muscular woman eating a sandwich long before female body sculpting 
was acceptable. Rosie represented the home front contributions of women 
in the Allies effort to defeat the Axis Powers during World War Two. 
This innocent-looking woman in coveralls, cradling her rivet gun in her 
lap, goggles pushed up onto her forehead let it be known that mom was 
not home baking cookies while her sons and husbands were fighting for 
freedom. She did what she had to do and if that meant picking up a 
blow-torch, or hammer, or saw she did it because there were not enough 
men in her town, city, state, or nation to build the tanks, planes, and 
trucks required to defeat the Nazi war machine.
  The proposed memorial will honor the more than 6 million women who 
entered the job force during the war, many of them taking up positions 
in what was considered by most of that time to be ``man's work.'' These 
women made tremendous contributions to our nation's survival during a 
difficult time in American History, but after the war was over they 
quietly without request or fanfare returned to their homes to raise 
their families and nurture their communities through the healing 
process after a draining war. Their efforts were far ahead of the 
women's equal rights movement of the 1960s, but they were the daughters 
of those women who fought for women's voting rights in the United 
States. These daughters of social revolutionaries were revolutionaries 
in modern American society by letting it be known that women were and 
are capable of contributing a great deal to the preservation of our 
society.
  It is long over due that these heroes of World War Two be recognized 
for their valuable contributions to our nation's war efforts. 
Therefore, I ask that all of my colleagues join in support of this 
national recognition of the contribution of women in the successful 
conclusion of World War Two.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation offered 
by my colleague from California, Mr. George Miller, to establish a 
historical park in Richmond, California dedicated to Rosie the Riveter 
and the World War II home front. I would like to commend the

[[Page H5796]]

ranking member of the House Resources Committee, Mr. Miller, for 
bringing this important legislation to the floor today.
  The Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park is a tribute to the 
thousands of women during the World War II era, who broke the mold and 
left the role of homemaker, to enter factories and shipyards to build 
aircraft and war ships for our troops overseas. Jobs, typically held by 
white males, were not being done by women and minorities; transforming 
the face of our Nation's workforce. Not only did these ``Rosies'' bring 
new recognition to the importance of women as part of the work force, 
they brought about changes in child care and women's health services.
  The establishment of a Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park is 
a fitting tribute to the men and women of the World War II homefront, 
who labored around the clock building the ships, tanks, and aircraft 
that were so vital to the war effort. It is our duty to recognize the 
enormous contribution that these men and women made not only to the war 
effort but to the sweeping social and cultural changes that were 
ushered in by the war-time employment needs.
  Mr. Miller's legislation is supported by women's and veterans groups 
and by the local communities in and around Richmond, where shipbuilding 
during World War II was a major activity. I urge my colleagues to vote 
``yes'' on H.R. 4063.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4063, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to 
establish the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National 
Historical Park in the State of California, and for other purposes.''
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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