[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2702]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       AUTHORIZE STAMP IN MEMORY OF BRAVE PEACEKEEPERS IN BEIRUT

  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, on October 23, 1983, the 
war on terrorism began when a truck filled with explosives detonated 
outside of the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, 
killing 241 of our servicemen. Between 1982 and 1984, 270 soldiers, 
sailors, and Marines from 36 States lost their lives while serving as 
peacekeepers in Beirut.
  Mr. Speaker, I have recently introduced H. Res. 45 that would express 
the sense of the House that a commemorative postage stamp should be 
issued in remembrance of the victims of the Beirut peacekeeping 
mission. I am certainly not the first to pursue this effort to have the 
Postal Service authorize a stamp in memory of our brave peacekeepers. 
For 19 long years, friends, families and comrades of the Beirut victims 
have lobbied tirelessly to see this dream become a reality. To date, 
however, these efforts have been unsuccessful.
  Mr. Speaker, some of the astonishing reasons that have been given for 
not issuing the stamp include: We try to honor positive things. People 
want noncontroversial, pretty stamps; Beirut lacks significance in 
American history, and not enough people were killed.
  Mr. Speaker, I share those comments because this is what I have been 
told has been said to those many people who for 19 years have been 
asking that this stamp be created. These explanations are scant 
justification for failing to recognize those who have given so much to 
our country. I can assure Members that they amount to little more than 
a slap in the face to our servicemen and their families.
  I am not here today to begrudge stamp selections of the past, but 
fair is fair. If kittens, red squirrels, Daffy Duck, Chinese dragons, 
circus wagons, and communist artists are worthy of commemoration by the 
Postal Service, then so are our fallen heroes from Beirut.
  October 3 of this year will mark the 20th anniversary of the Marine 
Corps barracks bombing in Beirut. The friends, family, and comrades 
left behind by the Beirut peacekeepers will gather once again to pay 
their respects. This would be the appropriate time for the Federal 
Government to show its appreciation. Honoring these servicemen with a 
stamp is one way for us to finally say thank you for sacrificing their 
lives so the rest of us can live in freedom.
  A stamp in honor of the Beirut peacekeepers would not just serve to 
further mourn their loss, but to celebrate the peace and the American 
spirit that was embodied in the mission of these fallen heroes.
  Mr. Speaker, in these uncertain times we call upon the brave men and 
women of the military to defend the ideals that this great Nation was 
founded upon. One of my constituents, Charles Hall of Jacksonville, 
North Carolina, was called upon 19\1/2\ years ago; and he served our 
country honorably in Beirut. He will be the first to tell Members that 
the war on terrorism began well before September 11.
  Mr. Speaker, in April the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee will 
convene in Washington to consider stamp proposals and make 
recommendations to the Postmaster General. On behalf of military 
families across the United States, I urge the committee to do what is 
right for those who made the ultimate sacrifice. I urge them to 
reconsider that a commemorative stamp be issued in remembrance of the 
Beirut peacekeepers.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to close in a certain way. I first ask God 
to please bless the men and women in uniform. I ask God to please bless 
the families of the men and women in uniform. I ask God to please bless 
the House and Senate that we might do what is right for the future of 
this Nation. And I ask God to please bless the President of the United 
States that he will lead this Nation and this world to a better and 
peaceful world.
  Mr. Speaker, I close by asking three times, God please, God please, 
God please, continue to bless America.

                          ____________________