Brian Mast: “I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I was asked by somebody about this piece of legislation, the…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I was asked by somebody about this piece of legislation, the Congressional Gold Medal for the 13 killed on August 26, and why not a gold medal for the thousands that have been killed in the war on terror, the ones that I wear on my wrist and the ones with names on the wall in the Rayburn Office Building and those that we see the markers for in Arlington National Cemetery. The fact is, we could give every one of them a thousand gold medals and it wouldn't represent a thousandth of what we owe those who have given their lives in defense of this country. This gold medal isn't about that. It is about what we owe to the living. This gold medal is a result of America's leaders being weak. That is why we are awarding this gold medal. We owe our fighters strength. We owe them that we never be intimidated, that we never back up, that we never retreat, that we never surrender. And as leaders, if we can't promise that to our fighters, then we owe it to them to never ask to lead.”