Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the sacrifices of military families all too often go unrecognized. For every one of the 186,000 troops currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a family that patiently waits for their servicemember's safe return. There are countless wives and husbands, separated by a deployment, who celebrate anniversaries over email and deployed parents who see their children age in photographs. None of these military families ask for recognition, but their sacrifices deserve our respect.

I am pleased by the President and First Lady's recent efforts to recognize the challenges facing military families. Their leadership on this issue will help ensure that all agencies and departments of the Federal Government will lend a hand to servicemembers, veterans, and their families.

Our Nation asks a lot of military families. Military families must provide support in innumerable ways during a deployment. From child care, to paying bills, dealing with legal issues and household repairs, military families work together to deal with the absence of the servicemember. Should a servicemember return home wounded or weakened by the tolls of war, we ask military families to help take care of their son or daughter, husband or wife.

We hope and pray that all those who are sent to war will return safely to the arms of their loved ones. However, we know that this is not always the case. Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, there have been far too many funerals of talented and patriotic Oregonians who have died in service to their country.

Although nothing the Government can do will ever make up for the loss of a loved one, we do extend certain benefits to the parents of those who are killed in war. Today, along with Senators Lieberman, Collins, Akaka, I am introducing the Gold Star Fathers Act to update one of those benefits; the preferences for Federal hiring to ensure that the parents of fallen servicemembers have no barriers to Federal service.

The Office of Personnel Management currently allows unmarried mothers of fallen soldiers to claim a 10-point veterans' preference when applying for Federal jobs. The Gold Star Fathers Act would simply extend this preference to unmarried fathers of fallen soldiers. This legislation will expand opportunities for Gold Star families to bring their dedication, compassion, and patriotism to the Federal Government. It is my hope that this legislation can be passed quickly.

These Gold Star Mothers and Gold Star Fathers have sacrificed more than we as a country can ever hope to repay. All we can ever hope to do is to ensure that these sacrifices are never made in vain.

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