ProgressOhio

In honor of Armed Forces Day, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) spoke Thursday on the Senate floor in tribute to the service of the men and women protecting our nation at home and abroad. His floor remarks, as prepared, are below:

"Tomorrow we celebrate Armed Forces Day. Communities across Ohio - from Van Wert to St. Clairsville - will celebrate the service and honor the sacrifice of the men and women in all branches of military service. I have held 100 roundtables across my state, where I had the opportunity to speak with some of these honorable men and women. Those conversations reinforced my profound respect for their unstinting bravery, their unshakable sense of duty, and their unwavering commitment to our national security.

"Last year, I visited two Marines from Ohio recovering at Walter Reed from wounds suffered in Iraq. I asked each of them what was the first thing they thought about when they realized they were wounded. Both Marines, independently of one another, said, "Can I stay in the Marines?"

 "That simple statement speaks volumes about our men and women in uniform. Armed Forces Day is an opportunity to thank our troops. An opportunity to honor the sacrifices they and their families have made to protect our nation. And an opportunity to honor the promises our nation has made to repay their services and sacrifice.

 "We are stewards of those promises. We have a responsibility to fight to ensure our armed forces receive the wages, benefits, and services they have earned. Honoring our troops should be more than sentiment, it should be action. When we make promises to our troops, we should keep them. They most certainly have kept their promises to us."