[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H2719-H2720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1845
                  RENAMING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, since 1947 Congress has 
twice affirmed that the Marine Corps is a separate military service 
within the Department of the Navy. In 1947, the National Security Act 
stated that we have four separate military services: the Army, the Air 
Force, the Navy, and the Marine Corps.
  In 1986, the Goldwater-Nichols Act formally acknowledged the roles of 
each service's commanding officer and stated that each branch's 
commander serves equally as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  For the past 5 years, this House has sent legislation to the Senate 
that would rename the Department of the Navy to be the Department of 
the Navy and Marine Corps. Not only has this change received support 
from the full House Armed Services Committee and the House itself, but 
by such notables as Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitz; Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy H. Lawrence Garrett, III; Acting Secretary of the 
Navy Daniel Howard; Secretary of the Navy John Dalton; General Carl 
Mundy, 30th Commandant of the Marine Corps; General Chuck Krulak, 31st 
Commandant of the Marine Corps; the Fleet Reserve Association; the 
Marine Corps League; the National Defense PAC; and the National 
Association of Uniformed Services.
  Wade Sanders, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve 
Affairs, 1993 to 1998, also declared his support for this change. He 
stated: ``As a combat veteran and former naval officer, I understand 
the importance of the team dynamic and the importance of recognizing 
the contributions of team components. The Navy and Marine Corps team is 
just that: a dynamic partnership, and it is important to symbolically 
recognize the balance of the partnership.''
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to share part of an editorial 
published last year in the Chicago Tribune, and I will submit the 
entire editorial for the Record.

               [From the Chicago Tribune, Apr. 21, 2006]

                        Step Up for the Marines

                              (Editorials)

       No service branch shows more respect for tradition than the 
     U.S. Marine Corps does, which makes it all the more ironic 
     that tradition denies the corps an important show of respect: 
     Equal billing with the other service branches.
       The Continental Congress ordered ``two Battalions of 
     Marines'' to be raised in 1775 as landing forces for the 
     Navy. The Marines have remained within the Navy on government 
     organization charts ever since, even though the corps 
     functions through wartime and peacetime as a separate branch 
     in every other way.
       Like the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Marine Corps has its 
     own command structure. Its commandant holds equal status with 
     other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which happens to 
     be chaired for the first time by a Marine, Gen. Peter Pace.
       Several Marine veterans and supporters have launched an 
     online petition drive to support a bill proposed by Rep. 
     Walter B. Jones. The North Carolina Republican, whose 
     district includes Camp Lejeune, wants to fix the matter 
     simply by changing the Department of the Navy to the 
     ``Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.''
       Jones has twice passed similar measures in the House with 
     bipartisan support, but the Senate was cool to them. Senate 
     Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia 
     Republican, veteran and former Navy secretary, has promised 
     ``fair consideration'' for the legislation. That's Senate-
     speak for a reluctance to commit. His reluctance seems to be 
     rooted in a sense of tradition. But sometimes it's good to 
     break with tradition. The War Department, for example,

[[Page H2720]]

     became the Defense Department after World War II. The Army 
     Air Corps was elevated in 1941 to the Army Air Forces and in 
     1947 to the autonomous Air Force.
       The Marines have not asked for complete autonomy. Nothing 
     structurally needs to change in their relationship with the 
     Navy, which has served both branches well. The corps only 
     asks for recognition. Having served their nation proudly and 
     courageously since colonial days, the leathernecks have 
     earned a promotion.

  Mr. Speaker, I quote the Chicago Tribune: ``No service branch shows 
more respect for tradition than the United States Marine Corps . . . 
which makes it all the more ironic that tradition denies the Corps an 
important show of respect, equal billing with the other service 
branches . . . But sometimes it is good to break with tradition.
  ``The Marines have not asked for complete autonomy. Nothing 
structurally needs to change in their relationship with the Navy, which 
has served both branches well. The Corps only asks for recognition.''
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that my colleagues will join me in support of 
this change and cosponsor H.R. 346.
  Mr. Speaker, I have before me a poster of a marine who gave his life 
for this country. He was killed in Iraq. His family received, after his 
death, the Silver Star. And what I have on this poster is from the 
Secretary of the Navy. It says: ``The President of the United States 
takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to the family of Sergeant 
Michael Bitz. The sad part of this is, Mr. Speaker, he was a marine who 
died for this country. He was a team member with the United States 
Navy; yet the citation has nothing but the Secretary of the Navy and 
the Navy flag.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you to look at this as I show you what it could be 
if this bill becomes law. What it would be with the Secretary of the 
Navy and Marine Corps with the Navy flag and the Marine flag. That is 
what this bill would do.
  And, Mr. Speaker, before I close, I say to my colleagues in the House 
I hope you will join me as cosponsor and maybe this year the Senate 
will accept the House position because, Mr. Speaker, this man left 
three children, twins he never saw, and when they look at this honor 
that his father received, wouldn't it be nice 20 years from now for his 
family to say, ``My daddy was a marine who gave his life for this 
country,'' and it be recognized in the heading of this citation.

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