[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              EQUAL RECOGNITION FOR DC AND THE TERRITORIES

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor to thank the House for 
recognizing that all veterans and members of the military must be 
recognized equally, not only some of them; and I have asked the Senate 
to do the same.
  Imagine you are a parent. You go to a military ceremony, for example, 
the graduation from Navy boot camp. Applause comes with each graduate 
as his or her name is called, and the flag of the home State is raised. 
But your flag is not raised. Why? Because your son is from the District 
of Columbia or one of the Territories.
  The House defense authorization bill recognizes the injustice of the 
discrimination against any of our veterans or members of the military. 
The Senate bill does not. We ask that the Senate follow the lead of the 
House.
  In our country, no American--and especially no veteran or member of 
the military--is more equal than any other. If the military flies the 
flags, then fly them all.

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