[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 153 (Monday, November 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1995-E1996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE WORK OF MICHAEL REAGAN, AN ARTIST AND VIETNAM WAR 
                    VETERAN FROM EDMONDS, WASHINGTON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 29, 2010

  Mr. INSLEE. Madam Speaker, all members of this body and indeed all 
Americans are united in the high esteem we have for the men and women 
of our Armed Forces who have given their lives in service to our 
country.
  A constituent of mine provides a grand example in this regard. Mr. 
Michael Reagan, a portrait artist residing in Edmonds, Washington, a 
member of the U.S. Marine Corps, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, 
and a member of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars, has committed 
himself to providing surviving families with hand-drawn portraits of 
every man or woman killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. To date, Mr. Reagan 
has completed over 2,400 portraits of servicemembers.
  These portraits make a difference. A wife of a fallen Marine wrote to 
Mr. Reagan, ``I sit in the living room every day looking at the 
portrait you drew . . . It just brings me a little bit of peace because 
I feel like he's right there with me.''
  In honoring the dead and comforting the living, Mr. Reagan helps the 
families to hold their loved ones in their hearts forever and helps 
assure that our Nation will never forget the service they gave and the 
sacrifice they made. I believe we should reflect on Mr. Reagan's 
contribution and ask ourselves how we, too can continue to honor the 
brave men and women of our Armed Forces.

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