On the recordJanuary 18, 2012
Our Nation is now in the 124th consecutive month of war. And while those of us privileged to serve in this body enjoyed time back home with our families for the holidays, there is no such holiday break for our servicemembers who are serving in harm's way. {time} 1050 Thousands of American families had a permanently empty seat around their table this holiday season because a son or daughter or mother or father was killed in one of these senseless wars that we've been fighting. I would note as a bit of an aside, Mr. Speaker, how ironic it is that 2 days ago we celebrated a Federal holiday named for a man who was a proud and principled pacifist, who believed in the moral power of nonviolent resistance. Martin Luther King once said, ``A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.'' Mr. Speaker, it's time we paid more than lip service to his dream; it's time we started living it. It's time also that we paid more than lip service to our veterans who are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. These men and women who have courageously sacrificed so much for us are coming home to an economy that seems to have no place for them. Yes, we're in the grips of a devastating job crisis that's affecting just about every community and every group in the United States, but veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are feeling the squeeze disproportionately.…
