Congressman Michael Guest is encouraging Mississippians to reach out to veterans and thank them for their service. He’ll address veteran’s directly at two events in the Jackson metro area during Veteran’s Day celebrations today, but he took to the House floor yesterday to pay tribute.
The transcript of Congressman Guest’s floor speech can be found below:
Former President Ronald Reagan once said, “Veterans know better than anyone else the price of freedom, for they’ve suffered the scars of war. We can offer them no better tribute than to protect what they have won for us.”
Today, we remember the service of our veterans, the price they have paid, and the nation they helped build and fought to protect.
We know that America’s veterans risked their lives on the field of battle to preserve this nation and the ideals of democracy, liberty, and freedom.
But we must not forget that they not only fought to protect the rights that were established by our founding fathers, but they also returned home to set an example of enduring patriotism and leadership in our communities, our state, and our nation.
When their service ended, our veterans helped advance our country by embodying the American spirit of hard work and perseverance.
Today, we thank them for the example they set.
This day, more than any, let every American reach out to a veteran and say, “thank you for your service. We are grateful for your many sacrifices that you have made on behalf of our nation.”
As we stand in this great institution of democracy that our veterans helped build and then fought to preserve, let our nation remember the hundreds of thousands of men and women who fought for our freedoms.
And let us always remember that our nation would have been long forgotten to history if not for those men and women brave enough to protect it.
May God bless our country, and may God bless our veterans.
