[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8391-8393]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              MEMORIAL DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 
5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, on Monday we observe Memorial Day to honor 
members of America's Armed Forces who have died in service to our 
Nation. For those who have lost a loved one, a friend, a neighbor, or a 
comrade, this day has added significance, remembrance, and sadness.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Thompson).
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, many of us in this House will attend Memorial Day 
ceremonies over the weekend as we honor those who have died in the 
service to this great Nation.
  Certainly, in this office, one of the more difficult but one of the 
most honored opportunities is to be at the grave site of our fallen 
heroes as they are laid to rest and that American flag, which flies 
over our Capitol, is draped over their coffin.
  On this Memorial Day, I really want to highlight my brother-in-law, 
Larry Emerman, who in the fall of 1980, in the service of this country 
as a pilot in the United States Navy as a lieutenant commander, lost 
his life in the service of our Nation.
  Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day is 
one of America's most solemn occasions. The tradition of Memorial Day 
dates back to 1864 in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, which is considered to 
be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Three ladies decorated the graves of 
fallen Civil War soldiers, and the custom has continued every year 
since then.
  It was an early fall day, in 1864, when Emma Hunter and her friend, 
Sophie Keller, picked flowers and went to the old cemetery to lay them 
on the grave of Emma's father, Reuben Hunter. Dr. Hunter was a young 
Boalsburg doctor at the time of the Civil War. When he volunteered to 
serve with the Army of the North, he was assigned to the hospital in 
Baltimore. In addition to attending the wounded soldiers, he also cared 
for the men who had contracted yellow fever while fighting in the 
southern swamplands. Dr. Hunter became ill. He died of yellow fever, 
and his body was buried in the Boalsburg Cemetery.
  On their way that day in that early fall, the two girls met Mrs. 
Elizabeth Myers, whose young son, Amos, had been killed the last day of 
the Battle of Gettysburg and was also buried in the old cemetery. 
Learning where the girls were going, Mrs. Myers asked to join them. 
They shared the flowers, and they placed them on both graves. It was 
decided then and there that they would meet the following year with 
flowers for all who had died in the Civil War. The three young women 
told their friends of the plans, and when the day came around, most of 
the villagers joined them.
  From that simple beginning came the observance of Memorial Day in 
Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. Every year since then, the people have met on 
the Diamond in Boalsburg Square for the walk to the old cemetery to lay 
flowers on the graves of all the soldiers dead.
  They are led by a hometown band. All ages join in the walk and 
participate in the simple service of remembering. I have been proud to 
participate in that tradition which has spanned more than 150 years.
  Boalsburg still puts on a traditional Memorial Day celebration 
complete with a parade, a community walk to the cemetery, speeches, 
military reenactments, and much more.
  On Memorial Day, communities across the country will pay tribute to 
our fallen veterans who never returned home. Many of us will gather 
with family members, friends, and neighbors as we keep those we lost in 
our hearts.
  Unfortunately, for many of our Nation, Memorial Day has become a day 
of picnics and family gatherings, which is not a bad thing, but we must 
always remember truly where Memorial Day came from and its purpose, 
that we not forget those sacrifices.
  So as we raise the Stars and Stripes and as we lay wreaths at the 
monuments, memorials, and cemeteries, let us remember that our freedom 
is thanks to those who have died in sacrifice. We celebrate Memorial 
Day in honor of so many who are no longer with us. May God bless them, 
and certainly God bless the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for his leadership 
and putting this opportunity today for us to gather on the floor to 
speak on the topic of not just Memorial Day but the service and the 
sacrifice that warranted its origination.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Memorial Day on May 29, 2017. 
On this day, Americans across our Nation pay respects to and honor 
members of the U.S. Armed Forces who have sacrificed their lives 
defending the freedoms that we so gratefully enjoy.
  The decision to leave families and friends, travel to a land that is 
utterly unfamiliar, and risk their lives protecting the lives of others 
is among the most selfless acts one can make.
  Roughly 1.5 million Americans are currently serving in one of the 
five branches of the Armed Forces. Of these Americans, nearly 90,000 
are assigned to one of Georgia's numerous military bases which are 
scattered throughout our great State.
  Georgia's First Congressional District that I have the honor and 
privilege of representing is particularly important to our Nation's 
Armed Forces as it includes Fort Stewart Army Base, Hunter Army 
Airfield, Kings Bay Naval Base, and Moody Air Force Base.
  The service provided by our Nation's armed services is invaluable. 
Throughout our history, millions have paid the ultimate price for 
freedom--they have given their lives in order to save ours. I ask that 
you please keep these brave men and women in your prayers, not only on 
Memorial Day but every day.
  It is an honor to represent a State and a district with such a strong 
tie to our Nation's defense. I ask that you pray for our troops, and I 
ask that you pray for our Nation. God bless each and

[[Page 8392]]

every one of you as we observe this great Memorial Day. God bless 
America.

