[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 10, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE TO MICHIGAN'S VETERANS

  Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I rise today to honor the Michigan 
veterans throughout history who have given their lives for our Nation.
  During some of the toughest times for our country, Michiganders have 
been there. We have been willing to put our lives on the line for the 
cause of freedom. That certainly was the case during the Civil War. 
More than 3 million Americans fought in the Civil War. Around 90,000 of 
them were Michiganders, and more than 85,000 of them were volunteers. 
It is said that President Lincoln exclaimed, ``Thank God for 
Michigan!'' when 75,000 volunteers from our State arrived in 
Washington, DC, in May of 1861.
  The 24th Michigan Infantry fought at Gettysburg, where a monument 
stands to this day commemorating their service in the ``Iron Brigade.'' 
And the 24th was selected to provide military escort during President 
Lincoln's funeral procession. Few trials have so tested a nation--or a 
President--as did the Civil War. As historian Jon Meacham explores in 
his new book ``And There was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American 
Struggle,'' President Lincoln and the Nation he led faced multiple 
existential threats: the fracturing of our country, threats against our 
democracy, and an institution that treated 4 million Americans not as 
people, but as property.
  The echoes of these challenges remain in our Nation to this day. And 
in Lincoln, we see a path forward. We see that by keeping our moral 
center as our North Star, a nation can, in the words of Lincoln, ``long 
endure.'' We have long endured as a nation in part thanks to those 
brave, selfless Michiganders who were willing to put their lives on the 
line in order to preserve our Union. More than 13,400 of them never 
made it home. They have been followed by so many others.
  This Memorial Day, we honor all Michigan veterans throughout history 
who gave their lives in service to our country. And we honor their 
families. It is only because of their sacrifice that our democracy 
lives on.

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