[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1102]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CODE TALKERS RECOGNITION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 18, 2002

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3250, the 
``Code Talkers Recognition Act.''
  Congress rarely has the opportunity to celebrate selfless heroism, 
Mr. Speaker, and so I particularly thank the sponsor of this 
legislation, Mr. Thune, for introducing it and Mrs. Granger and Mr. 
Watkins, for their efforts on similar bills that now have been 
incorporated here.
  Mr. Speaker, as we are now engaged in a war on terrorism that 
involves precision munitions and long-range air strikes, it is easy to 
forget how different the wars of the 20th century were. Then, huge 
armies often stood toe-to-toe, and the decisive edge in a battle often 
turned more on knowing what the enemy was going to do than on anything 
else. Once we broke the German codes, the tide of the war in Europe 
turned. Once we knew the Japanese codes, Allies were able to take apart 
their sea power and end any ability to project force.
  But Mr. Speaker the Germans and the Japanese had code-breakers, too. 
What they didn't have were the Native American code talkers, who used 
their tribal languages to communicate military orders and intelligence 
information between forward-deployed units and their commanders further 
to the rear. Those tribal languages never were understood by our 
enemies, Mr. Speaker, and the resulting ability to communicate freely, 
accurately and safely saved countless Allied lives.
  Congress has honored the Navajo Code Talkers with medals. This bill 
addresses the long-overdue recognition of the other brave warriors from 
other tribes who performed similar services. The bill would grant the 
Congressional Gold Medal, posthumously in most cases, to those brave 
warriors from the Sioux, Choctaw, Comanche and the other tribes.
  Mr. Speaker, the Sioux Code Talkers--using Lakota, Dakota and Nakota 
Sioux languages--were deployed in both the European and Pacific 
theaters and served in some of the heaviest combat actions to provide 
their communications services. They are credited by military commanders 
as being instrumental in saving the lives of many Allied soldiers.
  Comanche serving in the 4th Signal Company helped to develop a code 
using their language to communicate military messages during the D-Day 
invasion and in the European theater during World War II. To the 
enemy's frustration, the code developed by the Comanche Code Talkers 
proved to be unbreakable. The Germans even sent spies to training 
grounds in Fort Gordon and to reservations in Oklahoma to try and crack 
the code
  Mr. Speaker, the Choctaw Code Talkers of World War I were the first 
code talkers used in recent times. While most Native Americans at the 
time were not considered citizens of the United States, many 
volunteered to fight, and many were incorporated into a company of 
Indian Enlistees serving the 142nd Infantry Company of the 36th 
division. While serving, their use of the native language was 
discouraged. However, a commander--aware that most Allied codes had 
been broken by the Germans--realized that a number of men under his 
command spoke complex and possibly undecipherable language, and he put 
them to work sending codes. A total of 18 Choctaws served our country 
as Code Talkers. The Choctaw tribe and the State of Oklahoma have 
honored these code talkers and today I believe we should do likewise.
  Mr. Speaker, as the Navajo Code Talkers already have been recognized 
with Congressional medals and this legislation specifically names 
Sioux, Choctaw and Comanche code talkers, this bill also asks the 
Secretary of Defense to identify any non-Navajo code talkers from 
tribes other than the Sioux, Choctaw and Comanche who served overseas 
as code talkers in the wars of the last century, and recognize them 
with medals as well.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to honor all Native 
American code talkers who have fought for our country.

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