WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a former Marine, today urged colleagues to recognize the service and sacrifice of the Marine Corps by redesignating the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps.

 “By adding three words, we can credit the Marine Corps as a full service,” Senator Roberts said. “We can publicly acknowledge that the Secretary of the Navy is also the head of the Marine Corps. We can acknowledge the Corps is on an equal footing with other services. And we can do this at a time when we are asking all of our servicemen and women to make great sacrifices for our country.”

 Roberts’ bill, S 504, will redesignate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. It does not move funds, change promotions or take away mission or jurisdiction. Rather, it corrects a long standing disparity by which the Marine Corps falls under the Department of the Navy by simply adding “and Marine Corps” to the title of the service. The Department of the Navy would become the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps and the Secretary would become the Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps.

 “This legislation does not detract from the tremendous commitment and dedication of our U.S. Navy personnel or any other service,” Roberts said.

 Recently, the companion bill to S. 504, introduced and championed by U.S. Representative Walter Jones (R-NC), passed the House of Representatives as a stand alone measure. On May 4th the House made history when it unanimously passed H.R. 24 with a new record of 426 co-sponsors.
 
 Today there are more than 200,000 men and women serving in the United States Marine Corps. During the war on terror, 1,200 Marines have lost their lives in service to the nation. In Iraq and Afghanistan alone, more than 10,000 have suffered injuries. Currently,  Marines are playing a central role in the surge in places like Marja and Kandahar.

 “It is not possible to overstate the service and sacrifice of any man or women who wears or has worn the Marine Corps uniform, whether in Iwo Jima 65 years ago or today. The Corps has been “first to fight for right and freedom” for 234 years.

 The many supporters of this legislation include former Director of Central Intelligence Admiral Stansfield Turner, former Secretary of the Navy Lawrence Garrett, The Marine Corps League, MarineParents.com, former Marine Corps Commandants Alfred M. Gray, Carl Mundy, and Charles Krulak, General Anthony Zinni, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and The Fleet Reserve Association.
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