[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 60 (Saturday, April 12, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E784]]
    FAMILIES LIVING IN THE SECOND DISTRICT OF ARIZONA WHO HAVE LOST 
                     CHILDREN IN THE IRAQI CONFLICT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TRENT FRANKS

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Saturday, April 12, 2003

  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to express a deep 
and abiding gratitude to the families living in the second district of 
Arizona who have lost children in the Iraqi Conflict. They include: 
Carol Howland of Kingman, who lost her son James Kiehl; Sandy Watson of 
Peoria whose son Michael Williams was killed in action, the Piestewa 
family--and the entire Hopi Nation--who mourn the loss of their 
daughter Lori Ann. I have spoken to each, and have been inspired by 
their unwavering faith and enduring strength.
  Mr. Speaker, the tragic stories of this war are not unique to 
Arizona. So many Members of this Congress can recall fallen heroes from 
the communities they represent, and those noble families who personify 
the sacrifice of war. America's sons and daughters have fought bravely 
in this battle and some have died defending their homeland and bringing 
freedom to a people they have never met. Today, Mr. Speaker, the 
American flag flies at half-staff in all of our hearts as this Nation 
tearfully lays these valiant sons and daughters of freedom in the 
loving arms of God.
  Words fail me to express the unspeakable debt of gratitude owed to 
the families of America who have sacrificed their own loved ones for 
the cause of human freedom. So may I respectfully appropriate the words 
of Abraham Lincoln who sought to offer comfort in a letter to a 
precious mother who had lost five sons on the battlefield. It is my 
prayer that his words can be received into the hearts of all of those 
who mourn the loss of their beloved soldier: Mr. Lincoln wrote: ``I 
feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should 
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I 
cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found 
in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our 
Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave 
you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn 
pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the 
altar of Freedom.''
  May all of us this day take poignant inventory of American freedom, 
and may we never forget those who paid for it.

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