Date: 2000-07-11
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 4063. which is to create the Rosie the RiveterWorld War II Home Front National Historic Park. By passing this bill today and sending it over to hopefully expeditious consideration in the other body. we honor all of those who served in the war. in uniform and in coveralls. wearing helmets or bandanas. hoisting a machine gun or a welders torch. The Rosie the Riveter National Park would salute the role of the home front during World War II. particularly recognizing the significant changes in the lives of women and minorities that occurred during that era. I am very pleased by the wide support this legislation has received not only in our home community of Richmond. California. but from groups like Kaiser Permanente and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I want to thank the gentleman from Alaska and the gentleman from Utah for their solid support for this legislation. which will give this House an opportunity to go on record as honoring the millions of women who served in the home front during World War II. I want to thank the members of the Committee on Resources who voted unanimously to report this legislation to the House last month. There has beena great deal of discussion about the significance of World War II this year which marks the 55th anniversary of the end of that horrific conflict. Just last month. the DDay Museum was opened in New Orleans with a great deal of attention paid to the critical role in the successful invasion of the Higgins boat and those who manufactured it. H.R. 4063 allows this Nation to honor permanently. through the creation of a national historic park. all of the millions of women and minorities in particular who were the forgotten soldiers of World War II. those who made enormous contributions to this Nation during World War II on the home front. Their migration to industrial centers like Richmond. California. and their ability to move into jobs formerly held only by white males who had moved into the Armed Forces changed the course of the war. the course of history. and the course of social and economic policies in this country forever. It should be noted that thousands of them gave their lives as part of the war effort. I would like to note that in the report from the National Park Service. they note that between Pearl Harbor in 1941 and January of 1944. that 37.000 people lost their lives on the home front working to build the military mechanism that we used to defeat the Axis. that over 4 million people were temporarily disabled. and 210.000 people were permanently disabled. So in fact the war. the war that World War II was creating. was creating the casualties also on the home front for those who responded to the national need. Rosie the Riveter has survived as the most remembered icon of the civilian workforce that helped win World War H and had a powerful resonance in the womens movement. the National Park Service tells us in their feasibility study. The National Park Service also found that the Rosie the RiveterWorld War II Home Front National Historic Park is nationally significant and that Richmond offers an exceptional opportunity to interpret the many layers of World War II home front experience. including migration and resettlement for jobs. integration of the workforce. industrial and employee service innovations. and the remarkable effort by government. industry. communities and unions to enable America to win the war. At the hearing we held on this bill. we heard from former Rosies and Wendy the Welders. through the moving testimony of Ludie Mitchell. We .heard what it was like for minority women to journey from the South to the West Coast of the United States. to areas that they had never been. had never seen and had barely heard of. to take up a welders torch. to climb into the belly of a ship under construction and do their job and at one point complete the construction of that ship within 4 days. We also heard from Ruth Powers. who worked in the child care center which was necessitated by the construction schedule in the Kaiser shipyards for 24hour child care. In fact. what we found in the discussions during the hearing was that today as we talk about the 24 and 7 economy. the fact that dot coms and the new technology cause people to work around the clock with the globalization of the economy. what in fact we find out that 24 and 7 existed long before that. It existed in the home front battle in World War II where we had 24hour child care. 24hour food service. .24hour health care. movie shows ran 24hour schedules and in many instances boarding houses ran 24hour schedules because one shift would sleep while the other shift was working and then the others would come in so that there would be enough housing for all of the workers who migrated to the West Coast shipyards in Richmond. California. What this legislation is really about is about a celebration of the American spirit. It is about a celebration of Americans ability to sacrifice. It is about a celebration of Americans responding to the call of the country to the national need and responding to problems in other parts of the world. because that is what America did in the home front during World War II. America responded with every being in the country to contribute to that effort. As white America. white male America went off to the war. quickly the Roosevelt administration found itself with the inability to conduct that war because America was not prepared for that war. So