On Veterans Day, Edwards Calls on America to Meet Moral Test of This Generation

Statement

On Veterans Day, Edwards Calls on America to Meet Moral Test of This Generation

Today, Senator John Edwards made the following remarks in a speech in Des Moines commemorating Veterans Day:

"Veterans Day is a time to remember our men and women in uniform who have served and sacrificed for our nation so that we could live free and enjoy our rights and liberties. But it also a day to reflect upon what it means to be American and to consider what the sacrifices of those who have served in uniform demand of each of us.

"All those who have served our nation from Valley Forge to Baghdad have risked everything they have and everything they are, not so the torch of a better America passed from one generation to the next might be dropped, but to keep it burning strong. In their name, we must no longer turn our heads. We must no longer live in vague acknowledgment of the corruption and incompetence that threatens the promise of our children's future while saying to ourselves, the problem's just too big, there's nothing we can do about it.

"It will not be easy, but we are Americans - we never take the easy way out. Let us stand up and give everything we have as all those before us have done. In their name, let the world know that the fight for a greater America begins today. For universal health care, ending poverty, honoring our veterans, reclaiming our democracy, and ending the war in Iraq. For opportunity, equality, justice, and the idea of America.

"This is the moral test of our generation. We can meet it. We will meet it."

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