[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15148]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           GOLD STAR MOTHERS

  (Mr. BACON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. BACON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our fellow 
Americans who know what it means to give the ultimate sacrifice to the 
Nation: our Gold Star families.
  This past weekend, we observed National Gold Star Mothers and 
Families Day, a solemn reminder of our sacred obligation to hold dear 
in our heart and to never forget those in uniform we have lost. Psalm 
34 says: ``The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who 
are crushed in spirit.''
  I believe this was on President Lincoln's mind when he wrote to Mrs. 
Bixby, a mother who lost five of her sons in the Civil War. President 
Lincoln wrote: ``I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the 
anguish of your bereavement and leave you only with the cherished 
memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours 
to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.''
  Like many in this Chamber, I have presented and saluted too many 
flag-draped coffins of our fallen warriors. As we remember them, let us 
also recommit ourselves to the task of caring for the families they 
leave behind who forever carry the pain of their loss. As they gave to 
the Nation, the Nation must give to them.
  Today, I urge my colleagues to join me in renewing our obligations to 
our Gold Star families, a commitment for life.

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