some 10 million people went off to military service. That meant that somebody else was going to have to take the jobs in the shipyards and the tank manufacturing facilities and all of the war material plants across this country. That fell to Rosie the Riveter and to minority workers. who were not allowed at that time to join the battle front. They had to stay on the home front. And respond they did. In my hometown of Richmond. California. a sleepy westeri town on the edge of San Francisco Bay. it went from 23.000 people to over 90.000 people in a matter of months. as Henry Kaiser responded to the call of President Roosevelt to create the infrastructure to build the ships. In the 1930s. I think I am correct. America launched about 30 ships. In the 1940s. very few. until the war started. In this shipyard we built over 747 ships. and at one point in the historical report they tell us the Robert E. Perry liberty ship was constructed in Richmond Shipyard Number 2 in 4 days. 15 hours and 29 minutes and it was ready to go battle overseas. In 4 days. 15 hours. the shipyard- workers constructed a liberty ship. That is one of the remarkable efforts that is celebrated by this legislation and would be celebrated by the Rosie the Riveter Park. It is also celebrated as the integration" of the workforce. For the first time. out of the South blacks and whites were forced to work together if in fact we were going to defeat our enemies in World War II. So in this case. not only was the workforce becoming more female. it was becoming integrated. Again. that changed the social dynamics. not only of our civilian structure. where people were living in the same housing. there was no time to segregate them. it was too expensive. people came together in integration in the workplace. in child care centers and health care facilities. and in housing. but eventually it also. changed to the integration of the armed services in responding to this. But it was not just the Rosie the Riveters and the welders responding and sacrificing and responding to the call of President Roosevelt and the needs of our nation. Other Americans were doing the same thing. Those of that generation will remember the efforts to ration gasoline. to ration all the critical materials. any metals. rubber. tires. bicycles. vacuum cleaners. All of these things had to last. They had to last longer than normal because we needed the materials for the Second World War. I Some people will remember the slogans: -"Use it all up. Dont waste it. Wear it out. Make it do or do without." Victory gardens cropped up all over the Nation. all part of the home front battle. The effort of this legislation is to remember that and create a repository for so many of the artifacts that continue to exist. to create oral histories of the women and the men and the minorities that worked in the shipyards and the home front effort. A couple of years ago. under the leadership of Councilwoman Donna Powers. we had a celebration in Richmond. California. where. to the best of our knowledge. we tried to invite many the women who worked in the shipyards during World War H to come back and to participate in the celebration. recognizing their contribution to the winning of World War II. The fact is that over 100 women came from all across the country. with their daughters. with their granddaughters. In some cases granddaughters and daughters came because their mother or grandmother had passed on. but they wanted to come see where their mother or grandmother or great grandmother worked and to participate in that piece of history. Hopefully the creation of this Home Front Historic Park will allow other families to participate in that historic journey on behalf of their families and the contributions that these women made to winning the war effort. Mr. Speaker. I would l4ope that the House would give its overwhelming support to this legislation so that we can follow up on the finding of value of this park by the National Park Service and we can pay proper tribute to all of those who participated in the battle for the home front. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 4063 which would create the "Rosie. the RiveterWorld War II Home Front National Historic Park." By passing this bill today. and sending it over to hopefully expeditious consideration in the other body. we honor all those who served in the war. in uniform and in coveralls. wearing helmets or bandanas. hoisting a machine gun or a welders torch. The Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park would salute the role of the home front during World War II. and particularly recognize the significant changes in the lives of women and minorities that occurred during that ear. I am very pleased by the wide support this legislation has received not only in our home community of Richmond. California. but from groups like Kaiser Permanents and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I want to thank Chairman DON YOUNG of the Resources Committee. and Parks Subcommittee Chairman JIM. HANSEN for their solid support for this legislation. and for expediting consideration of this bipartisan and noncontroversial legislation so that the House would have the opportunity to go on record as honoring the millions of women who served on the home front during World War I1. And I also want to thank the members of the Resources Committee who voted unanimously to report this legislation to the House last month. There has been a great deal of discussion about the significance of World War II this