[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17561]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING OUR FALLEN HEROES WITH A MEMORIAL IN THE CAPITOL ROTUNDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, today, nine more Americans gave their lives 
in Iraq, nine more families are going to be without their loved ones 
this holiday season, and nine more American families are grieving.
  Out of those nine, two soldiers and seven marines, perhaps your 
neighbor, and they are our neighbors, because they are always going to 
be America's neighbors, holds the distinction of becoming the one 
thousandth American casualty in Iraq. We salute our soldiers, marines, 
airmen, sailors, reservists, and guardsmen who are called to duty. We 
thank them deeply for their service, their valor, and their sacrifice 
for this country.
  The one thousandth casualty in Iraq is a milestone and one we must 
acknowledge as we continue to reflect on the cost of the war on our 
Nation's families and the American people. We must honor the service of 
our troops and pay tribute to their heroism.
  For that reason, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner), a veteran, 
and I have written a letter to the Speaker of the House asking him to 
arrange a temporary memorial in the Capitol Rotunda to our fallen 
troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, explaining the pictures of each 
fallen soldier, along with biographic information, which would also 
provide an opportunity for visitors in the Rotunda of the people's 
House to write notes in honor of those soldiers to their families, 
their loved ones, their brothers, their sisters, their mothers and 
fathers, and husbands and wives.
  Throughout its history, the Rotunda has been used for public viewing 
for fallen heroes, bestowing upon them one of the Nation's highest 
honors. After World War I, we saluted the fallen soldiers in the 
Rotunda. After World War II, Korea, Vietnam, we did the same. It is 
only fitting that we use the Capitol Rotunda of the people's House to 
honor those who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  The war in Iraq is not over, and there will certainly be more lives 
lost, but this tribute is for all Americans to show its respect for the 
men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice as well as to their 
families. In honor of those lost soldiers, President Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt once said, ``He stands in the unbroken line of patriots who 
have dared to die, that freedom might live and grow and increase its 
blessings. Freedom lives and through it, he lives in a way that humbles 
the undertakings of most men.''
  Just as President Roosevelt honored the fallen of World War II, we 
believe this tribute would honor our most recent heroes and their 
families.
  Mr. Speaker, since this Congress has begun, we have found time to 
name, I think at last count, 65 post offices, including 2 tonight. I 
think we can, and, indeed, it is our duty and our responsibility, to 
find the time to properly honor those who have sacrificed everything in 
Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope that we do this as an institution, as a 
Congress, to use the people's House to pay tribute to those families 
and allow all those families to know that for everybody who comes here 
who writes a card, a note, a tribute, that those families who have lost 
their loved ones will know that they will always be in America's 
prayers and in America's thoughts.
  A colleague, a Republican colleague, outside of his office has that 
memorial put up. I think it is a great idea. I have asked the Speaker 
to take that idea and now make it an institution rather than an 
individual's decision. Regardless of politics, regardless of where you 
were on the idea of going to war in either Iraq or Afghanistan, we use 
the people's House, put on that memorial, and let the families know as 
they get the letters from everybody who visits it, the cards, the 
letters, the notes, the tributes, they will always be a part of 
America's family, and they will never be forgotten.

                              {time}  2030

  And they will always be in our prayers and our thoughts. I think this 
is something we owe these families. And I hope we can accomplish this, 
unlike other matters, in a bipartisan fashion. It is an idea I saw one 
of our colleagues had done outside his office, and I am hoping now the 
institution will take it up and make it its own in a proper tribute; 
and it be would be a temporary tribute for all those families and to 
all those who have fallen in both the theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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