Sfc Sean Cooley and Spc Christopher Horton Congressional Gold Star Family Fellowship Program Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, this is one of my most momentous occasions here in the House of Representatives. We are recognizing the men and women who died in service of this great Nation and understanding that when they left here, they left families behind.

These are two--Sean Cooley and Chris Horton--who died in service of this great Nation. I have got their pictures up here to show what warriors they were. But they left families behind.

We are establishing this Gold Star Fellowship Program to honor these men, and many other men and women like them, who have given their all to defend this Nation.

Ronald Reagan used the words of Thomas Jefferson when he said, the blood of patriots is needed from time to time to refresh the tree of liberty--something to that effect. We have to make sure that we always honor those who give the ultimate sacrifice for this great Nation.

We have many Gold Star families here today. My friend Jane Horton came up with the idea for this bill. This is her husband who is pictured in this bill. Thank God that we have men and women who not only serve this Nation, but families who serve this Nation by allowing their family member to serve. Such bravery and such patriots. As long as we have them, this Nation will always sustain.

When we lose these types of patriots who are willing to give everything to this beautiful, wonderful Nation, then we no longer will have a Nation. Freedom is not free. But the least we can do is allow their family members to learn how to get engaged in the congressional process on a national and strategic level and to influence our decision so that we take care of those great patriots who left this country behind.

We will never forget, and we will never leave behind a fallen comrade or their survivor. So for our Gold Star families, thank you and God bless you. Their sacrifice was not in vain.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois.

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Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the Chairwoman from California, my esteemed colleague from Illinois, and their staffs for helping us get this bill to the floor.

From the immortal words of Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan, ``The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.''

H. Res. 107, The Sergeant First Class Sean Cooley and Specialist Christopher Horton Congressional Gold Star Family Fellowship Program Act takes a monumental and vitally important step toward educating the members of this chamber on the true costs of armed conflict.

Named after two warriors who lost their lives fighting America's enemies, this program provides the spouses, the children, and the siblings of those who gave their lives in service to our great nation in armed conflict or combat-related training, a paid fellowship with the Congressperson of their choice, here in Washington, or in their home district.

When our servicemembers make the ultimate sacrifice, there is no award, no amount of money or no program that can ever make their families whole again. But what this program does do, is it gives the families left behind a chance to participate in our great democratic process at the national level.

Their experiences, their trials, and their tribulations will now have a voice in these hallowed halls. A voice that will serve as a constant reminder that it is the military family that is the backbone of this great Republic and when we make the decision to send our nation's best to war, we must always be prepared to take care of those left behind.

General George Patton once said that ``it is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.''

I stand here today Mister Speaker and truly thank God for our men and women in uniform who are willing to sacrifice their lives for this great nation.

I would like to especially thank Mrs. Jane Horton for her tireless effort and dedication to the families of the fallen and all the Gold Star families in the Gallery this afternoon.

Your service and your sacrifice are a true inspiration to us all.

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