Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlelady from the District of Columbia for giving me this opportunity to speak today. As negotiations begin on the final fiscal year 2013 Defense Authorization bill, I rise today with my fellow delegates to urge the Senate to adopt the House provision in the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act. This provision would require in statute the integration and display of the flags of each of the U.S. territories at U.S. military installations when and where the flags of the 50 States are flown or displayed. Mr. Speaker, the lack of a unified Armed Forces policy requiring the display of the flags of our U.S. territories is indeed a serious oversight. It is an oversight on the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories who are part of the American family and who have unique histories with our Nation. Mr. Speaker, in our Nation's history, soldiers have fought valiantly in battle, but at times with little recognition--from the hundreds of thousands of African Americans who fought for our Nation since the time of the Revolutionary War, to some 200,000-plus soldiers who made up 10 percent of the entire Union Army in the Civil War, to the tens of thousands of Japanese American soldiers who fought alongside their fellow Americans in Europe during World War II. Servicemembers and veterans of the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories are marginalized by this oversight, despite our significant contributions to our Nation. As a matter of fact, the U.S.…”