On the recordNovember 4, 2011
During the hot days of last summer, the Veterans of Foreign Wars went to battle with the Veterans Administration. The VFW claimed the VA was censoring free speech and preventing the free exercise of religion at the National Cemetery in Houston. The VFW says the chapel at the cemetery was closed. The Bible, the cross, the Star of David were removed, and the chapel became a storage shed. VFW members also said the director of the cemetery censored prayers and prohibited the religious ceremony during burial of veterans. The VFW sued the VA, and the VA naturally denied the whole thing. Recently, a Federal judge approved and agreed to an order requiring the chapel to be reopened, the Bible, the cross, the Star of David to be returned, and said that the VA must not interfere with free speech or the free exercise of religion at burials. Madam Speaker, it is ironic that Americans have gone to war, fought for the principles of the Constitution; then when they come home, they face government hostility and the denial of First Amendment rights to the citizens when these veterans are buried in VA cemeteries. Now the veterans have won a battle against a government that wanted to deny them the American freedoms they fought for in lands far, far away. And that's just the way it is. ____________________
