Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for recognizing me. I appreciate it very much. I rise in strong support of the bill. It's very appropriate. The first person killed in Afghanistan was a civilian employee from my congressional district, a CIA employee, Michael Spann. I went to the funeral out at Arlington Cemetery. He was the very first person, and he was a civilian and gave his life there. I also, about 7 or 8 months ago, went out to the agency where they had a memorial service--the President was there, as was Director Panetta--to remember the seven who were killed at that base there. You could see the young families and just the pain and the agony and the suffering. Also, the DEA; we lost three DEA people in Afghanistan fighting the drug wars. And you can go on, the Border Patrol and all the others. So I want to thank Mr. Hanna for the bill, thank the chairman for it, and thank the ranking member. This is important, I think, to do. I want to thank the gentleman from New York, Mr. Hanna, for introducing this legislation, which authorizes the presentation of the United States flag to federal employees who have died in the line of duty. According to the Office of Personnel Management, since 1992, nearly 3,000 federal employees have paid the ultimate price while serving their country. Federal employees work side-by-side on the front lines with our military personnel to carry out the Global War on Terror in locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan.…”