Title: Commemorating the 100th anniversary of women serving in the United States Marine Corps.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:

Commemorates the service, dedication, and sacrifice of female Marines who have served in the U.S. Marine Corps.


[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 105 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 105

  Commemorating the 100th anniversary of women serving in the United 
                          States Marine Corps.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2018

    Mr. Issa (for himself and Mrs. Dingell) submitted the following 
  concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Commemorating the 100th anniversary of women serving in the United 
                          States Marine Corps.

Whereas the Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, used the Naval Reserve Act 
        of 1916, which allowed for the enlistment of ``qualified persons'', to 
        enlist women;
Whereas, although women did not officially serve in the United States Marine 
        Corps until 1918, many women have answered the call of duty from their 
        country, serving with honor and distinction for decades prior, to 
        include the legendary Lucy Brewer during the War of 1812;
Whereas, before she had the right to vote, Private Opha May Johnson is 
        officially credited as the first female Marine when she enlisted for 
        service on August 13, 1918;
Whereas, during 1918, approximately three hundred women entered the Marine Corps 
        to take over the stateside clerical duties from the battle-ready Marines 
        who were needed overseas to fight in World War I;
Whereas the Marine Corps Women's Reserve was formed in February 1943;
Whereas Captain Anne Lentz became the first female commissioned officer, Lucille 
        Ellen McClarren became the first female enlisted Marine under the 
        direction of Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter, the first Director of Women 
        Marine Reservists;
Whereas over twenty-three thousand women joined the Corps during World War II, 
        performing over two hundred different assignments;
Whereas, after each of the World Wars, all of the military branches began 
        disenrolling the women who signed up to serve, and thus on June 12, 
        1948, Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 
        1948, which integrated women as a permanent part of the regular United 
        States Armed Forces the following January;
Whereas the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act authorized one hundred 
        regular female Marine officers, ten warrant officers, and one thousand 
        enlisted women in a gradual buildup over a two-year period, with 
        candidates coming from Reserve women Marines still on active duty and 
        those with prior service;
Whereas female Marines trained at Hunter College and Camp Lejeune and on 
        February 23, 1949, the 3d Recruit Training Battalion at Marine Corps 
        Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, was reactivated for 
        training non-veteran female Marines--fifty female recruits formed the 
        first all-female platoon of Marines to take a six-week training course, 
        led by Captain Margaret Henderson;
Whereas although African Americans were given the opportunity to enlist in the 
        Marine Corps in 1942, the Corps remained segregated until President 
        Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, to 
        desegregate the Armed Forces;
Whereas, in January 1949, Annie E. Graham and Ann Estelle Lamb became the first 
        African-American females to enlist in the Marine Corps;
Whereas, in the summer of 1949, the first Women Officers Training Class was held 
        at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, and the quota of seven Regular 
        commissions were given upon completion of the class;
Whereas, in addition to integrating women into the Regular Marine Corps, a 
        strong women's Reserve was also developed with the first Women's Reserve 
        platoon being activated on April 14, 1949;
Whereas, within fifteen months, all thirteen Women's Reserve platoons were 
        mobilized in response to the Korean Crisis;
Whereas, in April 1960, Master Gunnery Sergeant Geraldine M. Moran became the 
        first female Marine promoted to the highest enlisted rank, E-9;
Whereas, in 1967, President Johnson signed a law to repeal the limits on the 
        number of women in the Armed Forces, and Master Sergeant Barbara Jean 
        Dulinsky became the first of thirty-six female Marines to serve in a 
        combat zone, when she was assigned to United States Military Assistance 
        Command Vietnam combat operations center in Saigon;
Whereas, in the 1970s, the majority of billets were opened to women, including 
        to attend the Drill Instructor Academy, and, in 1977, the first co-ed 
        Basic School class commenced with 22 females;
Whereas, in 1972, Master Sergeant Catherine G. Murray became the first female 
        Marine to retire from the Corps, serving honorably for nearly twenty 
        years; she lived to be one hundred years old and passed away peacefully 
        on December 20, 2017, and was laid to rest in Arlington National 
        Cemetery;
Whereas, on May 11, 1978, Colonel Margaret A. Brewer was promoted to brigadier 
        general, the first female general in the Corps' history;
Whereas, in 1993, Second Lieutenant Sarah Deal became the first female Marine 
        accepted into naval aviation training;
Whereas, in 1994, Brigadier General Carol Mutter became the first female Marine 
        promoted to major general, and in 1996, she became the first female 
        three-star officer across the military branches;
Whereas the first group of women Marines completed integrated Marine Combat 
        Training Course at Camp Geiger, North Carolina, in 1997;
Whereas First Lieutenant Vernice Armour became the first African-American female 
        combat pilot in any military service branch, flying the AH-1W Super 
        Cobra attack helicopter in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and serving two 
        tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom;
Whereas the first all-female Marine Team conducted its first mission in southern 
        Afghanistan in 2009;
Whereas Sergeant Major Angela Maness became the first female to assume the 
        duties of the senior enlisted Marine at Marine Barracks Washington, 
        known as the ``oldest post of the Corps'', in 2013;
Whereas the first 4 females graduated from the School of Infantry in January 
        2016, and, on September 25, 2017, the first female Marine graduated from 
        the Infantry Officer Course since the course opened to women in 2012; 
        and
Whereas today female Marines make up 7.6 percent of the Corps' strength, and 
        serve in 82 percent of all Military Occupational Specialties: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) commemorates the service, dedication, and sacrifice of 
        our female Marines and their families who have served in the 
        United States Marine Corps;
            (2) commends all the brave female Marines who have served 
        proudly with distinction and honor--each generation evolving 
        but always maintaining the proud traditions of the Marine 
        Corps;
            (3) notes that thirty-six female Marines served in Vietnam 
        between 1967 and 1973, approximately one thousand female 
        Marines deployed for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm 
        in 1990, and over fifteen thousand dedicated female Marines 
        have served in combat in Afghanistan since 2001 and Iraq since 
        2003, including ten who have made the ultimate sacrifice and 
        eighty-one who were injured;
            (4) celebrates all current and future female Marines for 
        their continued efforts to answer the country's calling to 
        serve; and
            (5) recognizes that all female Marines are, simply, 
        Marines.
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