[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 185 (Wednesday, November 8, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5410-S5411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Veterans Day

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, engraved on a wall at the Korean Veterans 
Memorial in Washington, DC, are these words: ``Freedom is not free.''
  ``Freedom is not free.''
  It is a stark reminder that our freedom has come at a cost; that it 
has been bought and paid for in blood, in dark days and terrifying 
nights of battle, in fear and loneliness, in Christmases and holidays 
and birthdays spent far from home, in visible wounds and in invisible 
wounds.
  And on Veterans Day, above all, we remember this. We remember that we 
live in peace and freedom because men and women have answered our 
country's call, have stepped up and said, ``I will serve,'' and have 
paid a price for that service.
  One of my greatest honors as a U.S. Senator is having the opportunity 
to interact with military veterans. And in addition to meeting veterans 
around South Dakota, I have had the immense privilege of visiting with 
veterans who come to Washington, DC, on Honor Flights.
  For anyone not familiar with the organization, Honor Flight is a 
nonprofit that exists to bring military veterans to Washington, DC, to 
visit the memorials that have been created in their honor.
  At its inception, it focused on bringing World War II veterans to DC, 
but now, with members of the ``greatest generation'' few and far 
between, Honor Flights have been filling up with veterans of Korea and 
Vietnam as well as critically ill veterans from all eras.
  I have been lucky enough to participate in three Honor Flight visits 
so far this year, organized by Midwest Honor Flight, which is our local 
Honor Flight hub in South Dakota. And the chance to interact with these 
heroes who have sacrificed to defend and preserve American freedoms is 
not something I take for granted. Seeing the look in their eyes as they 
visit the memorials--knowing that for some it will be the last 
opportunity they have to visit--is a profound privilege and a reminder 
of all these men and women have given for our country.
  It is also deeply moving to hear from the family members who 
accompany these veterans, a number of whom have told me how cathartic 
these visits have been for their loved ones--sometimes marking the 
first time they really talked about their wartime experience.
  On multiple occasions when I have been down at the memorials visiting 
with Honor Flight veterans, I have seen students with school groups 
come up to these veterans and thank them. It is really an amazing thing 
to witness. And it has made me reflect on just how important it is that 
children have these opportunities to see and thank our veterans and to 
understand what they have given us.
  Ronald Reagan once said that freedom is always only one generation 
removed from extinction. It can't be passed on in the bloodstream. It 
has to be fought for and defended and handed down for our children to 
do the same or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our 
children's children what it was once like to live in the United States 
of America where men are free.

[[Page S5411]]

  Freedom is, indeed, a fragile thing. It is easy to take it for 
granted when you have it. But it is not a guarantee, and it must, 
indeed, be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.
  Seeing those schoolchildren interact with veterans who have helped 
secure our freedom reminded me of the importance of handing down an 
understanding of that freedom to our children, of teaching them just 
what our military men and women have fought and died for, and of 
reminding them that it will be their responsibility to preserve it.
  Seeing those schoolchildren and veterans interact also reminded me 
that we should hold up our veterans to young people, not just as 
examples to revere but as examples to imitate. We should make sure that 
young people know that serving their country in the U.S. military is 
one of the noblest paths that they could take and that while military 
life is a life of sacrifice, it is also a life of meaning and purpose, 
one that offers pride and brotherhood and the lasting knowledge that 
your labor has made a difference.
  On Veterans Day and every day, I am grateful to those who have 
answered our Nation's call and taken up arms in defense of liberty. May 
God bless all the men and women who serve or have served in the U.S. 
military and may He help us to live lives worthy of their sacrifice.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. 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 ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.