[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23316]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 27, 2001

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of 
S. Con. Res. 44, in commemoration of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and 
to honor those who served their country at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 
1941.
  Our nation is now fully engaged in a campaign to eradicate 
international terrorism. The last two weeks have witnessed a great deal 
of progress in Afghanistan. Yet, the job is not yet complete; the 
Taliban remain in control of their spiritual base of Kandahar and Osama 
bin Laden remains at large. I can find no greater inspiration for 
seeing through this campaign to complete victory than the men and women 
of past generations who served heroically in defense of our nation, 
especially at Pearl Harbor on ``the day of infamy.''
  One of those heroes was Dorie Miller, an African American mess 
attendant aboard the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl 
Harbor. Dorie Miller was responsible for dragging his ship's commander, 
who had been wounded by shrapnel, out of the line of fire. Once his 
captain was safe, he manned a machine gun on the ship's deck. He did so 
despite the fact that blacks generally did not serve in combat 
positions or other positions of greater responsibility and thus he had 
not been instructed in gunnery, With serious bombing and strafing all 
around him as the American battleship fleet was being decimated, Dorie 
Miller shot down at least two of the 29 Japanese planes that were lost 
by the attackers that day.
  Dorie Miller continued to serve his country in the Navy during World 
War II. However, in 1943, he and 654 shipmates were killed in the line 
of duty when the Japanese sank the USS Liscome Bay near the Gilbert 
Islands.
  Unfortunately, Dorie Miller's acts of valor have never been fully 
recognized, and some of the awards that were bestowed upon him were 
only given grudgingly. Initially, Dorie Miller's actions were not 
publicized until three months after the Pearl Harbor attack. Then, he 
was only given a letter of citation by the Secretary of the Navy--the 
lowest of awards for duty. Dorie Miller was finally awarded the Navy 
Cross, but only after a public campaign by civil rights organizations 
brought about critical attention in the press. However, Dorie Miller 
was not decorated with the nation's highest honor--the Congressional 
Medal of Honor. In fact, no African American who served in World War II 
received the Congressional Medal of Honor until seven Army veterans 
were given the award in 1997.
  Mr. Speaker, as we honor the devotion, dedication and sacrifice of 
all who served at Pearl Harbor, I can think of no better commemoration 
than to finally recognize the actions of Dorie Miller. I have 
introduced legislation, H.R. 1994, which would begin to cure this 
injustice. The bill would waive the time limitation specified in 
current law for the awarding of military decorations in order to allow 
the posthumous award of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Dorie 
Miller for his heroic actions during World War II. I ask my colleagues 
to cosponsor my bill and the Armed Services Committee to expedite its 
passage so that a long-awaited honor may finally be bestowed upon this 
deserving individual.

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