,,iii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session 
,s4 ,,con4 ,,res4 #bc  ,,in ,,the       
,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states   
,november #f1 #bjbe ,ms4 ,blunt         
,rochester 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 on the     
civic value of military service in one  
of his autobiographies1 ,life and ,times
 of ,frederick ,douglass1 writing1 ,i 4 
4 4 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 and 
later remarking that there is no power  
on ,earth which can deny that he has    
earned the right to citizenship in the  
,united ,states2  ,whereas1 during the  
,civil ,war1 ,black soldiers1 commonly  
referred to as the ,united ,states      
,colored ,troops1 fought with honor and 
distinction despite being treated as    
second-class citizens2  ,whereas the    
health care and hospitals available to  
,black soldiers during the ,civil ,war  
were substandard1 and ,black soldiers   
often died from the withholding 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 #aije and fought for desegregation  
in the ,armed ,forces in ,world ,war ,i2
  ,whereas1 in his book1 ,black         
,reconstruction in ,america1 published  
in #aice1 ,du,bois recognized the       
importance of equity in military service
 writing 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 continued   
the history of distinguished military   
service despite treatment as            
second-class citizens1 fighting the     
,germans during ,world ,war ,i as part  
of the ,french ,army and serving the    
longest stretch in combat1 #aia days    
without replacement and without losing a
 foot of ground or a man as prisoner2   
,whereas1 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  
,whereas1 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 ,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  ,whereas1 at the 
start of the ,united ,states involvement
 in ,world ,war ,,ii1 ,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 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  ,whereas1  
during ,world ,war ,,ii1 the #fhhh      
7known as the ,six ,triple ,eights71 the
 first postal battalion comprised       
exclusively of ,black women1 who served 
in ,england and then ,france1 was given 
the daunting task of clearing out a     
#b-year backlog of more than #ij1jjj    
pieces of mail1 completed the mission in
 #c months1 and went on to make a       
positive impact on racial integration in
 the ,armed ,forces2  ,whereas1 before  
becoming a famous baseball player1      
,jackie ,robinson was court-martialed in
 the ,army in #aidd for refusing to sit 
in the back of the bus1 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 home2  ,whereas1 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 campaigns of #aidd  
and #aide1 with several members of the  
unit later earning ,medals of ,honor for
 bravery2  ,whereas ,reverend ,benjamin 
,hooks1 who served in the #ibnd         
,infantry ,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  ,whereas1 even after
 ,president ,truman issued ,executive   
,order #iiha1 desegregating the military
 on ,july #bf1 #aidh1 discrimination    
continued2  ,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 #b of the #e named  
plaintiffs in ,brown v4 ,board of       
,education of ,topeka1 #cdg ,u4,s4 #dhc 
7#aieb7 and ,briggs v4 ,elliott1 #cdb   
,u4,s4 #cej 7#aieb71 the historic       
school-desegregation cases of #aieb2    
,whereas the ,black heroes and heroines 
of ,world ,war ,,ii and the ,korean     
,war1 and their offspring such as       
,private ,sarah ,keys and ,women's ,army
 ,corps officer ,dovey ,roundtree1 won  
significant victories against           
discrimination in interstate            
transportation in landmark civil rights 
cases1 including ,keys v4 ,carolina     
,coach ,company1 #fd ,,mcc #gfi 7#aiee71
 which was decided #f days before ,rosa 
,parks' historic protest of ,alabama's  
,jim ,crow laws in ,montgomery2         
,whereas1 after serving overseas in the 
,army1 ,charles and ,medgar ,evers      
returned home to ,mississippi1 where in 
#aidf1 they tried to register to vote   
but were turned away at the polling     

stations2  ,whereas1 in #aieb1 ,charles 
and ,medgar ,evers began to organize    
voter registration drives for the       
,national ,association for the          
,advancement of ,colored ,people        
7,,naacp72  ,whereas1 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  
,black veterans of the ,nation's wars   
sowed the seeds for today's bountiful   
harvest that includes the ,niagara      
,movement1 the ,,naacp1 and the         

modern-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 ,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 minority veterans in the
 ,united ,states4