On the recordMarch 5, 2018
I thank Congressman Lacy Clay for yielding time, as well as Ranking Member Elijah Cummings and Chairman Trey Gowdy for their support in bringing this bill to the floor. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4406, my bill to designate the post office located at 99 Macombs Place in New York, New York, as the Tuskegee Airmen Post Office Building. The Tuskegee Airmen hold a historic significance as the first Black military aviators to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the peak of World War II. At the time, racial segregation remained in the U.S. Armed Forces as well as much of the country. These men were treated as second-class citizens, and much of the military establishment believed back then that Black soldiers were inferior to White soldiers. The Tuskegee Airmen proved them wrong. Collectively, they earned more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and they flew missions in secondhand P-40 planes, which were slower and more difficult to maneuver. Yet, in their more than 200 escort missions, the Tuskegee Airmen had a better success rate than any other escort groups of the 15th Air Force. The Tuskegee Airmen were active in fighting against Jim Crow laws in the South, and their success and bravery encouraged the eventual integration of the U.S. Armed Forces. Many of the men who served in this squadron dedicated their lives to fighting for racial equality and civil rights.…
