Political Quotes

“Our veterans, our servicemembers, and their families sacrificed greatly in service to our country, with some paying the ultimate price, sacrificing all. For those who do come home, there are often visible and invisible wounds that they carry with them for a very long time--if not for the rest of their lives. It is our solemn responsibility as a country to stand by them, to ensure that they receive the care and the services and the respect that they have earned and that they deserve through their service. So the fact that, today, a veteran or a Gold Star family member who wants to use a national war memorial for a special event--whether it is a vigil, a religious service, a parade, or any other kind of event--is slapped with an application fee by the National Park Service costing anywhere from $70 to over $100 is, frankly, unacceptable. Our war memorials are often a place of healing, a place where our brothers and sisters in uniform, our fellow veterans, gather to remember those whom they served with who never made that trip home, for Gold Star family members to go and pay homage to and share new memories with their loved one that has been lost. This is a gathering place that is so important both for those who have served and those who remember and honor those who have sacrificed everything. It is unacceptable that our Nation's heroes have to pay a fee to honor our fallen brothers and sisters in this way.…”