Masks Save Lives

Floor Speech

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Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask a simple question: When did we stop looking out for each other?

We used to be a country that reserved its highest and best celebration for those who sacrificed for us. That is why we honor Nathan Hale of Connecticut and Rosie the Riveter and the crew and passengers of Flight 93. It is why we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, to honor a man that gave his life to make us a better people, to make us a better Nation. They sacrificed and did the hard things so that we could have the blessings of freedom and prosperity.

Two days ago, Mr. Speaker, we remembered the start of World War II. 400,000 Americans died in that war, 290,000 in combat. Tom and Alleta Sullivan of Waterloo, Iowa, gave their sons in that war, all five of them. George Sullivan, Frank Sullivan, Joseph Sullivan, Madison Sullivan, and Albert Leo Sullivan, all five sons killed in the South Pacific in 1942, all five of them given for us.

Every single day, nurses, ER doctors, janitors, and delivery people take huge risks for us. For 2\1/2\ centuries, Americans have done what was asked of them and more. We serve on juries. We pay our taxes. We have been drafted into the military.

Why? We do these things not because we necessarily want to do them, but because we recognize that we have inherited freedoms, liberty, and prosperity from others who secured them for us. We understand that freedom and prosperity aren't gifts to be taken for granted, to be exalted above what we owe each other. They are blessings to be paid forward and to be fought for.

So what about this? What about this mask?

And what about this? ``Mask off for freedom.'' Really?

This is a flimsy piece of cloth. It is uncomfortable. It is inconvenient. But it saves lives. It saves others.

When did we stop looking out for each other? You are not being asked to turn over your children, your five boys. You are not being asked to ration sugar or to have meatless Mondays. You are not even being asked to serve a week on a jury. You are being asked to wear a piece of cloth on your face to protect others.

Mr. Speaker, I have nothing to offer those who believe that COVID is a hoax or that masks don't save lives. All I can do is pray for them when they meet the souls of those for whom they would not make the smallest of sacrifices.

What I can do is remind us what makes us great as a people. It is not our wealth or our power. It is what we are willing to do for each other. What makes us great is what we are willing to offer up to each other, the small things that we owe each other and the inconceivable sacrifice upon which all of this is built.

At our best, what are we capable of doing for each other? Ask Tom and Alleta Sullivan.

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