[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 18, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H3609-H3610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REDESIGNATING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY AS THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 
                             & MARINE CORPS

  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. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues in the House, 
from both parties, for joining me as cosponsors of H.R. 24, legislation 
to redesignate the Department of the Navy to be the Department of the 
Navy and Marine Corps. As of today, this legislation has 100 
cosponsors.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the right thing for the Congress to do. For the 
past 7 years, the language of this bill has been part of the House 
version of the National Defense Authorization Act. And this year, I'm 
grateful to have the support of Senator Pat Roberts, a former Marine, 
who introduced the same bill in the Senate, S. 504. With his help, I'm 
hopeful this will be the year the Senate supports the House position, 
and we can bring proper respect to the fighting team of the Navy and 
the Marine Corps.
  It is important to remember: The National Security Act of 1947 
defines the Marine Corps, Army, Navy and Air Force as the four 
services. It clearly indicates that the Marine Corps is a legally 
distinct military service within the Department of the Navy. The Navy 
and Marine Corps have operated as one entity for more than two 
centuries, and H.R. 24 would enable the name of their department to 
illustrate this fact.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to share part of a 2006 editorial published 
by the Chicago Tribune which describes what that legislation is really 
all about. And I quote the editorial, ``no service branch shows more 
respect for tradition than the United States 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.'' They are the words that were in the editorial in the 
Chicago Tribune. But sometimes it is good to break with tradition. The 
War Department, for example, became the Department of Defense 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 Marine Corps has not asked for complete autonomy. Nothing 
structurally needs to change in their relations 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, the marines who are fighting today deserve this 
recognition.
  Before closing, I would like to show you what this change could mean 
to

[[Page H3610]]

the family of a fallen Marine. Mr. Speaker, on this poster is an 
enlargement of a copy of a letter that the Secretary of the Navy sent 
to a Marine Corps family. The Marine was killed for this Nation serving 
in Iraq. And I read from the letter from the Secretary of the Navy, and 
I will point out that the head of the letter says, ``the Secretary of 
the Navy, Washington, D.C.,'' with the zip code, November 18, 2008. 
``Dear Marine Corps family, on behalf of the Department of the Navy, 
please accept my very sincere condolences on the loss of your loved 
one.''
  Mr. Speaker, if this becomes reality this year, should this be a 
requirement, if any more of our Marines are killed in Afghanistan and 
Iraq, the letterhead would say, ``the Secretary of the Navy and Marine 
Corps, Washington, D.C., Dear Marine Corps family, on behalf of the 
Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.''
  Mr. Speaker, that is what it is all about. This is one fighting team, 
and the name should carry equal, Navy and Marine Corps. And with that, 
Mr. Speaker, before I close, I will ask God to continue to bless our 
men and women in uniform. I ask God to place in His loving arms, to 
hold the families who have given a child dying for freedom in 
Afghanistan and Iraq. And I close by asking God to continue to bless 
America.

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