[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 10239-10240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            U.S. NAVY SEALS

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 2009

  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I stand in this hall that is a 
symbol for the world of our country's freedom. Americans have fought 
and paid the ultimate price for this nation and the freedoms we value 
so deeply.
  That is why it is such an honor for me to stand before you today 
Madam Speaker, because today I am standing to say thank you and to 
cheer from the gallery for the world to hear--All hail the men and 
women of the United States Navy and all hail the brave men of the Navy 
SEALs.
  For all the flags we fly and yellow ribbons we tie, for all the times 
we stand in support of the job carried out by our service men and 
women. Rarely does a moment come when we as a nation get a chance to 
thank these individuals whose duty and job it is to go far beyond the 
limits and demands of a normal soldier.
  Rare is the chance this nation gets to see and understand exactly how 
good these men are at their job, till now.
  On Wednesday April 8th a crew of pirates took hostage an unarmed 
American merchant ship. Captured was Captain Richard Phillips and for 5 
days this Sea Captain was held at gun point on a small boat drifting at 
sea.
  On Easter Sunday after many days of unrest, a team of Navy SEALs were 
sent in to rescue Captain Phillips. It only took 3 shots

[[Page 10240]]

from sniper rifles and a matter of minutes for the SEALs to disable all 
the 3 pirates on the ship and free Captain Phillips.
  These brave Navy SEALs take the responsibility to continuously put 
themselves in the thick of the most dangerous situations the world 
presents. These SEALs risk their lives to protect Americans and they do 
it not for their gain and not for glory. They do it out of love for a 
country and fellow Americans.
  In 1962, President John F. Kennedy stood before this nation and 
talked about the ever changing world that we lived in, how war itself 
was changing and in order for this country to continue to thrive and 
protect its own interests this country needed to establish a small, 
elite military force that could conduct covert missions and battle 
unconventional warfare. To that end the United States created one of 
the most highly trained and skilled unit in our armed forces, the Navy 
SEALs.
  A SEAL spends two years training in the harshest conditions simply 
for the right to do this job. A SEAL's life is one of just being a step 
ahead of death. These brave men begin a mission and all too often only 
their failures are ever known.
  An opportunity for this nation to stop and thank these SEALs for all 
that they have done does not come around that often and I for one am 
glad that today I get this chance.
  We need more people like these SEALs in this country, people who are 
willing to put this nation first and their petty differences aside for 
the greater good.
  We need more people in this country who are willing to stand for all 
that is right and honorable in this world and be willing to defend 
those that are weak, held down or scared to fight for themselves.
  We need to stop expecting someone else to do the tough jobs for us 
and start doing them ourselves.
  These SEALs are heroes, plain and simple and the debt we owe them, I 
fear we will never truly be able to repay them. God bless these SEALs, 
God Bless the men and women who protect this nation each and every day 
and God Bless America.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________