year. which marks the 55th. anniversary of the end of that horrific conflict. And just last month. DDay museum was opened in New Orleans. and a great deal of attention was paid to the critical role in the successful invasion of the Higgins boat and those who manufactured it. H.R. 4063 allows the nation to honor permanently. through creation of a National Historic Park. all of the millions of women and minorities in particular who were the "forgotten soldiers" of World War Ilthose who made enormous contributions to this nation during World War II on the home front. Their migration to industrial centers like Richmond. and their ability to move into jobs formerly held only by white males who had moved.into the armed forces. changed the course of the war. the course of history. and the course of social and economic policies in this country forever. And. it should be noted. thousands of them gave their lives as part of the war effort. As the National Park Service Feasibility Study on the project concluded. "Rosie the Riveter has survived as the most remembered icon of the civilian work force that helped win World War II and has a powerful resonance in the womens movement." This legislation has been carefully developed by local officials and organizations in the Richmond and East Bay Area in conjunction with the National Parks Service pursuant to legislation enacted by the last Congress. The bill is based on the Feasibility Study prepared pursuant to that legislation. I would note that Assistant Secretary Donald Barry has stated: "The study found that the area proposed as the Rosie the RiveterWorld War II Home Front National Historic Park is nationally significant [and that] Richmond offers an exceptional opportunity to interpret the many layers of World War II Home Front experience. including migration and resettlement for jobs. integration of the workforce. industrial and employee service innovations. and the remarkable efforts by government. industry. communities and unions to enable America to win the war." At the hearing we held on this bill..we heard from former Rosies and Wendy the Weldersthrough the moving testimony of Ludie Mitchell. We heard what it was like for minority women to journey to new areas of the country. to take up welders torches and climb into the belly of ships under construction. building. in one case. a complete ship in just four days. We also heard from Ruth Powers. who worked in the child care center that was necessitated by the roundtheclock schedule of the Kaiser Shipyards. In fact. child care and group health pioneered by Kaiser were among the most historic social developments to emerge from World War II. and at the Rosie Historic Site. we have original buildings from both. We also have some of the remaining dry docks where the Liberty and Victory .ships were constructed. and some of the unique architecture that was transformed into war production facilities or built to accommodate defense needs. The full story of the Home Fronts contributions and sacrifices during the war. and Richmonds particular contributions to that effort. are outlined in the Feasibility Study at this point. Excerpts from Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front Final Feasibility Study Report. National Park Service (June 2000): In the first year of Americas entry to World War II. the U.S. Navy was losing ships faster than they could be built. In the 1930s America.had launched only 23 ships. In 1940. it took 14 months to build a typical cargo ship. By 1945. it was being done in eight weeks. Four shipyards were built in rapid succession in Richmond beginning in early 1941 and completed by 1942. Employment at the Richmond Shipyards peaked at 90.000 and. along with the rest of the defense industry buildup. forced a national recruitment and migration of workers and integration of the work force that was unprecedented in its magnitude and impact. As America went to war. its people fought overseas on the battle fronts and pitched in on the home front. ten million people departed the civilian workplace for active military service. Industry. challenged to undertake a massive overnight buildup. aggressively began recruiting and training an effective workforce from the population left behind. "Rosie the Riveter" was a propaganda phrase coined to help recruit female civilian workers and came to symbolize a workface that was mobilized to fill the gap. "Wendy the Welder" was another less glamorized icon. who in real life was Janet Doyle. a welder in the Richmond Shipyards. After some initial resistance from employers. women replaced men in many traditionally male stateside jobs to support World War II Home Front production efforts as men enlisted in active military service. People of color encountered more lengthy resistance. but ultimately were brought in the Home Front workforce. The four Richmond Shipyards. built by industrialist Henry J. Kaisers firm . . . employed 90.000 including tens of thousands of women of all ages and backgrounds. In Richmond. these women helped build 747 ships in record time for use by the United States Navy and Merchant Marine. Their labor marked an unprecedented entry into jobs never before performed by women and played a critical role in increasing American productivity to meet the demand for ships to overturn the German and Japanese strategy to defeat the U.S. Navy. These four shipyards constitute the largest World War II shipyard operation in the U.S. Richmond also had 55 other wartime support industries and one of the nations