A bill to rename the Department of the Navy is quickly catching on in the Senate, but faces staunch opposition from Armed Services Committee leaders.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a former Marine and the sponsor of the bill in the upper chamber, has convinced 79 senators to sign on the measure he introduced in late February.

But even though it has broad bipartisan support, the bill’s fate could be decided by Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and his GOP counterpart Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who oppose the efforts to rename the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. The Marine Corps currently operates under the umbrella of the Department of the Navy.

Another notable Armed Services member, Jim Webb (D-Va.), a former Marine and Navy secretary, also opposes the Roberts bill.

Roberts said that “there’s only about four or five [senators] who have a problem with it. We’re up to 80 co-sponsors (including Roberts) and we’ll probably get 82, 83. We could do it as a stand-alone, by unanimous consent, although someone could object. The trick is to find something that’s moving around here.”

Roberts said he is still considering his options of getting his bill to the floor, noting that the House measure also has broad backing.

Read the entire story at TheHill.com

The bill, S. 504, proposes to change the name of the Department of the Navy to the “Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.” The House version of the bill on May 4 unanimously passed after receiving more co-sponsors than any legislation introduced in the history of Congress—426. In order to become law, though, it must pass the Senate.

Nearly half of the senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee—where S. 504 will likely have to pass through—have co-sponsored the bill.

“Our quest to give the Marine Corps equal recognition with the Navy is finally in the homestretch,” said Mike Blum, executive director of the Marine Corps League. “Ninety-eight percent of the House agrees that our Marines fighting overseas deserve this. Now, it’s time for the Senate to come onboard.”

For over two centuries, the Marine Corps has fought side by side with the Navy. However, the Marine Corps name is not mentioned at the department level or even in the letterhead of condolence letters sent to the families of fallen Marines.

Driven largely by this fact, Marine Corps Identity Cause has attracted powerful supporters including actor R. Lee Ermey, Gens. Alfred Gray and Anthony Zinni and former Secretary of the Navy Lawrence Garrett.

S. 504 was introduced by Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts. North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones, who introduced the House bill, has been trying to get Congress to give the Marine Corps equal recognition with the Navy for nearly 10 years.

A list of Senate co-sponsors can be found at http://www.marinecause.com/senate-supporters/.

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.

But its companion bill, S. 504, still has to pass the Senate.

Some key senators may make this an uphill battle, including John McCain of Arizona and Jim Webb of Virginia. Yesterday, midst this record-setting vote, they publicly voiced their opposition in The Hill, which received coverage in the Washington Post and Huffington Post:

Here’s what you can do:

• Call your U.S Senator—we need support in all 50 states!
• Reach out to McCain and Webb—ask them to allow our bill out of the Armed Services Committee for a vote on the Senate floor.
• Post comments on these stories.

You can find a full Senate contact list on the Marine Corps Identity Cause website.

McCain can be reached at (202) 224-2235. You can also email his press secretary here or send him a letter at 241 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510.

Webb can be called at (202) 224-4024, emailed here, or written to at 248 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510.

Phone calls are most effective. If you write, ask your senators for their support and an e-mail response on their decision.

I want to thank you for your crucial support and Rep. Walter Jones (NC) and Sen. Pat Roberts (KS) for their leadership.

In the meantime, you can rest assured “The Gunny” R. Lee Ermy is still on the case.

Semper Fi,

Michael Blum
Executive Director
Marine Corp League

What’s in a name? Well if you are the Marine Corps a name means recognition and equal footing with the other branches of the armed forces. House Bill HR 24 and it’s 400 hundred co-sponsors are proposing a change to the name of the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

HR 24 is just seven votes shy of a 20-year record for the most co-sponsors on any House bill. Jodi Schneider, Senior Editor in the Washington Bureau of the American Banker, has details on this an what else is moving on the Hill.

Backed by the Marine Corps League, HR 24, introduced by North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones, proposes to change the name of the Department of the Navy to the “Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.” HR 24 is just seven votes shy of a 20-year record for most amount of co-sponsors on any House bill.

