[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 95 (Wednesday, May 20, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S2537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MEMORIAL DAY

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, last week, I received the very sad 
news that the 5th Special Forces Group, which is stationed at Fort 
Campbell, which is in Tennessee, was going to have to forgo and cancel 
their annual Memorial Day Gold Star Ceremony. This is a tradition at 
the post. It is something that is so special to those Gold Star 
families, and we are disappointed with that but understand.
  I have really been pleased that today Senator Ernst has organized a 
time for us to come to the floor to really come together to honor not 
only our fallen but also their loved ones, who have had to spend this 
year's remembrance separated from other Gold Star families, and we know 
that is a time they cherish, having that togetherness.
  Although the formal ceremonies are canceled, please note that each of 
these families is in our prayers, they are in our thoughts, and that we 
grieve alongside them.
  This Memorial Day, reflections are framed by a world that has really 
been made much smaller by our shared experiences with COVID-19. Even 
so, the state of our world makes the battlefields we send our soldiers 
and sailors and airmen and marines to seem very far away because in 
their world, authoritarian regimes rule with an iron fist, and they 
violate human rights with impunity. Violence often replaces diplomacy 
as the preferred method of dispute resolution and freedom, when it is 
discussed at all. Many times, it feels like an impossibility. This is 
what they deal with on a daily basis.
  The danger this creates is no secret to anyone. Like the rest of us, 
our soldiers read the news reports from the frontlines. They hear the 
enemy propaganda. They hear those who repeat the enemy propaganda. Many 
of them have experienced the ferocity of the enemy attacks against our 
forces and against our allies. They know what they are up against. They 
see it and they live it each and every day. Yet, in spite of the 
danger, they answer the call because they have something inside them 
that says that freedom is worth fighting for. It is their commitment to 
that cause of liberty to allow us to live in a free and open society, 
to allow us and our children to pursue those dreams, to dream those big 
dreams and to make them come true.
  Whether we lost loved ones and friends on the battlefield or, later, 
lost them to the trauma of combat and loss, this weekend, we thank them 
for their sacrifice, we honor their memory, and we express our 
gratitude to their families, who this year will have to celebrate as a 
family and not with others.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.

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