Political Quotes

“I thank Representative Wagner for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Gold Medal, as we all know and have heard, is Congress' highest medal. It is the least we can do for the 13 brave servicemembers killed during our withdrawal from Afghanistan back in August. One of those 13, Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, was from Corryton, Tennessee, in my congressional district. As a matter of fact, I live in Corryton, and his family, they are neighbors of mine. His grandfather called me shortly after and described the scene. We have all seen it in movies, but he, unfortunately, had to live it. The car pulls up. The Army officers get out and, in fact, inform his family that his grandson had perished in Afghanistan. Mr. Speaker, I have heard that story many times because my mama endured that very same thing when she was a young girl in Cheatham County, Tennessee, and her brother, Roy, had died fighting the Nazis. So it is in my head pretty thick, sir. Of course, he was killed while helping complete strangers, and that is what he loved to do. He loved helping folks. When Staff Sergeant Knauss succumbed to his injuries after the attack, he became the final American military casualty from the war in Afghanistan. We were all devastated by this loss, but our community is very strong. Mr. Speaker, on September 11, they held a great local tribute to this fallen hero at Gibbs High School, on the football field.…”