C-Span2

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, last Monday was Memorial Day. It is a day that all around the country we honor those who gave their lives so that we can be free.

Some say Memorial Day is the saddest day of the year.

Our colleague Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas is a combat veteran, and he served as part of the Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. He has written a book. It is a bestselling book on the New York Times Best Sellers list. It is called ``Sacred Duty.'' In that book, he points out that Memorial Day is not the saddest; it is the most noble day of the year. They are powerful words, and they were on my mind last Monday in different cemeteries around the State of Wyoming.

I started in Douglas, WY, as I always do, at 7 a.m. They do a flag- raising ceremony. They take it all the way up to the top and then bring it down to hold its final position at half-staff. Then I went to Lander, WY, to the Mount Hope Cemetery, and then joined the ceremonies in Ten Sleep, WY. These are sacred places, and each year--Memorial Day--as I travel the State, I try to talk about something I have seen happen since the last year, because in each of these cemeteries, people gather in respect and in reverence.

We do this all around the country. You know, in Wyoming, I try to add a special touch to what has happened in the last year because we have tens of thousands of servicemembers and veterans and military families who serve our country, and they know what it means to serve and sacrifice on behalf of the American people.

This year, I talked about SSG Tyler Pickett from Saratoga, WY. I spoke about him earlier this year on the floor. In the year 2000, 26 years ago, he enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from Saratoga High School. It was something he had looked forward to doing all of his life. He became part of the legendary 10th Mountain Division.

He was deployed to Iraq. On June 8, 2008, he was killed by a suicide bomber in Kirkuk, Iraq, and the bomb, of course, was supplied by Iran. Sergeant Pickett was 28 years old.

I spoke at his services in Saratoga in 2008. He was a brave and beloved son of Wyoming. It is almost 18 years to the day since Sergeant Pickett gave his life for our Nation.

Earlier this year, I spoke with his mother Sheri Peterson. She is a Gold Star mother. She told me that after 18 years, she finally feels some relief in the loss of her son and the weight that her son's death has put upon the family. She said it was because now the Ayatollah Khamenei is dead, the person who is responsible for supplying the weapon that killed her son. She said: When you speak with President Trump, please tell him ``thank you'' from our family.

This is a Gold Star mother speaking. She knows that we have a President who remembers our fallen members not only with words but by actions on behalf of our Nation.

Stories like Sergeant Pickett's remind us of the cost of freedom and the debt we owe to these fallen heroes.

This year is the 250th anniversary of the founding of our Nation. We are about to celebrate that 250th birthday. Exactly 1 month from today, July 2, is the anniversary of when the Continental Congress officially voted to declare our independence. The Declaration of Independence was adopted 2 days later. That is why we celebrate the Fourth of July. That is the day our Nation was born.

America's central idea, the Declaration of Independence, is the root of every American idea. This is the document. This is instantly recognizable all around the world. You put it up, and people are like: Oh, there it is.

In many ways, it is a work of art, it is a masterpiece, and it beautifully expresses what we as America stand for. It has set us as a nation on a course of freedom, liberty, and greatness.

We don't read it enough. We really should. The central sentence is that we are ``endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.''

``Unalienable.'' That single world sums up the heart of this great American experiment. It means that we the people are the source of the power, and the power is on loan from us, the people, to the government, not the other way around.

Our Founding Fathers also deeply believed in a Creator. God is mentioned four separate times in this Declaration of Independence. You can't explain the majesty of this great country without the Supreme Being.

The Declaration of Independence is an inspiration to every generation of American. It belongs to us--to all of us.

You know, when we think about the Declaration of Independence, we think about freedom, and we think about liberty. A lot of people use those words interchangeably. They say: Oh, it is the same thing.

But it is not. Freedom and liberty are not interchangeable. Their meanings are different. Freedom is the ability to think and to speak and do what we want. Liberty refers to the rights and the privileges granted and protected by our laws. Thus, the difference.

I would say today, let us be worthy of our history and of our heroes and of our heritage. Let us live out the spirit of 1776. Let us carry on that spirit for the next generation. As we prepare to celebrate the 250th birthday of our Nation, I remain optimistic that our Nation's best days are ahead.

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Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

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