[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8144]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HONOR THE WISH ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Massa). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, today is the sixth anniversary of the Iraq 
war. We Americans need to remember all those who have made sacrifices 
because of this war, the 4,259 service men and service women who have 
given their lives in this conflict.
  One of the soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice was Specialist 
Christopher Fox of Memphis, a constituent of mine, who was based in 
Fort Carson, Colorado.
  Only 21 years old, he was on a second tour in Iraq, was due to be 
discharged from the Army in July of this year. He was looking forward 
to attending the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, possibly to play 
football and to study criminal justice. He hoped to be a police officer 
so his military training would not have gone to waste after he left the 
service.
  But Specialist Fox did not make it home alive. He died in Iraq on 
September 29, 2008, of wounds sustained when he encountered small-arms 
fire while on patrol. On this anniversary of the war, we need to 
remember these sacrifices and do what we can to honor the memory and 
the wishes of the soldier who has given the ultimate sacrifice.
  Specialist Fox wanted his mother figure, not his mother, who was 
deceased, but his mother figure, a woman who was awarded temporary 
custody when he was 17, to oversee his burial arrangements, as soldiers 
are asked to designate someone. Her name was listed on the form that he 
filled out to direct the disposition of his remains. However, because 
of current Federal law, it is prohibited that servicemembers designate 
nonrelatives to make those arrangements.
  It is a travesty, Mr. Speaker, that our laws do not allow a soldier's 
wishes to be honored, especially for something as final, as simple, and 
as appropriate and meaningful as the disposition of their remains.
  Someone who puts their life on the line in defense of their country 
should be allowed to have whomever they wish to make arrangements for 
their memorial service. I attended his memorial service in West 
Memphis, Arkansas. There were few people there. There were no other 
public officials.
  It was unfortunate that even his mother figure wasn't able to make 
it, she was in Knoxville. But if she would have had the opportunity to 
make the arrangements, I think we would have seen something different.
  It is with this experience that I, along with Congressman John Duncan 
of Tennessee, where his mother figure lived and where he otherwise 
might have been buried, and Dana Rohrabacher of California, 
Congresswoman Watson and Congresswoman Gwen Moore are filing the Honor 
the Written Intent of Our Soldier Heroes Act today, or Honor the WISH 
Act.
  This bill will allow service men and women to designate whomever they 
want to direct the disposition of their remains. I hope my fellow 
Congress people will join me in sponsoring this act and help move it 
forward for passage. It seems only appropriate and fitting that we 
honor the wishes of our soldiers.

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