The Sacrifice of our Fighting Men and Women

THE SACRIFICE OF OUR FIGHTING MEN AND WOMEN -- (House of Representatives - October 25, 2005)

(Mr. ABERCROMBIE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Mr. Speaker, the spokesperson for the Pentagon in Baghdad today indicated that anyone who even comments on the fact that 2,000 fighting men and women have died on behalf of the United States in Iraq, anyone who even comments on this, is undermining morale, should not even be allowed to make a comment unless they will be designated as having a political agenda. He went on to state that anyone commenting on the fact that 2,000 fighting men and women have died in Iraq in our name, that anyone who even comments on that at this stage is not entitled to regard themselves as being truly a patriotic American by implication. He went on to say that this does not even rise to the level of a story.

Well, Mr. Speaker, I bet it was a story to the parents and loved ones of the fighting man who died No. 2,000. This is a benchmark, yes, a benchmark of the failure and our failure here in the Congress to come to grips with what the word ``sacrifice'' really means.

We are not sacrificing in this country. We are watching it on TV. We are adding it up. We are looking at it, observing it, and not really understanding our obligation and our responsibility to the true sacrifice of these fighting men and women.

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