Frank Lautenberg: “I traveled to Beirut--and that was my freshman year in 1983--and I was there between the killing of the 241 and the…”

“I traveled to Beirut--and that was my freshman year in 1983--and I was there between the killing of the 241 and the killing of 8 more that the Senator recalls a few weeks later. It was a disastrous scene and left an impression that one can never forget of these young people in their sleep taken from us. I never recall hearing one family saying too much exposure resulted from that. I did not hear anybody ever say to the public, my son, in an unidentified casket, should not be honored in a generic way with his comrades who also are fallen in pursuit of an American objective. As the Senator was recalling his views and offering this amendment, I looked at some information we have, a New York Times/CBS poll from September 2003 that found 62 percent of Americans said the public should be allowed to see pictures of the military Honor Guard receiving the coffins of these soldiers killed in Iraq as they return to the United States.”