[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 140 (Tuesday, September 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5902-S5903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony

  Mr. President, now, finally, on the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony 
later this morning. Later this morning, I will join with congressional 
leaders and with families of military servicemembers for a most solemn 
observance: the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to the 13 
servicemembers killed during the suicide bombing of Abbey Gate in 
Kabul.
  The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor that Congress can 
bestow, but it is a small gesture when compared to the immense 
sacrifice of these brave Americans.
  To us, these 13 Americans were sons and daughters, brothers and 
sisters, spouses, friends, loved ones. Some were even younger than the 
war in Afghanistan itself. But to the citizens desperately trying to 
escape the Taliban's rule through Abbey Gate on that fateful day, these 
13 Americans were something more: heroes, guardians, saviors. They were 
fighting for a cause far bigger than themselves to deliver freedom to 
those who otherwise might never have known it.

[[Page S5903]]

  Tomorrow, we honor the anniversary of September 11; and as we do so, 
we rededicate ourselves to the promise of ``never forget.''
  Well, that is what this morning's ceremony will be all about. We will 
never, never forget the sacrifice of the fallen 13 servicemembers. We 
will never forget the obligation we all have to our troops in uniform 
and to care for them. We will never forget our duty to keep going, to 
defend the values of freedom and democracy that they so nobly fought 
for.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.