                              {time}  1830

  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to my colleague from 
North Carolina (Mr. Hudson).
  Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because this week is All 
American Week, the annual celebration of the 82nd Airborne Division's 
mission and the paratroopers who serve to uphold it.
  Based in my district at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne 
Division is the Nation's Global Response Force and can mobilize, load, 
and strike in a moment's notice. These rapid reaction forces put the 
``air'' in airborne and are absolutely vital to our national security.
  This year marks the division's 100th anniversary, and it is a special 
time for us to celebrate its incredible history as America's Guard of 
Honor.
  Since its inception, the 82nd Airborne Division has played a role in 
every major U.S. conflict around the world. It was nicknamed the ``All 
American Division'' because of the unique and diverse group of soldiers 
who came together to form the division from all across the United 
States.
  As the Representative of Fort Bragg in Congress, I am so proud of the 
82nd Airborne's legacy, of our paratroopers and their families. They 
put country before self, and we are so grateful.
  I will continue to work to ensure this critical installation remains 
the epicenter of the universe and the tip of the spear guaranteeing our 
national security.
  As we celebrate All American Week this week, I ask my fellow 
Americans to join me in praying for servicemembers stationed at Fort 
Bragg who are currently deployed and for their families here at home.
  We also remember our veterans who served in the 82nd Airborne 
Division, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Today's 
paratroopers stand on the shoulders of these giants.
  Airborne, all the way.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, each Memorial Day, a newspaper in my State, 
the Arizona Republic, publishes one particular letter to remind its 
readers of the sacrifice our soldiers made in defense of their country. 
The letter is written by Sullivan Ballou to his wife on July 14, 1861.
  Sullivan was a major in the Union Army, 32 years old, and about to 
enter the first battle of Bull Run. A little more than a week later, 
almost 3,000 Union soldiers had perished, including Sullivan.
  Major Sullivan's letter reads as follows: ``My very dear Sarah: The 
indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days--perhaps 
tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to 
write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more. 
. . .
  ``I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in 
which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how 
strongly American civilization now leans on the triumph of the 
government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us 
through the blood and sufferings of the Revolution. And I am willing--
perfectly willing--to lay down all my joys in this life to help 
maintain this government and to pay that debt. . . .
  ``Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with 
mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence could break; and yet my love 
of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistibly 
on with all these chains to the battlefield. The memories of the 
blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I 
feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them for so 
long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes 
of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved 
together, and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us.
  ``I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, 
but something whispers to me--perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my 
little Edgar--that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do 
not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last 
breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.
  ``Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How 
thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been. How gladly would I wash 
out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness. . . .
  ``But, O Sarah, if the dead can come back to this Earth and flit 
unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the 
gladdest days and in the darkest nights . . . always, always, and if 
there be a soft breeze upon your check, it shall be my breath, as the 
cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.
  ``Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for 
we shall meet again.''
  So closes Major Ballou's letter.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to my colleague, the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Brat).
  Mr. BRAT. Mr. Speaker, first I would like to thank my very good 
friend from Arizona (Mr. Biggs), first of all, for his moving testimony 
on behalf of the greatest folks who ever served our Nation and for 
arranging this Special Order to honor the valiant men and women that 
serve our country every day.
  While most of America views Memorial Day, rightly, as the official 
start of summer vacations and cookouts, which we all enjoy, I hope we 
also do not forget to pause and remember the men and women who give the 
full, last measure of devotion serving our country. It is a day to 
remember those who died defending the freedoms we hold dear and 
acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe to our servicemembers and 
their loved ones. This weekend, we stop to mourn so many of our heroes 
who served: brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, aunts and uncles 
who never came home.
  National cemeteries often serve as the final resting place for those 
who served our country. Founded by President Lincoln and enacted by 
Congress in 1862, today you can find these cemeteries tucked away in 
communities across America. Too often the history and stories they hold 
remain untold or forgotten.
  In 1867, Culpeper National Cemetery was established and is located in 
my congressional district. Earlier this month, a 23-year-old young man 
was laid to rest there.
  U.S. Army Sergeant Cameron Thomas grew up in Ohio, but his family 
later made Culpeper, Virginia, home. I was proud to see so many members 
of the Culpeper community lining the streets holding American flags to 
honor Sergeant Thomas.
  At the age of 19, Sergeant Thomas became one of the youngest soldiers 
to ever earn the Ranger designation. On his fifth deployment, he was 
killed in action on April 27 in Afghanistan during a night raid on a 
remote ISIS stronghold that resulted in killing the head of ISIS in 
Afghanistan.
  Family members and friends described him as a man who lived with 
intention and determination. He believed anything worth doing was worth 
overdoing and that moderation is for cowards. He was a man who knew his 
mission and served our country with distinction.
  Sergeant Cameron Thomas represented the best of our armed services. 
He loved his family, passionately served his country, and will be a 
soldier we honor and cherish for the rest of our Nation's history.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Biggs) for doing this service for our country.
  Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I am going to take a moment to give 
recognition to a special veteran from my district who is 90 years old 
and is a World War II veteran, who worked in the U.S. Navy during World 
War II and saw many trips across the Pacific Ocean and endured the life 
of a sailor, sometimes monotonous and sometimes under very perilous 
circumstances, including at least one attack by kamikazes of his ship 
and convoy.
  I pay special tribute at this time to Wayne Whitlock, who has 
persevered

