Mr. Speaker, the sacrifices of those who have dedicated their lives in defense of our country are an important reminder of the price of freedom. These brave heroes have served this country with distinction, and it is our absolute responsibility to honor them.

Memorial Day is an opportunity to reflect on how we must support our troops, which means honoring our responsibility to provide the best protection and support for the men and women who serve in our Nation's Armed Forces. It means honoring our promise to provide lifelong health care and benefits for our veterans when they return home, and it means doing everything we can to bring our troops home from Iraq, out of harm's way.

As we reflect on the sacrifices and the accomplishments of our veterans, it's vitally important to reaffirm our support for our troops on Memorial Day. And Memorial Day is an opportunity to commend all who have defended our country and safeguarded the values cherished by every single American. It's a chance to repeat that while we strongly disagree with this administration and its continuing occupation of Iraq, we support our troops.

This administration refuses to hear the calls of the vast majority of Americans demanding that we bring the troops home. It continues to believe that the only way forward in Iraq is to spend more money, send more troops for an open-ended debacle. This administration maintains its strategy for delay and denial, refusing to plan for an end to the Iraq occupation, a blank check and no accountability.

As the administration stubbornly refuses to accept that we cannot win an occupation, the men and women serving in Iraq are suffering the consequences of these mistakes. Nearly 20 percent of the soldiers returning from Iraq experience some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which puts them at significantly higher risk for suicide and drug addictions. More than 34,000 of our servicemembers have been injured in Iraq, and more than 3,400 have been killed.

Sending our soldiers back into an increasingly deadly civil war on extended tours with worn-out equipment is not supporting the troops. We cannot let this neglect for our veterans become the hallmark of the occupation. We must strengthen our commitment to our troops. We must provide them with the support they deserve.

That's why I've introduced H.R. 508, the Bring the Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act, which will end the occupation within 6 months of passage and will provide for full physical and mental health care for all of our Nation's veterans. Our troops deserve no less.

Mr. Speaker, this Memorial Day is an opportunity, an opportunity to celebrate the honorable service of those who were in past wars, those who have served in between wars, and those who are serving today. And we can do that by providing our veterans with the support that they need. It's an opportunity on this Memorial Day to support the troops who are in Iraq by demanding that they come home.