On the recordDecember 7, 2017
In 2008, I introduced a resolution amending House rules, which would require that we open the first session day of every month with a moment of silence in honor of the military members who had been killed in war. Speaker Nancy Pelosi got word of my resolution and her office informed me that amending the rules would not be necessary. Speaker Pelosi decided that she, and only she, would open the legislative month with that moment of remembrance. She kept her word and, monthly, met her commitment to our fallen American heroes. Yesterday, I introduced the same legislation, H. Res. 643, and I called on the Speaker of the House to initiate this policy of honoring the military members we have lost fighting for this country. Since Mr. Ryan became Speaker of the House in 2015, at least 165 brave American men and women have been killed in service. We in Congress have not sufficiently recognized or remembered those who have died for America. It is my belief that since Speaker Ryan is in the line of succession to become President of the United States and Commander in Chief, it is his constitutional responsibility, and solely his responsibility, to show gratitude to those who have died for this country. I wrote to Speaker Ryan on December 5 asking that he begin this tradition in January of 2018. In closing, I hope all of my colleagues will join me in support of H. Res. 643. America is at war. American military members are fighting and dying for this country.…
