[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 168 (Thursday, December 6, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H9055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             HONOR MATTERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Shows) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, on a recent Sunday afternoon I was driving to 
my mom and dad's home in Moselle. I have driven this road from 
Bassfield a thousand times. I passed our community's beautiful old 
cemetery, one I have driven by a thousand time.
  On this Sunday, as always, I could see the grave of one of our 
Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, Roy Wheat, who fought in 
Vietnam. He was a hero and received the Congressional Medal of Honor. 
This is one of our highest honors and has been awarded only 3,455 times 
since the Civil War.
  An old torn, faded, and battered American flag was flying at Roy's 
grave. I thought about his bravery. I thought about my father and his 
service in World War II. He was a Prisoner of War, and captured at the 
Battle of the Bulge. I thought about our veterans and military retirees 
and the men and women who are right now heroically standing down 
terrorism and defending our way of life.
  Our flag has a way of making us think about it. Honor matters. Giving 
honor means providing great respect because of great worth and noble 
deeds done. I did not like seeing a faded, torn, and battered flag 
flying on Roy's grave. Honor matters.
  Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bipartisan resolution to make 
sure we are properly honoring our war heroes. This resolution will make 
sure that our country's greatest military heroes, recipients of the 
Congressional Medal of Honor, are appropriately honored with the 
display of the American flag at their grave sites.
  Currently flags are available for placement at grave sites of 
veterans cemeteries that are maintained by the Federal Government. But 
families of Congressional Medal of Honor winners who are privately 
buried do not have the assurance of always seeing the American flag at 
their grave sites.
  This resolution simply states that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
should make American flags available to immediate family members of 
deceased Medal of Honor recipients, and to veterans' organizations and 
others responsible for maintaining these private grave sites.
  Why? Because honor matters. It matters for those who have protected 
us as a memorial, and for those who do and will protect us as a 
reminder that their service is not in vain.
  Our military is America's first line of defense from aggression and 
those who oppose freedom. Just like keeping our promise of health care, 
making sure the Montgomery GI bill is strong, and providing support for 
our current soldiers and those who have already served, this does 
matter.
  If we do not honor our veterans and military retirees in both words 
and deeds, we dishonor their service. I will not ignore America's 
veterans and retirees. They have already given of themselves to us, and 
for that we owe them an incredible debt.

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