On the recordDecember 18, 2012
As we end the 112th Congress, we are faced with two crises: the fiscal cliff crisis; and now a gun crisis and a mental health crisis, that comes to us from Newtown, Connecticut. When you consider that this is a Congress which has not been able to handle even minor issues, much less crises, one begins to wonder whether we will live up to what is required of any person who is a Member of the United States Congress. {time} 1050 This morning, I come for something less than a crisis for the country, something far easier to solve. I am calling on the Defense Authorization Conference Committee to solve a simple noncrisis problem, a problem, though, that casts shame on our treatment of our active-duty military, our veterans, and their families. Thanks to Chairman Buck McKeon and Ranking Member Adam Smith, the House passed Defense Authorization bill contains a simple provision. That provision says that when you raise the flags of the 50 States at military ceremonies, if you're raising or displaying the flags of the 50 States, you must also display the flags of the District of Columbia and the five territories. The territories and the District have always served disproportionately in war, but what we are asking for today and what the House bill provides is the simple respect that anyone who wears the uniform and any family member of that active military person or veteran is entitled to.…
