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``SIX TRIPLE EIGHT'' CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL ACT OF 2021
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 321) to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Women's Army Corps who were assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the ``Six Triple Eight''.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 321
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `` `Six Triple Eight' Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) On July 1, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law legislation that established the Women's Army Corps
(referred to in this section as the ``WAC'') as a component in the Army. The WAC was converted from the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (referred to in this section as the
``WAAC''), which had been created in 1942 without official military status. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of the National Council of Negro Women, advocated for the admittance of African-American women into the newly formed WAC to serve as officers and enlisted personnel.
(2) Dubbed ``10 percenters'', the recruitment of African- American women to the WAAC was limited to 10 percent of the population of the WAAC to match the proportion of African- Americans in the national population. Despite an Executive order issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 banning racial discrimination in civilian defense industries, the Armed Forces remained segregated. Enlisted women served in segregated units, participated in segregated training, lived in separate quarters, ate at separate tables in mess halls, and used segregated recreational facilities. Officers received their officer candidate training in integrated units but lived under segregated conditions. Specialist and technical training schools were integrated in 1943. During World War II, a total of 6,520 African-American women served in the WAAC and the WAC.
(3) After several units of White women were sent to serve in the European Theater of Operations (referred to in this section as the ``ETO'') during World War II, African-American organizations advocated for the War Department to extend the opportunity to serve overseas to African-American WAC units.
(4) In November 1944, the War Department approved sending African-American women to serve in Europe. A battalion of all African-American women drawn from the WAC, the Army Service Forces, and the Army Air Forces was created and designated as the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (referred to in this section as the ``6888th''), which was nicknamed the
``Six Triple Eight''.
(5) Army officials reported a shortage of qualified postal officers within the ETO, which resulted in a backlog of undelivered mail. As Allied forces drove across Europe, the ever-changing locations of servicemembers hampered the delivery of mail to those servicemembers. Because 7,000,000 civilians and military personnel from the United States served in the ETO, many of those individuals had identical names. For example, 7,500 such individuals were named Robert Smith. One general predicted that the backlog in Birmingham, England, would take 6 months to process and the lack of reliable mail service was hurting morale.
(6) In February 1945, the 6888th arrived in Birmingham. Upon their arrival, the 6888th found warehouses filled with millions of pieces of mail intended for members of the Armed Forces, United States Government personnel, and Red Cross workers serving in the ETO.
(7) The 6888th created effective processes and filing systems to track individual servicemembers, organize
``undeliverable'' mail, determine the intended recipient for insufficiently addressed mail, and handle mail addressed to servicemembers who had died. Adhering to their motto of ``No mail, low morale'', the women processed an average of 65,000 pieces of mail per shift and cleared the 6-month backlog of mail within 3 months.
(8) The 6888th traveled to Rouen, France, in May 1945 and worked through a separate backlog of undelivered mail dating back as far as 3 years.
(9) At the completion of their mission, the unit returned to the United States. The 6888th was discontinued on March 9, 1946, at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.
(10) The accomplishments of the 6888th in Europe encouraged the General Board, United States Forces, European Theater of Operations to adopt the following premise in their study of the WAC issued in December 1945: ``[T]he national security program is the joint responsibility of all Americans irrespective of color or sex'' and ``the continued use of colored, along with white, female military personnel is required in such strength as is proportionately appropriate to the relative population distribution between colored and white races''.
(11) With the exception of smaller units of African- American nurses who served in Africa, Australia, and England, the 6888th was the only African-American Women's Army Corps unit to serve overseas during World War II.
(12) The members of the ``Six Triple Eight'' received the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Women's Army Corps Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal for their service.
(13) In 2019, the Army awarded the 6888th the Meritorious Unit Commendation.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion (commonly known as the ``Six Triple Eight'') in recognition of--
(1) the pioneering military service of those women;
(2) the devotion to duty of those women; and
(3) the contributions made by those women to increase the morale of all United States personnel stationed in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury
(referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(c) Smithsonian Institution.--
(1) In general.--After the award of the gold medal under subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where the medal shall be available for display, as appropriate, and made available for research.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available elsewhere, particularly at--
(A) appropriate locations associated with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion;
(B) the Women in Military Service for America Memorial;
(C) the United States Army Women's Museum;
(D) the National World War II Museum and Memorial;
(E) the National Museum of the United States Army; and
(F) any other location determined appropriate by the Smithsonian Institution.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3 at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--Medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Colorado.
