amos brown and our commissioner, and dorothy smith. the department of hope. he gets me moving.e also have our hud folks. it always takes a village to put one of these things together. there is also -- there are other partners we have. i'd really appreciate your help and your willingness to do this. -- i really appreciate your help and your willingness to do this. i would like our staff to raise their hands or stand up. i saw all the shop -- saw alicia and barbara smith. my friend back there who is trying to go unnoticed, my favorite custodian is back there. he keeps the place under wraps for us. it really takes a country of folks. what i am excited about, -- a cadre of folks. i really do not like to talk, but today, i am talking the law. these are the things that make me get up every day and go do work. we get something accomplished that is absolutely great. it is exceptional. i will not do any dancing today. i've done that before. i am not to going to dance today. we could not do it without all of you. we cannot do without the folks helping us. i want to mention one other grou

brown, alan west, hagen, burr. montford point renegotiation, general amos. they all deserve a big round of applause.ause] in world war ii, american fought two enemies who told their soldiers they were supermen because of their race. the ratio experiments of nazi germany and imperial japan have failed utterly. they failed in part due to the bayonets, bombs, bullets of black american war fighters. they not only helped defeat tyranny overseas, they thoroughly discredited a poisonous philosophy deeply held and long defended by the the it's near home. -- elites here at home. for generations it justified bigotry, segregation. this is why allowing blacks to serve in the marine corps was called an experiment. if it was an experiment, it did not last very long. before the end of the war, he said the experiment was over. -- commandant at that time said the experiment was over. the men trained at montford point were "marines, period." [applause] the commandant had witnessed firsthand a black marine fighting in hand-to-hand combat during the battle of sight and. -- saipan. he saw what other white marines saw. h