[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8600]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING STATEN ISLAND'S WORLD WAR II VETERANS

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR.

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2017

  Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Speaker, on May 31, 2017, the North Central Kiwanis 
Club will host a dinner honoring Staten Island's World War II veterans. 
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, with immense gratitude for the patriotic 
sacrifice our WWII veterans gave to our country in its triumph over 
evil.
  After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on December 7, 
1941--the ``date which will live in infamy,'' as President Roosevelt so 
eloquently stated--the United States declared war on the Axis Powers, 
joining the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, Free French Forces, and China 
in their fight against brutality, barbarity, and oppression. We owe our 
lives to the servicemen who, without a moment's hesitation, leapt to 
defend their country and the world from Nazism and fascism. Moreover, 
many even lied about their age just so they could join the fight. The 
world will never forget their valor and courage.
  Life. Democracy. Freedom. Many take these for granted. If not for the 
veterans of the Second World War, those values would simply be an 
impossible dream. In a speech to the House of Commons on August 20, 
1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared, ``Never in the field 
of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.'' I cannot 
think of a better statement to describe what this nation owes to its 
WWII veterans. It is simply not possible to repay the insurmountable 
debt we owe to them.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to provide my everlasting thanks to the men who 
answered their country's call in the moment when they were needed most. 
They are the saviors of our nation and for that, I salute them.