[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 5, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3174-H3175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ESTABLISHING THE DEPARTMENT OF NAVY AND 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, yesterday I was humbled, but also pleased, 
that the House of Representatives passed legislation that would rename 
the Department of the Navy to be the Department of Navy and Marine 
Corps, and I want to thank 426 cosponsors of this legislation for 
joining us yesterday.
  Mr. Speaker, the history on this issue is that this is the tenth year 
that the House of Representatives, not with a vote on the floor of the 
House, but in the Armed Services Committee, has put language in the 
House Armed Services authorization bill that would do the same thing, 
and that is to say, that the Department of the Navy would become the 
Department of Navy and Marine Corps.

                              {time}  1530

  The reason yesterday was very important that we would have this vote 
on the floor of the House was to say to the Senate, who for 10 years 
has stopped this effort to recognize two great services, the Navy and 
Marine Corps, which are known as one fighting team and would carry the 
name Department of Navy and Marine Corps, it

[[Page H3175]]

was to say to the Senate, ``Please take a look at this and please look 
at this seriously because this is important to a large number of people 
in both the Navy and Marine Corps.''
  There is no cost to this. This does not affect the budget. It doesn't 
affect even the stationery. It would just make it so that in the 
future, as changes come about, it would be known as the Department of 
Navy and Marine Corps.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to tell a story about a news conference. About 6 
weeks ago, the Marine Corps League held a news conference in the Cannon 
Office Building to announce their support of this legislation. At the 
news conference we had Senator Pat Roberts, a retired Marine officer 
who serves in the United States Senate, who has put in a companion 
bill, S. 504. In addition, we had a former Commandant, Al Gray, to 
speak on behalf of this legislation. We had a four star Marine General, 
Anthony Zinni, to speak on behalf of this legislation.
  In addition, we had a young man named Eddie Wright. Eddie Wright lost 
both hands in Iraq for this country. And he told a very compelling 
story. He is a Marine, and he said, ``I love the Navy.'' He said, ``I 
love the corpsmen who came on the battlefield and saved my life.''
  Then we also had a father named Dick Lynn from Richmond, Virginia. 
Dick Lynn's son was killed in Iraq. He was a Marine. And Mr. Lynn told 
the story of his father, who had served as a World War II Navy veteran, 
and the fact that in Culpeper, Virginia, his son, a Marine, is buried 
next to his grandfather. And Dick Lynn told the story of having the 
headstone that says ``United States Navy'' that identified his father 
who was deceased, and then beside his father was his son's headstone 
that had ``United States Marine Corps''.
  I bring that up, Mr. Speaker, because we can see beside me is a 
poster of an actual condolence letter from the United States Navy to 
the family of a Marine captain who was killed in Iraq. And it says, 
``The Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C.,'' with the Navy flag. I 
certainly took the names out of the condolence letter for this poster. 
Mr. and Mrs. Joe American Marine. ``Dear Marine Corps Family: On behalf 
of the Department of the Navy, please accept my very sincere 
condolences.''
  Mr. Speaker, the Navy and Marine Corps are one fighting team. They 
deserve to be respected as one fighting team by carrying the name Navy 
and Marine Corps.
  Mr. Speaker, if this bill is accepted by the Senate, what we would 
see in a condolence letter would be ``The Secretary of the Navy and 
Marine Corps,'' with the Navy flag and the Marine Corps flag. And it 
would say, ``Dear Marine Corps Family: On behalf of the Department of 
Navy and Marine Corps, we extend our condolences.'' That's the story 
that Mr. Lynn tried to say at the news conference.
  Why cannot the Senate understand the importance of paying the 
respects with the recognition to the Marine Corps which the Navy has, 
the Army has, the Air Force has? This is a very simple change of three 
words, with no cost to the American taxpayer.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing I would like to say there is a national Web 
site. It's called MarineCause.com. Gunnery Sergeant Lee Ermey, a movie 
star who himself served in the Marine Corps, in the movie Full Metal 
Jacket, which is about Vietnam, he is the DI in that movie. He is also 
on the Military Channel with Lock 'N Load and Mail Call. He is our 
national spokesman on this Web site. So I hope that the American people 
would join in this effort.

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