[[Page 8393]]

for many years after service to his country in that great war.
  Mr. Speaker, I am also reminded tonight of President Abraham 
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. As President Lincoln looked out on a 
battlefield that had experienced almost 50,000 casualties, he said: 
``The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but 
it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, 
rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who 
fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be 
here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these 
honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they 
gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve 
that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this Nation, under 
God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the 
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the 
Earth.''
  Mr. Speaker, very few of us in this Chamber will be remembered long 
after we leave Washington, D.C. Almost no one will remember my speech 
tonight, and it will soon become lost in the Congressional Record. Yet 
we are here in this body because of the heroic efforts of men and women 
who have given their lives for this country for over 200 years. We can 
never forget their sacrifices.
  The only reason we can participate in the activities of this Chamber 
is because of the sacrifices of our Armed Forces, particularly those 
who have paid the ultimate price. They have nobly defended our freedoms 
and our way of life up to their last measure of devotion. They left 
behind fathers, mothers, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, 
friends, and communities to ensure that future generations walk in the 
light of liberty.
  President Lincoln was resolved that those soldiers shall not have 
died in vain. They and all the soldiers who have died defending 
American wars and conflicts still deserve that respect and dignity.
  Mr. Speaker, we should govern every day with our heroes in mind. We 
should strive to make them proud of our speech, our actions, and our 
commitment to our promises. The American Dream, spirit, and 
Constitution that they fought for should be our charge.
  I would be remiss tonight if I did not mention the loved ones these 
patriots left behind, who are also patriotic. Countless men, women, and 
children have watched their American soldiers walk away from home, 
hoping that they will return safely, unaffected physically, mentally, 
and emotionally. Sadly, many of those heroes never make it home. 
Knowing that no words can do justice to their sacrifices, I can only 
say: Thank you. A grateful nation mourns with your loss.
  Mr. Speaker, Monday may be the official observance of Memorial Day, 
but we live with the memory of our fallen heroes every day across our 
country. I am eternally grateful for their sacrifices.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay respect to the American 
warfighter. As we celebrate Military Appreciation Month, it is 
important to convey that the words we use to honor our brave men and 
women in uniform must be followed up by action. The time for paying 
artificial lip service to the military community is over.
  Next month, the House Armed Services Committee will initiate its 
annual markup of the National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA is 
one of the few things in Washington that actually works. The NDAA has 
been passed--with bipartisan support--for the last 56 years.
  But this year's NDAA might be the most important yet. For the last 
eight years, our military has been degraded, defunded, and disgraced by 
the previous administration's attempt to lead from behind. Today, the 
United States military lacks the requisite personnel and material 
readiness required to protect our nation against unforeseen and near-
peer adversaries.
  Our nation faces a litany of global threats from North Korea and 
Syria, to the Islamic State and Iran. Failed states and trans-national 
fundamentalist regimes that want nothing more than to destroy democracy 
and the American spirit. The United States military is America's front 
line defense against the plague of radical Islamic terrorism and 
demagogues.
  There is no other way to say it. Our military is broken. Consider the 
following:
  The Navy is in its smallest state in 99 years, and faces increased 
demand with limited resources (274 ships).
  Moreover, the Navy can only satisfy 40% of all Combatant Commander 
requests due to high operational tempo and lengthy maintenance periods.
  50% of the civilian workforce working in Navy shipyards have less 
than five years of experience, and such inexperience impacts the on-
time delivery of new ships, and increases the cost of the American 
taxpayer.
  Prior to 1992, the Air Force purchased about 200 fighter aircraft per 
year; today the Air Force buys less than 20; that is a 90 percent 
reduction of new fighter aircraft.
  And of the 58 Army Brigades stationed around the world, only three--
three--are prepared to fight in an armed conflict tonight, meaning they 
require no additional training, manpower, or equipment.
  I am honored to serve as the elected representatives of one of the 
largest military districts in America. No district in this entire 
country has more military retirees, military veterans, and military 
dependents than Northwest Florida.
  Few districts can lay claim to Northwest Florida's operational and 
training footprint. My district is home to the Army's 7th Special 
Forces Group; the Air Force Special Operations Command; The Joint Gulf 
Range Complex which provides supersonic air combat training and 
hypersonic weapons testing for frontline warfighters like the F-35 and 
the F-22; and Pensacola Naval Air Station, the cradle of Naval 
Aviation.
  But the time for honoring the brave men and women of the military 
with just words is over. They need more than free dinners at Applebee's 
and free milkshakes at Dairy Queen to feel truly appreciated. We need 
congressional commitment to end the scourge of sequestration. We need 
to right the wrongs of the previous administration's systematic 
dismantling of military readiness. We need the 115th Congress show its 
true military appreciation by providing the American warfighter with 
the tools, training, and long term funding to protect the homeland and 
sustain America as the preeminent global superpower.

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