Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise for two purposes this morning. The first is to speak about a native of Scranton, PA, who died serving our country in Afghanistan. LCpl Larry M. Johnson, just 19 years old, lost his life in the service to his country in the last couple of days. He becomes for Pennsylvania the 43rd soldier killed in action in Afghanistan, with an additional 191 Pennsylvanians who have been wounded at last count. When we lose one of our brave young soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq or anywhere around the world, we have a lot to say about their sacrifice and their service. I often, as we all do at one time or another, quote Abraham Lincoln: ``These Americans gave the last full measure of devotion to their country.'' No one said it better than Lincoln. He captured the essence of their service and the sense of loss we all feel when someone who is serving their country is lost in combat. LCpl Larry Johnson's duties were the following: He was the combat engineer. His main responsibility was to combat and detect improvised explosive devices, and we know them by the acronym IEDs. He lost his life doing that work. Just 19 years old, he was a graduate of Scranton High School in 2008. In instances such as this, probably the best testimony about the soldier's life, their commitment to their country and the sacrifice they made, probably the best testament of all of those subjects comes from members of their family.…”