For over two centuries, the Marine Corps has fought side by side with the Navy. However, the Marine Corps name is not mentioned at the department level or even in the letterhead of condolence letters sent to the parents of fallen Marines.

Driven largely by this fact, Marine Corps Identity Cause has attracted powerful supporters including actor R. Lee Ermey, Gens. Alfred Gray and Anthony Zinni and former Secretary of the Navy Lawrence Garrett.

“We’ve grown into a branch with a unique culture,” said Ermey, a Marine veteran who has been in 60-plus feature films, including Full Metal Jacket and Mississippi Burning. “Yet it does not get equal billing with the Navy, Air Force or Army—each of which has a department named after it.”

News of the 400^th co-sponsor follows Sen. Johnny Isakson’s co-sponsoring of a sister bill in the Senate, S. 504. Isakson serves on the Committee on Veteran’s Affairs.

With 400 co-sponsors, HR 24 looks poised to pass the House. However, only three senators have co-sponsored S. 504.

“We encourage anyone who supports the Marine Corps to thank their representatives who’ve co-sponsored these bills and to contact their senators who haven’t,” said Mike Blum, Executive Director of the Marine Corps League. “That is one simple thing we all can do that would have such a huge impact on our Marines fighting overseas.”

Washington D.C. – April 12, 2010 – Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia has become the newest co-sponsor of S. 504, a bill that would change the name of the Department of the Navy to the “Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.”

Isakson, who serves on the Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, has been an ardent supporter of military issues—voting in recent years to increase voting rights for overseas military spouses and to improve educational assistance for veterans.

The senator said it was finally time to give the Marine Corps equal recognition with the Navy.

“This bill is not about creating a separate department or giving the Marine Corps special status,” said Isakson, a Georgia Air National Guard veteran. “This bill is simply about paying our respect to a branch of the military that truly deserves it. I look forward to supporting its passage.”

For over two centuries, the Marine Corps has been part of the Navy. However, the branch is not mentioned at the department level or even in the letterhead of condolence letters sent to the parents of fallen Marines.

S. 504 was introduced in 2009 by Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas. The proposed legislation is a companion bill to HR 24, introduced by Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina. Jones has attempted to enact the name change for eight years, but for the first time his efforts have paid off in two stand-alone bills.

HR 24 appears poised to pass the House this year, with 395 co-sponsors. However, the process has just started in the Senate.

The ability to get near full support in the House is largely due to the Marine Corps League, the nation’s largest Marine veterans’ association, which decided in 2009 to back the issue with a grassroots legislative campaign. Since then, the movement has gained supporters including:

• Actor R. Lee Ermey, “Gunny”, star of Full Metal Jacket, and current spokesman of Marine Corps Identity Cause
• Gen. Anthony Zinni, former commander of U.S. Central Command
• Gen. Alfred Gray, commandant of the Marine Corps from 1987 to 1991
• Lawrence Garrett, former Secretary of the Navy

Ermey says the simple act of honorable mention would be appreciated by all Marines.

“When senators look at this bill, it’s important for them to remember that my beloved Marine Corps isn’t even mentioned in the letterhead of a condolence letter,” Ermey said. “Properly honoring our Marines, who have been shedding blood overseas for centuries, is one of the few things I think we all can agree on. It’s time to finally get this done.”

Here are four of the military services in which a patriotic American can enlist: Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Here is a list of the branches whose highest-ranking officers compose the Joints Chiefs of Staff: Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. And here is a list of the executive departments representing those service branches: Army, Air Force, Navy.

Notice anything missing? The Marines never get overlooked when it’s time to fight a war. But somehow they got left at the dock when the Department of the Navy was christened.

There’s a reason for that: Though they operate as a separate branch of the military, the Marines began as naval infantry aboard ships during the Revolutionary War, and they still fall under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department.

There’s nothing wrong with this policy as a matter of governmental organization. But it is hard to understand why the departmental name omits a service that is over 200,000 strong and plays such a central — and risky — role in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan.

For nearly a decade, Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has tried to extend the Corps a bit of well-earned recognition by changing the name to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps, and the House of Representatives has repeatedly approved the idea. This year, the legislation has 390 sponsors, or nearly 90 percent of all House members. But its prospects are less certain in the Senate, which has never been willing to go along.

