,,iv #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,,con4 ,,res4 #ac ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,february #d1 #bjai,mrs4 ,beatty 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,brown of ,maryland1 ,ms4 ,clarke of ,new ,york1 ,mr4 ,cohen1 ,mr4 ,grijalva1 ,ms4 ,jackson ,lee1 ,ms4 ,moore1 ,mr4 ,ryan1 ,ms4 ,kelly of ,illinois1 ,mr4 ,david ,scott of ,georgia1 ,mr4 ,soto1 ,mr4 ,takano1 ,mr4 ,vela1 ,mrs4 ,luria1 and ,mr4 ,vargas7 submitted the following concurrent resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs ,,concurrent ,,resolution ,recognizing the difficult challenges ,black veterans faced when returning home after serving in the ,armed ,forces1 their heroic military sacrifices1 and their patriotism in fighting for equal rights and for the dignity of a people and a ,nation4 ,whereas there has been no war fought by or within the ,united ,states in which ,blacks did not participate1 including the ,revolutionary ,war1 the ,civil ,war1 the ,war of #ahab1 the ,spanish ,american ,war1 ,world ,wars ,i and ,,ii1 the ,korean ,war1 the ,vietnam ,war1 the ,gulf ,war1 ,operation ,enduring ,freedom1 and ,operation ,iraqi ,freedom2 ,whereas ,frederick ,douglass voiced his opinion in one of his autobiographies1 ,life and ,times of ,frederick ,douglass1 writing1 ,i ''' urged every man who could1 to enlist2 to get an eagle on his button1 a musket on his shoulder1 the star-spangled banner over his head1 later remarking that there is no power on ,earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the ,united ,states42 ,whereas during the ,civil ,war1 ,black soldiers1 commonly referred to as the ,united ,states ,colored ,troops1 were treated as second-class citizens1 the health care and hospitals available to them were substandard1 and they often died from neglect of services that were supposed to be administered by medical personnel2 ,whereas ,dr4 ,w4,e4,b4 ,du,bois and ,william ,monroe ,trotter1 members of the first generation of freedom's children1 founded the ,niagara ,movement in #aije2 ,whereas in his book1 ,black ,reconstruction in ,america1 published in #aice1 ,du,bois wrote that nothing else made ,negro citizenship conceivable1 but the record of the ,negro soldier as a fighter42 ,whereas the #cfith ,infantry1 known as the ,harlem ,hell-fighters1 fought the ,germans during ,world ,war ,i as part of the ,french ,army and served the longest stretch in combat1 #aia days without replacement1 without losing a foot of ground or a man as prisoner2 ,whereas at the end of the service of the #cfith ,infantry1 the entire regiment received the ,croix de ,guerre1 which was ,france's highest military honor1 from a grateful ,french nation2 ,whereas ,alain ,locke1 the first ,black ,rhodes ,scholar1 wrote in #aibe about a ,new ,negro who had returned from battle with a bold new spirit that helped spark a new mood in the ,black community2 ,whereas in #aiag1 ,charles ,hamilton ,houston encountered racism after entering ,world ,war ,i as a commissioned first lieutenant in the segregated #agth ,provisional ,training ,regiment1 later writing that ,i made up my mind that if ,i got through this war ,i would study law and use my time fighting for men who could not strike back42 ,whereas ,dorie ,miller1 a messman attendant in the ,navy1 was catapulted to national hero status and an icon to generations1 after displaying heroism on board the ,,uss ,west ,virginia during the ,japanese attack on ,pearl ,harbor on ,december #g1 #aida2 ,whereas before becoming a famous baseball player1 ,jackie ,robinson was court-martialed in the ,army for refusing to sit in the back of the bus in #aidd1 and when he was later acquitted1 he wrote that it was a small victory1 for ,i had learned that ,i was in two wars1 one against the foreign enemy1 the other against prejudice at home42 ,whereas the famed ,tuskegee ,airmen1 a group of ,black pilots1 flew with distinction during ,world ,war ,,ii under the command of ,captain ,benjamin ,o4 ,davis1 ,jr41 the highly decorated officer who served for more than #ce years and became the first ,black general in the ,air ,force2 ,whereas during ,world ,war ,,ii1 the #fhhh 7known as the ,six ,triple ,eights71 the first all-woman ,black ,postal ,battalion who served in ,england and then ,france1 were given the daunting task of clearing out a #b-year backlog of over #ij1jjj pieces of mail1 succeeded in their mission1 completed it in #c months1 and went on to make a positive impact on racial integration in the military2 ,whereas during ,world ,war ,,ii1 the ,army's #ibnd ,infantry ,division1 better known as the ,buffalo ,soldiers1 which traces its direct lineage back to the #ith and #ajth ,cavalry units from #ahff to the early #ahijs1 was the only ,black segregated unit to experience combat during the ,italian campaign of #aidd-aide with several members later earning ,medals of ,honor for bravery2 ,whereas ,reverend ,benjamin ,hooks1 who served in the #ibnd ,division1 found himself in the humiliating position of guarding ,italian prisoners of war who were allowed to eat in restaurants that were off-limits to him2 ,whereas even after ,president ,truman issued ,executive ,order #iiha desegregating the military on ,july #bf1 #aidh1 discrimination continued2 ,whereas in #aidf1 when ,charles and ,medgar ,evers tried to register to vote1 they were turned away at the polling station2 ,whereas after serving overseas in the ,army1 ,charles and ,medgar ,evers returned home to ,mississippi where1 in #aieb1 they began to organize voter registration drives for the ,national ,association for the ,advancement of ,colored ,people 7,,naacp72 ,whereas ,oliver ,l4 ,brown1 a ,world ,war ,,ii ,army veteran from ,kansas1 and ,harry ,briggs1 a ,world ,war ,,ii sailor from ,south ,carolina1 were the fathers of two of the five named plaintiffs in ,brown v4 ,board of ,education of ,topeka and ,briggs v4 ,elliott1 the historic school desegregation cases of #aied2 ,whereas the ,black heroes and heroines of ,world ,war ,,ii and the ,korean ,war1 such as ,private ,sarah ,keys and ,women's ,army ,corps 7,,wac7 officer ,dovey ,roundtree1 won significant victories against discrimination in interstate transportation in landmark civil rights cases1 including ,keys v4 ,carolina ,coach ,company1 which was decided in #aiee1 six days before ,rosa ,parks' historic protest of ,alabama's ,jim ,crow laws in ,montgomery2 ,whereas in his address at ,riverside ,church on ,april #d1 #aifg1 ,dr4 ,martin ,luther ,king1 ,jr41 commented on the irony of ,blacks fighting in ,vietnam to guarantee liberties in ,southeast ,asia while not enjoying the same rights at home2 ,whereas ,black veterans who were in the forefront of the leadership of the ,civil ,rights ,movement1 with their strong resolve to address the paradox of military service abroad and the denial of basic rights at home1 brought deeper meaning to the word democracy1 and through their example1 transformed the face of the ,united ,states2 ,whereas the ,black veterans of the ,nation's wars sowed the seeds for today's bountiful harvest through the ,niagara ,movement1 the ,,naacp1 and the latter-day ,civil ,rights ,movement1 all of which share a common ancestry in the ,civil ,war1 without which there would be no ,civil ,rights ,movement and no equal rights for all ,americans2 and ,whereas today1 ,black veterans suffer at a disproportionate rate from chronic illnesses and homelessness and are plagued by health disparities3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that ,congress recognizes-- 7#a7 the difficult challenges ,black veterans faced when returning home after serving in the ,armed ,forces1 their heroic military sacrifices1 and their patriotism in fighting for equal rights and for the dignity of a people and a ,nation2 and 7#b7 the need for the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs to continue to work to eliminate any health and benefit disparities for our ,nation's minority veterans4