[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12246]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                   Private First Class Katie Soenksen

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, it is with deep sadness that I announce 
to the Senate that one of Iowa's own, PFC Katie Soenksen of Davenport, 
has given her life in service to her country in Iraq. My thoughts and 
prayers are with her parents, Mary Ann and Ronald Soenksen, her brother 
and sister, and all her family and friends as they grieve her loss. 
Katie is one of many members of her extended family who have served 
their country in the military, and she felt a calling to military 
service. She even visited her former high school, Davenport North, to 
recruit for the Army. She joined the Army knowing full well what 
sacrifices she might be asked to make, but she believed in what she was 
doing and in her mission in Iraq. Katie kept in regular contact with 
her family and reported about the tremendous good she and her fellow 
soldiers were doing to make better the lives of everyday Iraqis. 
Certainly the Iraqi citizens whose lives she helped to improve, as well 
as all Americans, whose security she has helped ensure, owe her a 
tremendous debt of gratitude. Our Nation is truly blessed to have such 
citizens as Katie Soenksen who are prepared to make the ultimate 
sacrifice for our freedom, and I am proud to call her an Iowan. Words 
cannot adequately express the thanks owed to her and her family, who 
feel her loss so deeply. Her ashes will now rest alongside her fellow 
patriots at the National Cemetery on Arsenal Island, and her soul is no 
doubt in heaven.

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