Political Quotes

“I rise today with profound sadness to honor the short, yet exceptional life of Lance Corporal Seth G. Jones, who perished last Saturday, along with 18 fellow Marines, in an aircraft crash near Marana, Arizona. Madam Speaker, Lance Corporal Jones was only 18 years of age. A native of Bend, Oregon, and a graduate of Mountain View High School, he joined the Marine Corps in February of 1999. After graduating from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, Seth fulfilled his long-held dream of serving in the infantry. At the time of his death, he served as an assaultman assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. Remembered by friends and family alike as a motivated young American with a steadfast sense of patriotism and duty, Lance Corporal Jones was, quite simply, what parents want their children to grow up to be. His high school ROTC instructor remembered him as 'more than enthusiastic, energetic and intense. Seth was turbocharged.' Seth's hockey coach recalled meeting him after he completed basic training and saying, 'In that short time he had gone from a teenager to an adult. He had grown up.' Madam Speaker, nothing is more tragic than a life so full of promise cut short before its time. And there is no worse grief than that suffered by parents who must bury their child, because it is not the way life's journey is supposed to go.”