General Leave
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to include extraneous material in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The 855 women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, better known as the Six Triple Eight, were given a mission to sort a 2-
year backlog of mail consisting of millions of letters. But these women did more than just sort and distribute this backlog in record time. As the largest contingent of African-American women to serve overseas during World War II, the Six Triple Eight demonstrated successfully that African-American women could and should be included in the ranks of the military.
Throughout their time overseas, the Six Triple Eight had a motto:
``No mail, low morale.'' Beginning in February 1945, with their arrival in Birmingham, England, the Six Triple Eight perfected their sorting processes, setting up three 8-hour shifts running 7 days a week. At peak efficiency, they processed for delivery 65,000 pieces of mail per shift.
Army leadership estimated it would take between 6 months and a year to clear the backlog of mail. The women of the Six Triple Eight did it in 3 months.
The Six Triple Eight were then moved to Rouen, France, where they continued their mission, often working in cold, dark, and damp conditions and alongside German prisoners of war and French civilians.
Finally, this group of women was moved to Paris, where they remained, sorting and distributing mail to American troops through May 1946. In all, the Six Triple Eight were estimated to have distributed 17 million pieces of mail.
Yet, despite their important contributions to boosting troop morale and their work to dispel racist stereotypes within the military of the value and dedication of African-American women in the armed services, the accomplishments of the women of the Six Triple Eight went unrecognized for decades. This bill is small, but it is a significant step toward ensuring the Six Triple Eight's contributions are acknowledged and widely celebrated.
The bill directs the United States Mint to strike a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the women of the Six Triple Eight Central Postal Directory Battalion in recognition of their pioneering military service and contributions to increasing the morale of all American personnel stationed in Europe by ensuring no mail from loved ones was left undelivered.
For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of S. 321, the ``Six Triple Eight'' Congressional Gold Medal Act.
Mr. Speaker, with our world so interconnected today, we can sometimes forget how big the role of mail played in our daily lives before electronic technology came about. This especially rings true for those who left home to defend our Nation in times of war.
As stated by the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum: ``For members of the Armed Forces, the importance of mail during World War II was second only to food. The emotional power of letters was heightened by the fear of loss and the need for communication during times of separation.''
The importance of morale-boosting letters was well-known back home in the United States, and many answered the call to send letters to the U.S. military fighting in the Great War. However, getting these letters to the Americans on the front lines was an arduous task.
By February 1945, warehouses in Birmingham, England, had a backlog of millions of pieces of mail. This is where the Six Triple Eight Central Postal Directory Battalion forever changed history.
Going back a bit, on July 1, 1943, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law legislation that established the Women's Army Corps, better known as WACs. Early on, this corps consisted of only White women, and even when African-American women were admitted into the WACs, the recruitment was limited to only 10 percent.
Additionally, those who did enlist served in segregated units; they participated in segregated training; and they lived in segregated areas. Despite the overt racism and segregation, a total of 6,520 brave African-American women served in the Women's Army Corps.
In November 1944, despite slow recruitment of volunteers, a battalion of 817--and later, 824--enlisted personnel and 31 officers, all African-American women drawn from the WAC, the Army Service Forces, and the Army Air Forces, was created and eventually designated as the Six Triple Eight Central Postal Directory Battalion.
Upon arriving in Birmingham, the unit got right to work creating effective processes and filing systems to track servicemembers and organize ``undeliverable'' mail. They were so efficient that they cleared a 6-month to a year backlog in only 3 months.
Spurred on by their motto, ``No mail, low morale,'' these brave women cleared an average 65,000 pieces of mail per shift, ensuring that our servicemembers had the ability to hear from loved ones back at home and to sustain the high morale that was needed.
Since World War II, the Six Triple Eight has received the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Women's Army Corps Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal for their service. Today, we should add the Congressional Gold Medal to this distinguished list.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Representative Gwen Moore from Wisconsin, the author of H.R. 1012, for her work to bring recognition to these brave women. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask my friend from Ohio--and I thank him for his remarks--if he has any other speakers. If not, I was hoping Ms. Moore would be here, but I am prepared to close.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I believe we are in a period of dueling reserves, trying to accommodate colleagues who are en route. But I would elaborate. As a prior enlisted servicemember, never serving in a field of combat, just getting a letter from home when you were away on a deployment, or even from the very moment you went to basic training, in those days, you didn't have cell phones, text messages, emails, instant messages, web chat rooms and all these things, so your lifeline was the postal service.
