On the recordMay 15, 2018
I want to thank the chairman as well for all of his help getting this bill done. I rise today in support of the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act, and I urge my colleagues to vote for it. This morning, I was up at 4 a.m. and got to the Sioux Falls Airport by 5 a.m. to greet a group of veterans who were taking an Honor Flight. They were getting on a plane and heading to Washington, D.C. to see their monuments and to spend some time with family and guardians reminiscing about their service to this country. I was reminded about the sacrifices that they have made to defend our liberty and our freedoms in this country. They were looking forward to it. As I listened to their stories and heard about their time overseas and in-country, but also on ships and field, it was overwhelming to me what all they had done and what they had experienced in service to this country. In fact, one of the men was in his eighties, and it was going to be the first time today that he actually flew on an airplane. When he was in the Navy, he took a train to the coast and got on a ship. He was excited about this, not only being an opportunity to honor his service, but also to have new experiences along the way. As I thought about them all day traveling out to D.C. and doing our work here, and the fact that this bill was going to be on the floor today, I was reminded again and again that South Dakota has a long and honorable history of service.…
