[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 119, 109th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

119 STAT. 3670

 
ARMY'S BLACK CORPS OF
ENGINEERS--RECOGNITION OF WORLD WAR II CONTRIBUTIONS
NOTE: Sept. 14, 2005 -  [H.Con.Res.67]
Whereas the bombing of Pearl Harbor necessitated constructing an
overland route between Alaska and the lower 48 States for military
purposes;

Whereas on February 11, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
authorized the construction of the Alaska-Canada Highway (also known
as the ``Alcan Highway'');

Whereas construction of the Alcan Highway, a 1,522-mile long road from
Dawson Creek, Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska, was an engineering feat
of enormous challenge;

Whereas the Alcan Highway was constructed by approximately 10,000 United
States troops through rugged, unmapped wilderness and extreme
temperatures, ranging from 80-degrees-below to 90-degrees-above
zero;

Whereas the Corps of Engineers units assigned to construct the Alcan
Highway were segregated by race;

Whereas the 93rd, 95th, and 97th Regiments and 388th Battalion of the
Corps of Engineers, part of a group known as the ``Black Corps of
Engineers'', were African American units assigned to the Alcan
Highway project, and these units comprised one-third of the total
engineering workforce on the project;

Whereas despite severe discriminatory policies, and abominable living
and social conditions, the soldiers of the Black Corps of Engineers
performed notably and unselfishly on the project;

Whereas on November 20, 1942, the Alcan Highway was completed in an
astonishing 8 months and 12 days, becoming one of the Nation's
greatest public works projects in the 20th century;

Whereas the Alcan Highway became the only land route that strategically
linked the northern territory to the remainder of the continental
United States and facilitated the construction of airstrips for
refueling planes and vital supply routes during World War II;

Whereas although considerable praise was bestowed upon soldiers for
exemplary work in constructing the Alcan Highway, the soldiers of
the Black Corps of Engineers were seldom recognized; and

Whereas despite enduring indignities and double standards, the soldiers
of the Black Corps of Engineers contributed unselfishly to the
western defense in World War II and these contributions helped lead
to the subsequent integration of the military: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress honors the soldiers of the Army's Black Corps of Engineers
for their contributions in constructing the Alaska-Canada highway during
World War II and recognizes the importance of these contributions to the
subsequent integration of the military.

Agreed to September 14, 2005.