BILL NUMBER: SCR 90CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 104 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2012 ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 29, 2012 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 6, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Senator Anderson (Coauthors: Senators DeSaulnier, Dutton, Price, Runner, and Wright) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bradford, Carter, Hagman, Hall, Huffman, Mitchell, Portantino, Swanson, Williams, Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gorell, Grove, Halderman, Harkey, Roger Hernndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Perea, John A. Prez, V. Manuel Prez, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, and Yamada) MAY 14, 2012 Relative to the Tuskegee Airmen Highway. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 90, Anderson. Tuskegee Airmen Highway. This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway Route 15 in the County of San Diego as the Tuskegee Airmen Highway. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs. WHEREAS, The United States Army Air Corps formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Medium Bombardment Group at Tuskegee Institute to train African American fighter pilots who, until that time, had not been accepted into pilot training programs in the military; and WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen were sent to the European Theatre in 1943 and served in combat in North Africa, Sicily, and Europe; and WHEREAS, At the end of World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen were credited with destroying 261 enemy aircraft, damaging 148 enemy aircraft, destroying or damaging 940 units of enemy ground transportation, flying 15,553 combat sorties in 1,578 missions over North Africa, Sicily, and Europe, and conducting more than 200 bomber escort missions; and WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen unit, including its officers and enlisted personnel, received three Presidential Unit Citations, 150 Distinguished Flying Cross and Legion of Merit awards, the Red Star of Yugoslavia, nine Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stars, and more than 700 Air Medals and Oak Leaf Cluster awards; and WHEREAS, Sixty-six of the Tuskegee Airmen were killed in combat, and another 33 were shot down and held as prisoners of war; and WHEREAS, The unqualified success of the Tuskegee Airmen helped lead to the eventual integration of the United States Armed Forces; and WHEREAS, The record of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II was accomplished by individuals who bravely accepted the challenge and proudly displayed their skill and patriotism in spite of great adversity at home and abroad; and WHEREAS, The Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. is an education and community service organization dedicated to maintaining the traditions of the Tuskegee Airmen and preserving the legacy of the first generation of African American military aviators of World War II with 42 chapters throughout the United States, and has consistently provided inspiration, motivation, mentoring, and role models for elementary, middle, and high school students in this country; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of State Highway Route 15 between Miramar Road (milepost marker 14.285) and Mercy Road (milepost marker 17.311), in the County of San Diego, as the Tuskegee Airmen Highway; and be it further Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.