[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13758]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           SESAME STREET-USO EXPERIENCE FOR MILITARY FAMILIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, back in May, I had the privilege of visiting 
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in my district for a special program put 
on by Sesame Street and the USO. The Sesame Street-USO experience for 
military families is a wonderful program aimed at helping children of 
servicemembers understand deployments. It also helps parents talk to 
their children about a parent who is coming home with a changed 
personality or not coming home at all.
  This program has spanned nine countries and 84 military bases. The 
Sesame Street mission is to improve the connection between parent and 
child during the long absence of deployment and help children 
understand the harsh realities of war.
  During my visit, I was thrilled by the enthusiasm of the Sesame 
Street actors and the excitement it brought to the children as well as 
the parents. This was a very heartwarming experience that brought hope 
and understanding to the very special children of our very special 
parents who make up our military.
  It is never easy to try to explain death or war to a child, but with 
the helpful tools this program uses, like a video using the Sesame 
Street characters explaining the death of a parent to a small child or 
a young person, the difficult issue becomes much easier to talk about.
  I would like to thank the USO and Sesame Street for their hard work 
and concern for our troops. These are people that have not forgotten 
our men and women overseas and their brave families back home waiting 
for the return of their loved one. I encourage my colleagues to attend 
one of these shows at a base in your State or near your district. You 
will realize, as I did, how important this program is to our military 
families. It is definitely something worth seeing.
  Again, I would like to say to Sesame Street and USO, thank you for 
making this commitment to these families. We know how difficult it is 
for our families going on these frequent deployments to Afghanistan and 
Iraq, and Sesame Street and USO, you are making a commitment that those 
of us in Congress are very grateful for.
  Mr. Speaker, before I close, as I do always on this floor, I ask God 
to please bless our men and women in uniform. I ask God to please bless 
the families of our men and women in uniform. I ask God in his loving 
arms to hold the families who have given a child dying for freedom in 
Afghanistan and Iraq.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask God to bless the House and Senate, that we will do 
what is right in the eyes of God for His people. And I ask God to 
please give strength, wisdom, and courage to President Obama, that he 
will always do what is right in the eyes of God for his people. And Mr. 
Speaker, I will ask three times, God, please, God, please, God, please 
continue to bless America.

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