BILL ANALYSIS Ó HR 41 Page 1 Date of Hearing: March 14, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES Gordon, Chair HR 41 (Burke) - As Introduced March 1, 2016 SUBJECT: Tuskegee Airmen Day SUMMARY: Designates the 4th Thursday in March as Tuskegee Airmen Day in California. Specifically, this resolution makes the following legislative findings: 1)The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of the very first group of African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. Prior to the Tuskegee Airmen, the United States military did not allow African-Americans the opportunity to become aviators. 2)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. 3)In June of 1941, the Airmen were transferred to Tuskegee, Alabama to receive training before they were deemed ready for combat in 1943 and deployed to North Africa to join the 33rd fighter group. HR 41 Page 2 4)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, the Tuskegee Airmen broke barriers. 5)The Tuskegee Airmen earned their place in history 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. 6)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. FISCAL EFFECT: None REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support None on file Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800 HR 41 Page 3