largest wartime housing programs. The Ford Assembly Plant converted from automobile to tank production during the war. processing over 60.000 tanks plus a variety of other military vehicles. Nationwide six million women entered the World War II Home Front workforce. The employment opportunities for black women and other women of color were unprecedented. African Americans. Asians. Hispanics and Native Americans were eventually employed for the first .time to work side by side with whites in specialized. highpaying jobs previously unavailable to them. Women and people of color earned more money than they ever had and mastered job skills that had been solely performed by white men up to that point. Many of the Home Front industries were set up at the nexus of railroad lines and harbors where materials could be assembled and shipped overseas. Richmond was ideally situated as a West Coast rail terminus on San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate opening to the Pacific Ocean. During World War II. Richmonds population grew dramatically from 23.642 to over 100.000 attracting people from all over the country. By 1944. 27% of the Richmond Shipyards workforce of 90.000 were women. including over 41% of all welders and 24% of all craft employees. Another 10.000 workers. including commuters from other Bay Area cities and towns. worked in Richmonds 55 other war industries. The jobs available at World War II Home Front industrial complexes attracted and actively recruitedworkers from across the country resulting in massive. mostly permanent population relocations. Many. who relocated from poor. rural places and marginal jobs such as sharecropping. were determined to stay on after World War II. The cities where the World War II industries mobilized were confronted with overwhelming demands on housing. transportation. community services. shopping. and infrastructure. To enable the 24hour production. the largest companies. such as Kaiser. and the public sector cooperated to provide round the clock child care. food service. health care. and employee services. Despite their best efforts. many workers often had to settle for marginal housing. long lines for purchases and lengthy commutes. in addition to the other Home Front sacrifices. Working conditions on the Home Front could be difficult and dangerous and took a very high toll. A January 21. 1944 New York times article cited: "Industrial casualties (women and men) between Pearl Harbor and January 1st of this year aggregated 37.500 killed. or 7.500 more than the military dead. 210.000 permanently disabled. and 4.500.000 temporarily disabled. or 60 times the number of military wounded and missing." While the ultimate United States casualty count on the Battle Front reached 295.000. the additional casualties on the Home Front represent the full price America paid to win the War. For most Americans. the World War I1 Home Front experience also involved many daytoday adjustments to support the War effort. These adaptations involved: collection and recycling of strategic materials such as metal. paper. waste fat. nylon. silk. and rubber. Twenty common commodities. including gasoline. sugar. coffee. shoes. butter. and meat. were carefully rationed. Tires. cars. bicycles. vacuum cleaners. waffle irons and flashlights had to last because they were no longer manufactured. People were asked to "Use it up/Wear it out/Make it do/or Do without." Victory gardens cropped up everywhere. Everyone bought war bonds. National parks were closed. Women replaced men in professional sports leagues. orchestras and many other tasks. As World War H drew to a close. warrelated industry jobs peaked in early 1945 and began to shut down as the last battles were fought. After the war. jobs for women and people of color diminished dramatically. Postwar jobs were largely reserved for returning servicemen. Propaganda messages were rephrased from telling women to come to work to advise them that their appropriate roles were not at home. While most assumed those who relocated to the Home Front industrial sites would return to where they came from. the majority of migrants were determined to stay. The World War II Home Front in Richmondwas representative of other industrial centers that emerged specifically to support Americas war effort. Many of those who worked in Richmonds industries are part of the community today. The effort to preserve these historic sites has been led by the City of Richmond. including Mayor Rosemary Corbin and Councilman Tom Butt. former Councilwoman Donna Powers. and local preservationists including Donna Graves. They have generated not only plans. but substantial financial resources to support the restoration and maintenance of the historic structures. The National Park Service will play a key role in developing the.Site. including the maintenance of a visitors center and services. but the major financial responsibilities will remain with the local community. I do want to pay tribute to Regional Director John Reynolds and Ray Murray of. the National Park Service who have played a key role in producing the Feasibility Study and in working closely. with the local groups to finalize this project and develop the legislation before us today. This legislation pays tribute to all those who participated. contributed and sacrificed on the home front duringWorld War II. They fought that greatest war for all of us. and this legislation will ensure that future generations of Americans know what they did. and honor them for their sacrifices.