[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10873]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          LEAVE NOBODY BEHIND

  (Mr. NUGENT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, this Sunday marks the fourth year since 
Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was reported missing in action in Afghanistan.
  It is on this sober occasion that veterans and concerned citizens 
across the United States will appeal to their government, asking those 
who have the means to find every unaccounted soldier, sailor, airman, 
marine, or guardsman and bring them home.
  Currently, less than 1 percent of the American population serves in 
the Armed Forces at any time. Though their sacrifice is great, many 
Americans are not touched by this on a personal level because the 
numbers of our servicemembers are so few.
  The men and women who step between us and those who would harm us are 
young, but they are brave and they are strong, so it's easy to forget 
that they are so young, filled with an ambition, passion, honor--and a 
full life ahead of them with unrestrained potential.
  Our troops are the children of concerned parents. Many of them are 
also parents of scared children, and that collective fear is endured by 
every family left behind. When warfighters do not come home, when they 
are held as captives or their whereabouts are unknown, the strain on 
loved ones is unbearable.
  All three of my sons are highly capable and well-trained soldiers, 
but every time they deploy, I worry about when they are away.
  My wife and I know the anxiety of Blue Star parents. Our hearts and 
prayers go out to Gold Star parents, but I cannot imagine what it is to 
not know the condition or fate of a child missing in action or held as 
a prisoner of war. So it is today that we recognize the solemn 
responsibility a Nation has to servicemembers and their families.
  Congressman Andrews and I join with our Senate colleagues in this 
bipartisan, bicameral resolution: to support the military's efforts to 
rescue or recover every warfighter; to remind the American people and 
their elected representatives of our national responsibility to the 
families of those who protect us; and to assure every member of the 
Armed Forces--past, present, and future--that we leave nobody behind.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that those here remember Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

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