IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 117 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States Postal Service 

should issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring Admiral Ben 

Moreell and that the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Mr. LANCE submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States 

Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage 

stamp honoring Admiral Ben Moreell and that the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to 

the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued. 

Whereas Admiral Moreell served his country with distinction 

during World Wars I and II in the United States Navy; 

Whereas President Franklin Delano Roosevelt personally selected Commander Moreell to be the Chief of the Bureau 

of Yards and Docks and the Chief of Civil Engineers of 

the Navy on December 1, 1937, and advanced him to the 

rank of Rear Admiral; 


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•HCON 117 IH 

Whereas Rear Admiral Moreell urged the construction of two 

giant dry-docks at Pearl Harbor and initiated Navy construction projects on Midway and Wake Island, which 

were instrumental in repairing the battleships damaged 

in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 

1941; 

Whereas Rear Admiral Moreell recognized the need for a 

militarized Naval Construction force during World War 

II began organizing and manning Naval construction 

units in the Pacific; 

Whereas Rear Admiral Moreell gained authority from the Bureau of Navigation to recruit men from the construction 

trades for assignment to a Naval Construction Regiment 

composed of three Naval Construction Battalions on January 5, 1942; 

Whereas Rear Admiral Moreell was granted permission for 

the construction battalions to use the name ‘‘Seabees’’, 

who obtained their designation from the initial letters of 

Construction Battalion, on March 5, 1942; 

Whereas Rear Admiral Moreell created the motto of the Seabees: Construimus, Batuimus, ‘‘We Build, We Fight’’; 

Whereas Rear Admiral Moreell became the Chief of the 

Navy’s Material Division in 1943 and at the request of 

Vice President Truman, negotiated a settlement to the 

national strike of oil refinery workers; 

Whereas Rear Admiral Moreell became the first staff corps 

officer to achieve the rank of Admiral in the history of 

the United States Navy on June 11, 1946; 

Whereas Admiral Moreell turned his attention to industry for 

the next 12 years as President of Turner Construction 

Company then as President, Chief Executive Officer, and 


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•HCON 117 IH 

Chairman of the Board of Jones and Laughlin Steel 

Company; 

Whereas Admiral Moreell served as Chairman of the Task 

Force on Water Resources and Power of the Second Hoover Commission which President Herbert Hoover called 

‘‘the most far-reaching and penetrating inquiry into our 

water problems ever made in our history’’; 

Whereas Admiral Moreell’s life was punctuated by accomplishments, awards, and well-earned recognition in which 

he, among other things, received 12 honorary doctoral degrees, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and was named one of the 10 men who contributed 

most to the advancement of construction methods in the 

United States between 1925 and 1975; 

Whereas the Seabees named their Kuwait facility Camp 

Moreell in honor of Admiral Moreell; and 

Whereas Admiral Ben Moreell is known as the Father of the 

Navy’s Seabees: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) the United States Postal Service should 

4 issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring Ad5 miral Ben Moreell; and 

6 (2) the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 

7 should recommend to the Postmaster General that 

8 such stamp be issued. 

Æ 


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