[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 31, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H752-H753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING CHIEF SPECIAL WARFARE OFFICER WILLIAM ``RYAN'' OWENS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Taylor) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Chief Special Warfare 
Officer William ``Ryan'' Owens and his wife and his children.
  The Department of Defense announced his death January 28 in the 
Arabian peninsula after wounds sustained in a raid against al Qaeda. It 
should also be noted that two others were wounded in the raid and three 
others injured in a crash landing.
  I looked for my own words today, but I came across the profound 
writing of Andrew Stumpf, and I shall recite his powerful words today 
in honor of Chief Owens and his family: ``A Debt That Cannot Be 
Repaid.''
  ``In a country that most would struggle to find on a map, in a 
compound that few possess the courage to enter, men from my previous 
life took the fight to our enemy.
  ``In that compound, they found men that pray five times a day for 
your destruction. Those men don't know me, they don't know you, and 
they don't know America. They don't understand our compassion, our 
freedoms, and our tolerance. I know it may seem as if those things are 
currently missing, but they remain, and I know they will return. Our 
capacity for them is boundless, and is only dwarfed by their hatred for 
you. They don't care about your religious beliefs; they don't care 
about your political opinions. They don't care if you sit on the left 
or the right, liberal or conservative, pacifist or a warrior. They 
don't care how much you believe in diversity, equality, or freedom of 
speech.
  ``I'm sorry that you have never smelled the breath of a man who wants 
to kill you. I am sorry that you have never felt the alarm bells 
ringing in your body, the combination of fear and adrenalin, as you 
move towards the fight, instead of running from it. I am sorry you have 
never heard someone cry out for help, or cried out for help yourself, 
relying on the courage of others to bring you home. I am sorry that you 
have never tasted the salt from your own tears, as you stand at flag 
draped coffins, burying men you were humbled to call your friends. I 
don't wish those experiences on you, but I wish you had them. It would 
change the way you act, it would change the way you value, it would 
change the way you appreciate. You become quick to open your eyes, and 
slow to open your mouth.
  ``Most will never understand the sacrifice required to keep men from 
that compound away from our doorstep, but it would not hurt you to try. 
It would not hurt you to take a moment to respect the sacrifices that 
others make on your behalf, whether they share your opinions or not. It 
would not hurt you to take a moment to think of the relentless drain on 
family, friends, and loved ones that are left behind. Ideas are not 
protected by words. Paper may outline the foundation and principles of 
this nation, but it is blood that protects it.
  ``In that compound, a man you have never met gave everything he had, 
so that YOU, have the freedom to think, speak, and act however you 
choose. He went there for all of us, whether you loved him, or hated 
what he stood for. He went there to preserve the opportunity and the 
privilege to believe, to be, and to become what we want. This country, 
every single person living inside its borders and under the banner of

[[Page H753]]

its flag, owe that man. We owe that man everything. We owe him the 
respect that his sacrifice deserves.
  ``Saying thank you is not enough.
  ``We send our best, and lose them, in the fight against the worst 
this world has to offer. If you want to respect and honor their 
sacrifice, it needs to be more than words. You have to live it.
  ``Take a minute and look around. Soak it in, all of it. The good, the 
bad, and the ugly. You have the choice, every day, as to which category 
you want to be in, and which direction you want to move. You have that 
choice, because the best among us, the best we have ever had to offer, 
fought, bled, and died for it.
  ``Don't ever forget it.''

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