On the recordJanuary 11, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman McSally for yielding. I want to thank her for bringing our attention to this important issue this evening. I am proud to serve with her on the House Armed Services Committee. I know she is very proud to represent the people of Arizona in the Second Congressional District there. I might make note that Ms. McSally's roots are from my home State of Rhode Island. She and I grew up in the same neighborhood, and I am proud to have worked with her on several issues since she has arrived in Congress. I was proud, again, back then to have her as my guest to the State of the Union Message as she mentioned. Again, I thank you for raising this important issue. I find it completely disheartening that the Women Airforce Service Pilots have been denied interment in one of our Nation's most sacred national burial grounds where we honor our men and women who have served. These brave female aviators of World War II embody courage, resiliency, and patriotism. Again, I am proud to support Congresswoman McSally's efforts to reinstate their interment eligibility in Arlington National Cemetery. Without these women, some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice for our country in one of its greatest times of need, our Nation would not stand where it does in the world today. We are indebted to them for their service. The very least that we can do, Mr. Speaker, is to honor them with the dignity and the respect that they have earned and so deserve.…





