[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9791]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           IN HONOR OF THOSE WHO HAVE SACRIFICED FOR FREEDOM

  (Mr. FRANKS of Arizona asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to express a deep 
and abiding gratitude to the families living in the Second District of 
Arizona who have lost their children in the Iraqi conflict. Those 
families include Carol Howland of Kingman, who lost her son James Kiehl 
in battle; Sandy Watson of Peoria, who lost her son Michael Williams in 
battle; the Piestewa family, and the entire Hopi Nation, who today 
mourn the loss of their daughter Lori Ann. I have spoken to each and 
have been inspired by their unwavering faith and their enduring 
strength.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that the tragic stories of this war are not 
unique to Arizona. So many of this Congress have fallen heroes from 
their communities and they represent those noble families who personify 
the sacrifice of war, but America's sons and daughters have fought so 
bravely in this battle, and some have died defending their homeland and 
to bring freedom to a people they have never met. And today, Mr. 
Speaker, the American flag flies at half-mast in the hearts of all of 
us as this Nation tearfully lays these valiant sons and daughters of 
freedom in the loving arms of God.
  Mr. Speaker, words fail me to truly express the unspeakable debt of 
gratitude that we all owe to these families of America who have 
sacrificed their own loved ones to the cause of freedom. So may I 
respectfully appropriate the words of Abraham Lincoln, who found 
himself in a similar dilemma as he sought to offer comfort in a letter 
to a precious mother who had lost five of her sons on the battlefield. 
It is my prayer, Mr. Speaker, that these words can be received into the 
hearts of all of those who mourn the loss of their beloved soldier this 
day.
  Mr. Lincoln wrote: ``I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words 
of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so 
overwhelming, but I cannot refrain from tendering to you the 
consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic that they 
died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish 
of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the 
loved and lost, and a solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid 
such a costly sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.''
  Mr. Speaker, may all of us this day take poignant personal inventory 
of American freedom and may we never ever forget those who gave their 
all to pay for it.

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