Patty Murray: “last week our country celebrated a very important event--Memorial Day. Every Member of the Senate went home to services…”

“last week our country celebrated a very important event--Memorial Day. Every Member of the Senate went home to services where we heard about the sacrifices of men and women who served in conflicts throughout this Nation's history, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan where we have now lost close to 2,500 of our Nation's best and brightest. I listened to those speeches, and I heard about the sacrifices these men and women have made. I heard the rhetoric about making sure we take care of their families, making sure we take care of those who are wounded when they come home, making sure we have the ability to care for those we ask to serve this country so honorably as we celebrated Memorial Day last week. I went throughout my State. I listened to people wanting to make sure we did not forget those people who served us. I came back to the Senate last night confident that we should be talking about those issues. It is deeply disconcerting to me that we are not talking about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, we are not talking about the sacrifices our soldiers have made, we are not talking about the tremendous responsibility we have as the Senate and Congress to make sure we have the funds for those men and women who have served us, both while they are overseas and when they come home.…”