Cbc Honors America's Veterans

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the time. I also thank Representative Cherfilus-McCormick and Representative Jackson for hosting this Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that as a member of a family whose relatives and brothers and dad and uncles have served in the service, Memorial Day weekend is very important to me.

As our Nation prepares to celebrate this Memorial Day, I am so pleased to join my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus on the floor to recall the great sacrifice of all that we ask of those who put on the uniform.

Memorial Day is a stark reminder of the cost of that service and the sacrifice that comes with taking that oath. There are few other callings in life as humble or as selfless as the sacrifice of a member of the military. We owe them so much.

Because of this sacrifice, this distinguished body is able to gather today, tomorrow, and the next day under the ``E pluribus unum'' in this Chamber. Because of their sacrifices, there are so many more who are inspired to put on the uniform and will do so in the coming days.

Mr. Speaker, while Memorial Day reminds us to celebrate those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, Memorial Day also urges us to do something active for those veterans that are serving now, that are standing up for our freedoms and liberties. I am so tremendously proud of the work that House Democrats have done to continue in this regard-- efforts like the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, the Honoring our PACT Act, that is being aggressively implemented by the administration to ensure it fulfills a promise to provide generations of veterans with the care and benefits that they have earned and deserve.

This new law creates a strong framework for expanding and extending eligibility for VA healthcare for veterans exposed to toxic substances during their time in uniform. For too long, Mr. Speaker, veterans have had to fight just to get benefits that they earned for exposure to some dangerous toxins while they were in uniform.

More than 3.3 million veterans have received the new toxic exposure screening set up by this new law, and I am grateful that while many of them have passed on, those who are alive will get some remuneration for their suffering.

On this day, I especially want to remember other veterans who did not necessarily die in combat but died even so as a result of their service--someone like my constituent Corey Adams.

Corey Adams wanted to serve his country and follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, so he joined the Air Force right after high school. This week, I intend to introduce a bill named after him.

Corey served 4 years on Active Duty, and then he joined the Air Force Reserve. He had overseas deployment, including 6 months in Afghanistan in 2009.

Sergeant Corey Adams was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and moved into his parents' home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a very fragile veteran.

On March 20, 2017, the Adams family was changed forever. Sergeant Corey Adams was missing, and they knew he was vulnerable. His family tried to file a missing report soon after he went missing. It took 8 days before the police determined that he met the criteria of a missing person, a crucial delay.

Mr. Speaker, 18 days after his disappearance, Sergeant Corey Adams' body was found in a pond and recovered from Dineen Park, 1 mile from his mother's home. Last month marked the sixth year since his body was found.

Mr. Speaker, no family should suffer like this. Out of this tragedy, his family took action and went to the Wisconsin Legislature. Therefore, due to their advocacy, Wisconsin became the first State to enact a green alert system to find veterans who are reported missing. That system has already worked to help successfully locate missing veterans.

Delaware, Tennessee, and Texas have since enacted laws to do the same, and other States are currently looking to do the same.

The legislation that I will be introducing this week in his honor will help establish a national program at the Department of Justice to help create a strong and robust green alert network across our country to help ensure that when a veteran goes missing, we do all we can to find them. We will leave no soldier behind.

With legislation like the Corey Adams Searchlight Act, the Honoring our PACT Act, and so many other thoughtful bills that have been introduced so far by my colleagues in this Congress, we make sure that Memorial Day is also a time to act and to make sure that we enact policies that make clear to our veterans and our servicemembers that we will always have their backs--always.

Mr. Speaker, I thank each and every one of the men and women in uniform today and all of our veterans.

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