William H. Frist: “The bill we just passed was the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act. I would like to comment briefly, and I express…”

“The bill we just passed was the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act. I would like to comment briefly, and I express my thanks to my colleagues for allowing me to proceed with this legislation and interrupt their debate. I would like to read briefly from a news report that appeared in the Chicago Tribune this past April. And I quote: Army Private First Class Amy Duerksen was 19 when she died last month in a U.S. military surgical hospital in Baghdad, 3 days after being shot in an accident. By all the accounts of her family, friends and superiors, she had been a model soldier, an impassioned patriot and a deeply devout Christian. But none of that mattered to the six members of the Westboro Baptist Church who drove all night from their headquarters in Topeka, KS to show up outside Duerksen's March 17th funeral waving hateful placards. I will not sully this institution or the memory of Amy Duerksen by repeating this group's detestable message. But I will tell you that today the Senate unanimously passed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, originally introduced by Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan and passed in the House with near unanimous support. Here in the Senate, we agreed, as one, that families like the Duerksens should never have to be harassed by protesters of any stripe as they bury their fallen warriors.…”