[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Memorial Day

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, Monday is Memorial Day. It is the day our 
Nation pauses to remember all those who laid down their lives in 
defense of our country, from Saratoga to Yorktown, to Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  We enjoy tremendous freedoms as Americans, tremendous privileges, but 
we do not enjoy these privileges by chance. They are hard-fought gains 
secured for us again and again by each new generation of American 
soldiers who lay down their lives in the cause of the free. It is 
important that we do not take what they have secured for us lightly, 
that we remember our freedoms have been paid for in blood.
  Near the end of the film ``Saving Private Ryan,'' the dying Captain 
Miller tells Private Ryan of the sacrifice that has been made on his 
behalf. He says: ``Earn this . . . earn it.''
  I am not sure we can ever fully earn the gift that has been given to 
us by those who have laid down their lives in our defense, but we can 
attempt to live lives worthy of their sacrifice and to defend the cause 
for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
  When we remember the fallen on Memorial Day, there is one other group 
we should remember, and that is their families. Our Nation's Gold Star 
families may not have laid down their own lives for our country, but 
they gave their loved ones, their fathers and brothers, daughters and 
sisters. For the sake of our freedoms, they live with empty spaces at 
Thanksgivings and birthdays, at weddings and graduations, at their 
dinner tables and Little League practices. We owe them a debt also that 
we can never repay.
  I have been privileged to visit more than one veterans cemetery, such 
as our own Black Hills National Cemetery in South Dakota--which we 
recently expanded to ensure that our soldiers will have a resting place 
for generations to come--Arlington National Cemetery, and the American 
Cemetery at Normandy. There is a special hallowedness to the ground at 
these places. Valor and sacrifice still linger in the air, and a deep 
peace abounds--the peace of the warrior who has fought the good fight 
and found rest from his labors.
  General George S. Patton once said:

       It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, 
     we should thank God that such men lived.

  I might disagree with General Patton on the first part, as it is 
right and proper that we should mourn our dead, but with General 
Patton, I say: Let us thank God that such men and women lived.
  May the memory of our honored dead be eternal.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sasse). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.