[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 99 (Thursday, June 28, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DEATH OF TWO THOUSANDTH AMERICAN IN AFGHANISTAN

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                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 28, 2012

  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, recently, as many of my 
colleagues have remarked on the House floor, we reached the sad 
milestone of two thousand American soldiers having lost their lives in 
Afghanistan.
  Tomorrow we break for our July 4th recess, celebrating our nation's 
independence, but for too many American families missing a father, a 
son or a daughter, the fourth of July will be a day of absence.
  Mr. Speaker, we have a word for people who lose a spouse: 
``Widower.''
  We have a word also for the children left behind when parents die: 
``Orphans.'' But we have no words for the parents of children who die.
  It is a tragedy when a parent outlives their child, and it is time to 
put an end to our children dying in Afghanistan.
  For the families of two thousand American soldiers, and equally 
important, for the Afghan families who have lost sons and daughters, we 
need to end this war and bring our soldiers home so that a political 
solution can be achieved.

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