Frankly, I owe to the mail service that delivered letters to me while I was a cadet at West Point a big part of the courtship that led to me marrying my wife. We dated the whole time we were there. We looked forward to letters. We did have pay phones back then, so you would wait in line for the pay phone that augmented the letters.
It is heroic what these women did, as we think about other things that have changed, thankfully, the period of time where it was looked upon with skepticism that women could serve in our military, or African Americans, men or women, in any other way could serve. The idea that they were segregated in every way through this whole period of history is, I think, shocking to people today.
But this was really a key piece of our history in allowing this transition. So I think it is fitting that they are recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal, and I encourage, once again, all of our colleagues to support this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his personal remarks about how important the mail--receiving mail and receiving communication--is.
There were 7 million people in the European theater during World War II, and there were many names that were exactly the same that these women had to sort through. In fact, there were some 7,500 individuals named ``Robert Smith,'' and they had to figure out precisely who was to receive what mail. They did this, and they did this in very difficult environments and were able to provide the morale that was so key to all of these soldiers, sailors, and airmen and -women in their service.
So I suggest to my friend from Ohio that we close. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I would just conclude by saying yes, I am prepared to close, and I urge all of my colleagues to support S. 321. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Mfume).
{time} 1500
Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding a little bit of time here at the conclusion of this discussion. I want to thank particularly the gentlewoman from Wisconsin for coming up with this bill on the House side and obviously those on the Senate side that support it.
I can't say enough about the need here to do the right thing in awarding this Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Women's Army Corps who were assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. It was a total of 855 Black women.
It was 1944 and 1945. They went to serve their country with distinction and to make sure that that war would somehow guarantee rights to all Americans, many of the rights that they did not have themselves.
They were the largest contingent of Black women to be deployed overseas, and they worked 7 days a week. As was stated earlier, 7 days a week was not even enough for many of those who witnessed what they were doing.
The Army, by its own admission, figured that the work that would be before them would take months and months and months. We all know now, as a result of history, that was not the case. They worked tirelessly to support the mail that was going both ways at a time when we didn't have internet and we didn't have all of the ways to communicate today.
So I congratulate them as a sterling group. There are just a few that are still alive, well into their nineties today. I urge passage of this very, very important piece of legislation.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Colorado has the only time remaining.
Mr. DAVIDSON. Would the gentleman consider yielding to Mr. LaTurner?
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio because I thought we were all finished, but obviously there are other speakers and there is time on both sides.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Ohio seek unanimous consent to reclaim his time?
Mr. DAVIDSON. I do.
The Speaker pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman reclaims his time and is recognized.
Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. LaTurner).
Mr. LaTURNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women's Army Corps 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation that created the Women's Army Corps, and with the help of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McCloud Bethune, the opportunity to serve in overseas units was soon extended to African-American women and the Six Triple Eight unit was born.
The Six Triple Eight began their service in 1945 and were stationed in areas throughout England and France. Despite the dangerous conditions, these brave women helped sort and deliver millions of vital pieces of mail to soldiers on the front lines and helped quickly eliminate a 6-month backlog at several mail stations.
I am honored to help introduce this legislation to award the Six Triple Eight with the highest honor in Congress, the Congressional Gold Medal, for their heroic service to our Nation.
I want to thank my colleague, Congresswoman Moore, for leading this effort in the House and my fellow Kansan, Senator Moran, for helping get this bill across the finish line in the Senate.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill that gives these heroic women the recognition they deserve.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), the sponsor of this bill.
Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have worked tirelessly to get the supermajority necessary to consider S. 321 to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women's Army Corps 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.
Let me just say that I am so pleased to be a sponsor of this bill, particularly as we end Black History Month, honoring these women, and as we begin Women's History Month. The intersection of those two things is certainly a very appropriate time to mention the Six Triple Eight.
You have heard about the heroic efforts of this only-Black-female battalion in history that served in World War II who are being honored here today. They are being honored because their heroic efforts enabled them, as a central battalion for the delivery of mail, to give people that little measure of a piece of home when they were away.
I just have to ask my colleagues: When there are 7,500 Robert Smiths who weren't able to get their mail during World War II, who did they call? The Six Triple Eight, Black women.
When they were coming under fire and there were 17-and-a-half million pieces of mail that were backlogged and couldn't be sent to these soldiers, who they did call? Oh, yeah, the Six Triple Eight.
When mothers were worried that their sons and wives were worried that their husbands had lost connection, who kept that connection going? The Six Triple Eight.
