[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 23, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7142-S7143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          60TH ANNIVERSARY OF INTEGRATION OF THE ARMED FORCES

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today we recognize the 60th anniversary of 
one of the momentous steps forward for equality of opportunity in our 
Nation's history. On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman, signed 
Executive Order 9981. That order read, in part:

     there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all 
     persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, 
     religion or national origin.


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  While equality, as a concept, is deeply rooted in our Nation's 
founding, equality in practice was exceedingly rare in our Nation's 
armed services before President Truman's action. His order reversed 
nearly 175 years of discrimination, segregation, and exclusion from the 
armed services based on race, dating back to the Continental Army 
during the Revolutionary War.
  The order benefited the armed services as well as the countless men 
and women--of all races--who have subsequently served in integrated 
units. Further, the diversity of our servicemembers has contributed to 
its being the most capable, strongest military force that the world has 
ever known.
  In an amici brief for the U.S. Supreme Court, former officers of the 
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps as well as civilian leaders and 
former Secretaries of Defense agreed that integration of the military 
was the result of ``a principled recognition that segregation is unjust 
and incompatible with American values,'' and further that the 
military's ``efficient, effective deployment required integration.''
  While we all appreciate President Truman's action today, appreciation 
was not always widespread. The integration order was met with criticism 
from many who were accustomed to segregation. And, as 1948 was an 
election year--Truman's first, after he succeeded President Roosevelt 
many felt that Truman was all but giving away the election by 
fracturing his party. The doubters and critics make Truman's 
steadfastness all the more noteworthy.
  In the decades that followed 1948, the civil rights movement pushed 
the entire Nation to make enormous strides towards ending segregation 
and integrating everything from schools to neighborhoods.
  From the Emancipation Proclamation, to the integration of the armed 
services, to Brown v. Board of Education, to the Civil Rights Acts, 
progress towards racial equality in America has marched forward 
unceasingly. The integration of the armed services was one of the 
enormous and critical steps in that march.

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