Frank Lautenberg: “this week we are in a rush to finish our business so we can head home for the Memorial Day Recess. Memorial Day signals…”

“this week we are in a rush to finish our business so we can head home for the Memorial Day Recess. Memorial Day signals the beginning of summer, when children are out of school and families get to spend time together. It's a time for vacations and trips to the shore, and backyard barbecues. But most important of all, Memorial Day is also the time when we remember the brave soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. This year there are almost a thousand more names on that list than last Memorial Day. In total 2,750 troops have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan: 2,455 in Iraq and 295 in Afghanistan. Almost 18,000 more have been seriously wounded. I keep a gallery of the pictures of the fallen outside my office in the Hart building. More and more people come to visit it, and I encourage my colleagues, their staff and our constiuent guests to view it and honor the memories of these heroes. New Jersey families have lost 71 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year, near Memorial Day, I read the names of New Jersey's fallen troops into the Congressional Record, where they would be enshrined for all time. Fifteen more New Jerseyans have died since then. Today, with your indulgence, I would like to read their names and hometowns into the Record: SSG Jeremy A. Brown, whose mother lives in West Orange; SPC Armer N. Burkart, Blairstown; PFC Ryan D. Christensen, whose mother lives in Brick; LTC Terrence K. Crowe, member of the U.S.…”