[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8242]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION IMPROVING THE WAY WE MEMORIALIZE OUR FALLEN 
                                 HEROES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Grucci) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRUCCI. Mr. Speaker, with Memorial Day only 12 days from today, 
veterans' graves are graced with our Nation's flag on Memorial Day in 
my district as is customary across our Nation since the end of the 
Civil War.
  However, too often these flags are removed immediately after the 
Monday observation of Memorial Day, not giving the sufficient 
recognition deserved these fallen heroes. The original intent of 
Memorial Day was for it to be a time of reflection on our hard-earned 
freedom and to pay our respects to those men and to those women who 
made the ultimate sacrifice for the citizens of our Nation and gave 
their lives to preserve that freedom. Yet today the true meaning of 
Memorial Day is often lost to a sense of commercialism.
  For this reason, local veterans organizations within my district have 
partnered with one of our national cemeteries, Calverton National 
Cemetery, to improve the way we memorialize our fallen veterans. They 
leave the American flags in place until May 31 so that they fly in 
honor of our brave service men and women through to the original date 
of Decoration Day, May 30.
  The flag is the symbol of America's greatness and all of its 
compassion, perseverance and values. It is part of the tapestry that 
has been woven with the lives and the efforts of our men and our women 
in uniform during times of crises that makes America what it is. It 
honors those brave service men and women who have made the ultimate 
sacrifice so that freedom, peace and democracy can be assured to all of 
us here in this great Nation.
  I and my colleagues from both sides of the aisle have sponsored House 
Resolution 120 which urges all cemeteries to institute this policy of 
maintaining the flags placed on the grave sites of American veterans on 
Memorial Day through at least May 31.
  Mr. Speaker, I call upon my colleagues to please join me in honoring 
those men and women who gave their lives to preserve our freedoms.

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