[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2371-E2372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REMEMBERING THAT FREEDOM COMES AT A PRICE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY MORAN

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 13, 1997

  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday, Veterans Day, 
millions of Americans were afforded the opportunity to remember and 
express our sincere gratitude to those who have served in defense of 
our Nation.
  It was a day to honor great sacrifices, celebrate heroic victories, 
and to renew their commitments to our Nation's Veterans.
  ``With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the 
right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the 
work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who 
shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do 
all which may achieve and cherish a just, and lasting peace, among 
ourselves, and with all nations.''
  These words are taken from President Abraham Lincoln's second 
inaugural address and sadly read again just two months later over its 
author's grave. The excerpt ``to care for him who shall have borne the 
battle, and for his widow, and his orphan,'' now lays etched in stone 
on the plaque of the Veterans Administration building in Washington 
reminding us of the debt we owe to those who have defended our land in 
times of both war and peace.
  On Veterans Day we honor those individuals who set their own 
aspirations aside to serve their country in defense of freedom and 
liberty. Our duty is not only to ensure that wreaths are placed on the 
graves of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, nor is it only to fly 
our nation's flag in honor and support of current service members; it 
is our duty to care for the soldier and his dependents who continue to 
bear the effects of battle.
  In our history, more than one million American men and women have 
died in defense of our nation. If these now-silent patriot's have 
taught us anything, it is that because of the men and women who were 
willing to sacrifice their last blood and breath, the United States 
remains a symbol of freedom and a country whose ideas are still worth 
defending.
  Veterans Day is a day of national respect. We should not forget those 
who have allowed us to enjoy that which we have today. More than ever, 
we must rededicate ourselves to honor the lives and memory of those who 
served, fought, and often died.
  How might we best recognized these American heroes? We should pause 
to give them thanks for safeguarding our liberties. We should pledge to 
carry out the civic responsibilities of citizens living in a free 
country. And we should exercise those loyalties by demonstrating our 
respect for both our living Veterans and those in their final resting 
places. It is so little to ask of us when they have given so much.
  Veterans are the unsung heroes who define our American heritage, 
ordinary citizens who did their duty. And to those who have fallen, let 
us remember that freedom is never free

[[Page E2372]]

and that we can never adequately express our thanks to those who could 
not return to us.

                          ____________________