Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues in the House, from both parties, for joining me as cosponsors of H.R. 24, legislation to redesignate the Department of the Navy to be the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. As of today, this legislation has 100 cosponsors.

Mr. Speaker, this is the right thing for the Congress to do. For the past 7 years, the language of this bill has been part of the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act. And this year, I'm grateful to have the support of Senator Pat Roberts, a former Marine, who introduced the same bill in the Senate, S. 504. With his help, I'm hopeful this will be the year the Senate supports the House position, and we can bring proper respect to the fighting team of the Navy and the Marine Corps.

It is important to remember: The National Security Act of 1947 defines the Marine Corps, Army, Navy and Air Force as the four services. It clearly indicates that the Marine Corps is a legally distinct military service within the Department of the Navy. The Navy and Marine Corps have operated as one entity for more than two centuries, and H.R. 24 would enable the name of their department to illustrate this fact.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share part of a 2006 editorial published by the Chicago Tribune which describes what that legislation is really all about. And I quote the editorial, ``no service branch shows more respect for tradition than the United States Marine Corps does, which makes it all the more ironic that tradition denies the Corps an important show of respect, equal billing with the other service branches.'' They are the words that were in the editorial in the Chicago Tribune. But sometimes it is good to break with tradition. The War Department, for example, became the Department of Defense after World War II. The Army Air Corps was elevated in 1941 to the Army Air Forces, and in 1947 to the autonomous Air Force.

The Marine Corps has not asked for complete autonomy. Nothing structurally needs to change in their relations with the Navy which has served both branches well. The Corps only asks for recognition. Having served their Nation proudly and courageously since colonial days, the leathernecks have earned a promotion.

Mr. Speaker, the marines who are fighting today deserve this recognition.

Before closing, I would like to show you what this change could mean to the family of a fallen Marine. Mr. Speaker, on this poster is an enlargement of a copy of a letter that the Secretary of the Navy sent to a Marine Corps family. The Marine was killed for this Nation serving in Iraq. And I read from the letter from the Secretary of the Navy, and I will point out that the head of the letter says, ``the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C.,'' with the zip code, November 18, 2008. ``Dear Marine Corps family, on behalf of the Department of the Navy, please accept my very sincere condolences on the loss of your loved one.'' Mr. Speaker, if this becomes reality this year, should this be a requirement, if any more of our Marines are killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, the letterhead would say, ``the Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., Dear Marine Corps family, on behalf of the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.''

Mr. Speaker, that is what it is all about. This is one fighting team, and the name should carry equal, Navy and Marine Corps. And with that, Mr. Speaker, before I close, I will ask God to continue to bless our men and women in uniform. I ask God to place in His loving arms, to hold the families who have given a child dying for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I close by asking God to continue to bless America.