Their motto was ``no mail, low morale.'' They weren't just sorting mail. They were, in the words of Judi Glaeser printed in the Niagara Gazette on May 21, 2021:
Their work was more than sorting mail. It was ministering to the souls of soldiers, making sure they received that piece of home that reminded them that they were not forgotten.
Today, we are not forgetting them.
I say, in the name of my constituent, who is still alive and will be enjoying her 98th birthday on March 5, Anna Mae Robertson, I congratulate her on this gold medal.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin.
Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I just want to enter into the Record the names of First Lieutenant Fannie Griffin McClendon of Arizona; Corporal Lena Derriecott Bell King of Las Vegas, Nevada; Private Catherine Romay Davis of Alabama; Private Hilda Griggs of New Jersey; and Private Crensencia Garcia of the Bronx, New York, who are still alive.
And to the son of their leader, Major Charity Adams, I thank the Major for leading the Six Triple Eight to this great victory today.
Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I thank the sponsor of this bill and the passion she always brings to this floor. I also thank the sponsor of the bill in the Senate, Senator Moran from Kansas. I thank everybody for their hard work in ensuring the women of the Six Triple Eight receive the recognition they so richly deserve.
As Drexel University historian Gregory S. Cooke notes: They knew what they did would reflect on all other Black people. The Tuskegee Airmen, the Six Triple Eight, represented all Black people. Had they failed, all Black people would be seen to have failed. That was part of the thinking going into the war. The Black battalions had the burden that their role in the war was about something much bigger than themselves.
The women of the Six Triple Eight fought a battle indeed greater than the warehouses stacked to the ceiling with bags and bags of undelivered mail and ensuring our Nation's soldiers received letters from back home. It was also a battle for equality and for recognition and respect from their fellow Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I rise in support of S. 321, the ``Six Triple Eight'' Congressional Gold Medal Act, which would award Congressional Gold Medals to the members of the Women's Army Corps who were assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the ``Six Triple Eight.''
S. 321, the ``Six Triple Eight'' Congressional Gold Medal Act, directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in recognition of their pioneering military service, devotion to duty, and contributions to increase the morale of personnel stationed in the European theater of operations during World War II.
On July 1, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law legislation that established the Women's Army Corps (WAC) as a component of the Army.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of the National Council of Negro Women, advocated for the admittance of African-American women into the newly formed WAC to serve as officers and enlisted personnel.
As a result of their efforts, the ``Six Triple Eight'' formed an all-
Black battalion of the Women's Army Corps.
The 6888th had 855 Black women, both enlisted and officers, and was led by Major Charity Adams.
Most of the 6888th worked as postal clerks, but others were cooks, mechanics and held other support positions, making the 6888th a self-
sufficient unit.
During World War II, there was a significant shortage of soldiers who were able to manage the postal service for the U.S. Army overseas.
The 6888th left the United States on February 3, 1945, sailing on Ile de France and arrived in Glasgow on February 12.
When the 6888th arrived in Birmingham on February 15, 1945, ``they saw letters stacked to the ceiling of the temporary post office, some letters had been in the offices for as long as two years.''
Army officials believed that undelivered mail was ``hurting morale.''
Early in the operation, a White general sent a White officer to
``tell them how to do it right,'' but Major Adams responded, ``Sir, over my dead body, sir!''
The battalion finished what was supposed to be a six-month task in three months in May 1945.
The women of the 6888th worked in three different shifts, seven days a week, processing and delivering mail--a morale booster--to the troops in Europe.
The 6888th was a segregated unit, sleeping and eating in different locations from the White, male soldiers.
European ``locals'' treated them better than other American soldiers did, which was the experience of most Black troops who served during WWI and WWII.
Once the backlog in Birmingham had been dealt with, the 6888th were shipped across the Channel to Le Havre in May 1945 and were sent to Rouen, where they dealt with another backlog of mail, with some letters being three years old.
In February 1946, the unit returned to the United States where it was disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
There was no public recognition for their service at the time.
On February 25, 2009, the battalion was honored at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Alyce Dixon and Mary Raglan, two former unit members were honored by President Barack Obama and first lady, Michelle Obama in 2009.
The extraordinary accomplishments of this unit are deserving of official congressional recognition and the United States is eternally grateful to the soldiers of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II, which saved lives, boosted morale and made significant contributions to the defeat of the Axis powers.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to vote for S. 321, the ``Six Triple Eight'' Congressional Gold Medal Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, S. 321.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion are postponed.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 36
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