Veterans Day

VETERANS DAY

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I am proud to come to the floor of the Senate and join in solemn tribute to the millions of American men and women who have protected our freedom over the long history of our Republic.

Every American knows it is part of our national character to pay tribute to the service of those who have worn the uniform of our Armed Forces to defend our way of life.

As a nation, we have dedicated this day to reflect upon the service and sacrifice of the many generations of Americans who have delivered and preserved for us a nation free and strong.

This Veterans Day is even more solemn and thoughtful for all Americans for we are a nation at war. Americans are fully aware that hundreds of thousands of their neighbors, son and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers are in harms way around the globe. Americans are fully aware that over four hundred service members have lost and continue to risk their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan while over 2,400 more have been wounded or injured. All Americans share the pain and sense of loss for those killed and those suffering from wounds. And Americans recognize and are ready for the many sacrifices that lie ahead. We are a resolute people determined to defend our liberty and bring peace and justice to a dangerous world. This determination is evident throughout our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.

I saw it myself when I visited soldiers of the Florida National Guard's 124th Infantry in Baghdad last summer. They are tough, well-trained, devoted citizen soldiers demonstrating their professionalism every day on the dangerous streets of a city that still quakes with war. These great soldiers are worthy of their legacy; they are worthy of our admiration and gratitude.

We must be worthy of them and keep the Nation's promises to them-our promise to attend to their welfare and the welfare of their families.

As Abraham Lincoln instructed us, ours is an obligation to, "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and for his orphan." Too often we fall short on this care. We must meet this obligation with the same sense of determination and honor as our veterans' service is always rendered.

We have underfunded our veterans health care system and the backlog of claims remains unacceptably high. This is not right.

We have partially eliminated the disabled veterans tax, or Concurrent Receipt, but only for one-third of those entitled to
both their retired pay and disability compensation. We have created among our retired veterans the "haves" and "have-nots" and this is simply not right. They are all worthy and deserve to have what they have been promised now without delay.

We have done nothing to improve our systems for caring for the survivors of veterans or retirees, especially those that were 100 percent disabled. The Department of Defense Survivor Benefits Plan remains uncorrected for offsets based on benefits from Social Security and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation-reductions in income in amounts and at times that widows often can least afford.

We, the Congress, must keep trying to do the right thing by these our greatest Americans.

The Nation continues to be truly blessed that our youth, our future generations, take inspiration from the devotion and sacrifice of those who have answered the Nation's call to arms in the past and those who defend us around a very dangerous world today.

Today we are reminded of where we have been as a nation, and upon whose sacrifice we have become what we are.

Let us rededicate ourselves to freedom and justice and peace-and the sacrifice of those men and women whose service will deliver and preserve them for America and our friends around the world. For this we are a stronger people, a stronger nation, and a stronger community.

Let us pray for the safety of our men and women in uniform past and present, and let us pray for the comfort of their loved ones.