Bill Lee: “Each year during Women's History Month, we pause to commemorate the contributions women have made to this country, but…”

“Each year during Women's History Month, we pause to commemorate the contributions women have made to this country, but we should really commemorate women every day. So I am here today in April to amplify the contributions of women of color, particularly African-American women. Far too often, the blood, sweat, and tears sown by women of color goes unrecognized. So many are truly hidden figures. Mr. Speaker, this morning, I want to honor the sacrifices African- American women made for this country during World War II. Sadly, to this day, their sacrifices have gone unacknowledged, and as the daughter of a World War II veteran and a Korean veteran, I am honored to shed light on a few of the tremendous contributions of African- American women during World War II. I want to rise to highlight the courageous efforts of more than 800 African-American women from the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which was the first all- women, all-Black unit deployed in World War II. The 6888th, its nickname ``Six Triple Eight'', was an all-women, all- Black unit that helped boost morale among Allied troops by working through major mail backlogs in Europe during World War II. {time} 1030 To sort through the major backlog of mail in Europe, the women were divided into three subunits that allowed them to run the postal service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, processing 65,000 pieces of mail per 8- hour shift.…”