[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 150 (Monday, September 18, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H4372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING TASK FORCE RANGER

  (Mr. BURCHETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, in 1993, the United States Air Force 
deployed Task Force Ranger to Somalia to restore order to the capital 
city of Mogadishu after it was taken over by a rebel warlord. The 
Battle of Mogadishu was the event which inspired the movie ``Black Hawk 
Down.''
  The Somali people wanted democracy, but this general and his militia 
took over the nation to impose radical Islamic Sharia law. They 
hijacked food supplies and cut off water to anyone who did not support 
their reign of terror.
  After several successful operations, Task Force Ranger set out on a 
mission to arrest two of the general's top lieutenants in a building by 
the Olympic Hotel in a militia stronghold neighborhood.
  The plan was to surround the building the lieutenants were meeting 
in, lower themselves on ropes from helicopters and surround them, then 
take the prisoners to the vehicles that would be waiting outside.
  Unfortunately, the mission took a catastrophic turn, Mr. Speaker, 
when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by rocket-propelled 
grenades. The soldiers were attacked, and the battle that followed 
lasted 18 hours. Eighteen of our brave men were killed and dozens were 
injured, and the Somalis lost over 1,000 men.
  This October, Knoxville is holding a 30th anniversary event to 
commemorate this mission, where surviving members of Task Force Ranger 
can be reunited and they can remember their fallen brothers.
  As a Christian, Mr. Speaker, I owe everything in my life, except for 
my salvation, to the men and women who wore our country's uniform. 
Members of Task Force Ranger are no different, and I look forward to 
seeing them in Knoxville this year and welcome the heroes and give them 
some true Tennessee hospitality.

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