Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, this is the oath a soldier takes when he is joining the military:

I do swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me.

Mr. Speaker, follow me here. A soldier takes this oath without any reservation, mental or otherwise. He fights for our country, for our Nation, he or she is honorably discharged, and is not a citizen.

Corporal Jose Angel Garibay lived in my district. Jose Angel was the first servicemember in Orange County to make the ultimate sacrifice for this country in Iraq after 9/11. He took the oath. Yet, he died as a noncitizen. He deserved to die as an American citizen.

And many, many other honorably discharged veterans, are deported, but they can come back once they die because they still have the right to be buried in a national cemetery.

Let's pay our debt to our veterans. We ask them to fight, to serve our country, to defend our freedom, and our moral obligation is to take care of all our veterans. Let's pay our debt to our veterans. Let's pass the Veteran Service Recognition Act.

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