[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 21, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5718-H5719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BALANCING THE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West 
Virginia (Mr. Mooney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
congratulate my friend, Delegate John Overington, and the West Virginia 
State Legislature for passing the balanced budget amendment resolution 
in March.
  West Virginia has joined 27 other States in calling for a 
constitutional convention under Article V to force the Federal 
Government to add a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution 
for one simple reason: the Federal Government has a spending problem. 
America has run up a debt of over $19 trillion, largely to fund past 
and present expenditures using money that should belong to future 
American generations.
  West Virginia families and businesses have to operate on balanced 
budgets, and I believe the Federal Government should also have to 
operate within its means. America cannot afford to continue spending 
like it has been. That is why I cosponsored H.J. Res. 2, the balanced 
budget amendment to the Constitution. I encourage my colleagues in the 
House and Senate to cosponsor this important joint resolution.


         Happy Birthday to Corporal Hershel ``Woody'' Williams

  Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say happy 
birthday to a true American hero, Corporal Hershel ``Woody'' Williams.
  Woody is one of the last two surviving United States Marine Corps 
Medal of Honor recipients of World War II and the last surviving Medal 
of Honor recipient from the Battle of Iwo Jima.
  Born on October 2, 1923, Woody Williams grew up on a dairy farm in 
Fairmont, West Virginia. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps 
Reserve in Charleston, West Virginia, on May 26, 1943.
  Woody completed 2 years of service and was trained to use both tanks 
and flamethrowers. Williams, a corporal, landed in Iwo Jima in 1945. 
American tanks were trying to open a lane for the infantry when they 
encountered a network of reinforced Japanese concrete pillboxes, buried 
mines, and black volcanic sands.
  Corporal Williams went forward with his 70-pound flamethrower in an 
attempt to reduce the devastating machine gun fire from the fortified 
enemy positions. Covered by only four riflemen, he continued this 
arduous task for 4 hours under heavy enemy small-arms fire.
  He resupplied and returned to the front lines time and again to wipe 
out one enemy pillbox after another. On one of these returns, to the 
point of the spear of the battle, a wisp of smoke alerted him to an air 
vent of a Japanese bunker. He approached this heavily fortified 
position close enough to put the nozzle of his flamethrower

[[Page H5719]]

through the vent, killing all the occupants inside.
  On another occasion, he was charged by multiple enemy riflemen who 
attempted to kill him with fixed bayonets. Woody was too quick, and he 
used his flamethrower to send them to their makers. These actions 
occurred on the same day as the raising of the U.S. flag on the 
island's Mount Suribachi. Woody fought through the remainder of the 5-
week long battle and was wounded on March 6, for which he was awarded 
the Purple Heart.
  President Truman awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1945. In 2013, the 
Hershel ``Woody'' Williams Medal of Honor Foundation was launched to 
carry out Woody's vision of recognizing and honoring Gold Star families 
around the country. The goal of the foundation is to establish at least 
one Gold Star family memorial monument in every State over the next 5 
years to honor families who have sacrificed a loved one in service of 
their country.
  Woody spends his time traveling the country supporting the military 
families and reminding all of us that freedom has not been and is not 
free.
  Upcoming memorial dedications are in Fort Knox, Kentucky, on 
September 23; Fall River, Massachusetts, and Port St. Lucie, Florida, 
on September 25; Palmetto Bay, Florida, on October 15; Barboursville, 
West Virginia, on October 30; Annapolis, Maryland, on November 11; and 
Medina, Ohio, on November 12.
  Woody's passion and love of his country and fellow man has never 
ceased. We can all learn how to be better Americans from Woody, and I 
wish him a happy upcoming 93rd birthday.

                          ____________________