The publication is reproduced in full below:
RECOGNIZING AMERICAN HEROES ON MEMORIAL DAY
______
HON. KEN BUCK
of colorado
in the house of representatives
Friday, May 28, 2021
Mr. BUCK. Madam Speaker, I am honored to rise today in recognition of Memorial Day and in support of the countless men and women who have sacrificed their lives for the security and freedoms we enjoy in our republic.
Outside the United States Special Forces Training Center, there is a quote from John Stuart Mill that reads, ``War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.''
Today, we honor the memory of those better men and women. These heroes paid the ultimate price so we can enjoy the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution. They fought and died for this more perfect union. I am reminded of Winston Churchill's comment about democracy following the fall of Nazi Germany. He said, ``Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.''
Since the founding of our nation, countless brave men and women stood in the face of imminent danger that we might continue their pursuit of a more equal, free, and prosperous society. And we are eternally indebted to and grateful for these champions of our experiment in democracy.
Madam Speaker, I am privileged and humbled by the opportunity to recognize these brave individuals.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 94
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