Bill Text: CA AR41 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

---

Bill Title: Relative to Tuskegee Airmen Day.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 41-23-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-17 - Read. Amended. Adopted. (Page 3978.). [AR41 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AR41-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: HR 41	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Burke
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Brown, Cooper, Gipson, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, McCarty, Ridley-Thomas, Thurmond,  and Weber
  Weber,   Achadjian,   Alejo, 
 Baker,   Bonilla,   Brough,  
Calderon,   Campos,   Chang,   Chau, 
 Chávez,   Chu,   Cooley,   Dahle,
  Daly,   Dodd,   Eggman,  
Frazier,  Beth Gaines,   Gallagher,  
Cristina Garcia,   Eduardo Garcia,   Gatto, 
 Gonzalez,   Gordon,   Gray,   Grove,
  Hadley,   Harper,   Roger Hernández,
  Irwin,   Jones,   Lackey,  
Levine,   Linder,   Lopez,   Maienschein,
  Mathis,   Mayes,   Melendez,  
Mullin,   Nazarian,   Obernolte,   Olsen,
  Patterson,   Quirk,   Rendon,  
Rodriguez,   Santiago,   Steinorth,  
Mark Stone,   Ting,   Wagner,   Waldron,
  Wilk,   and Williams  )

                        MARCH 1, 2016

   Relative to Tuskegee Airmen Day.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of the very first
group of African-American military aviators in the United States
Armed Forces, and they went on to earn distinction for their
demonstrated skill as part of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 99th
Pursuit Squadron of the United States Army Air Corps; and
   WHEREAS, Prior to the Tuskegee Airmen, the United States military
did not allow African-Americans the opportunity to become aviators;
and
   WHEREAS, In 1941 Congress forced the Army Air Corps to form an
African American combat unit, despite the reluctance to initiate any
form of substantive integration; and
   WHEREAS, In June 1941, the Airmen were transferred to Tuskegee,
Alabama where they received training before they were deemed ready
for combat in 1943 and deployed to North Africa to join the 33rd
fighter group; and
   WHEREAS, In the first battle, the Airmen attacked the island of
Pantelleria, effectively clearing a path for the Allied forces to
invade Sicily where the Italian population was forced to surrender;
and
   WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen broke barriers by working under the
exceptional leadership of Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the first black man
to hold the rank of general in the United States Air Force; and
   WHEREAS, The arrival of more African American aviators
strengthened the decisive impact of the Tuskegee Airmen despite a
scientific report by the University of Texas detailing that African
Americans were of low intelligence and lacked the competency to
handle complex situations, such as air combat; and
   WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen earned their place in history further
by flying over 15,000 combat sorties on 1,578 missions during World
War II, proving instrumental to the liberation of oppressed groups
abroad while African Americans still faced their own form of
oppression in the United States; and
   WHEREAS, After receiving the P-51 Mustang fighters with red paint
on the tail section of their aircraft, the pilots of the 332nd became
known as the Red Tails; and
   WHEREAS, After segregation in the military was ended in 1948 by
President Harry S. Truman through Executive Order, the veteran
Tuskegee Airmen went on to share their knowledge by teaching civilian
flight to other groups such as the black-owned Columbia Air Center
in Maryland; and
   WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airman broke boundaries for their brave
efforts not only in the Air Force, but for the United States more
broadly; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
California State Assembly designates the 4th Thursday in March as
Tuskegee Airmen Day in California; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.