Just as important as what the measure would do is what it would not do. It would not change anything in the structure of the services. It would not give the Marine Corps greater autonomy or more money. It would not affect the outcome of the Army-Navy game.

Updating the name is all the legislation would accomplish. That’s reason enough. As Jones says, “It is about showing the nation the true meaning of the department and recognizing the overall importance of the Marine Corps to our national security.”

Marines live by the credo “Semper Fidelis,” Latin for “always faithful.” Congress, here’s your chance to return the pledge: Americans have always taken great pride in the Corps. This name change would be a great way to show that.

Dear Sgt Shaft:

Every year since 2001, Congressman Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., has introduced a bill in the House, to re-designate the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps only to have it die in the Senate without action.

For more than two and a quarter centuries, the Navy and Marine Corps have been partners and shipmates in answering the call to defend our great nation against any foe. The strategic partnership of the Navy and the Marine Corps has served our nation well and gives America a maritime capability that is unmatched by anyone in the world.

This initiative is not intended to diminish the strength of that partnership. It is also not intended to change defense budgets or roles and missions. It is not intended to create any new positions. This effort seeks to formalize that which has been recognized in a “de-facto” manner for many years. To allow the Secretary of the Navy to let the world know that he is proudly “The Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps.” The nation has always recognized the symbiotic relationship that exists in the Naval Services between the Navy and Marine Corps. This initiative is intended to bring formal recognition to this partnership.

This Department does, in fact provide the civilian leadership to two military services — the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. This has been codified in law for more than six decades. Changing the name to reflect this reality does not diminish the respect and admiration Marines and Sailors share with each other. Rather it strengthens this relationship for the entire world to see.Is it not time for the Marine Corps to receive the recognition it has earned in war and in peace, to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Navy brothers in arms as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps?

This initiative has gained tremendous momentum all over the country, including the support of former Secretaries of the Navy, Navy Admirals, former Commandants of the Marine Corps, former Sergeants Major of the Marine Corps, Medal of Honor recipients and more importantly, hundreds of thousands of Americans who love and support their Marine Corps.

Retired Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey, widely known for his performance as the sadistic drill instructor in the 1987 film “Full Metal Jacket,” headlined a recent news conference in Washington, D.C., calling to rename the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

The event, at the Longworth House Office Building, was aimed at drumming up support for House Resolution 24, a bill authored by Rep. Jones, that formally proposes the name change.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., introduced a sister bill in the Senate, but it has just two co-sponsors — Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan from North Carolina. “Why can’t we call it the Department of Navy — and Marine Corps?” Roberts asked. “Why can’t we add three words to right an injustice?

“I can’t imagine anyone looking at one of these wounded veterans without arms or legs in the eyes telling them no. Ermey said. “How do you reason that?”

Other speakers included former Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Alfred M. Gray; Gen. Anthony Zinni, former Commander of U.S. Central Command; Bronze Star recipient Sgt. Eddie Wright, a Marine who lost both hands in combat in Iraq yet went on to become a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor; Tracy Della Vecchia, founder of Marine Parents.com; and Dick Linn, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2005.

For more information on this very important issue, your readers can go to www.MarineCause.org .

Many thanks and Semper Fidelis,
Michael A. Blum
National Executive Director
Marine Corps League

Dear Mike:

The Sarge joins The Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) and others who strongly support the ongoing campaign to rename the Department of the Navy so it more accurately reflects the Marine Corps’ significant contributions.

I strongly urge fellow combat veteran and friend, Jim Webb to join Sen. Pat Roberts in honchoing this legislation through the Senate. These three words, United States Marines, mean so much to those who wear and have worn the Globe and Anchor.

R. Lee Ermey and the Marine Corps League held a successful press conference and rally Feb. 25 in Washington D.C. Hundreds of attendees came to support the Marine Corps Identity Cause which supports legislation in the Congress to change the name of the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. Other speakers included Congressman Walter Jones, Senator Pat Roberts, General Anthony Zinni, General Alfred Gray, Sgt. Eddie Wright, Dick Linn, Tracy Della Vecchia, and Michael Blum.