RECOGNIZING GATEWAY NURSING AND REHAB

On 2025-04-28, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5) delivered a floor speech titled "RECOGNIZING GATEWAY NURSING AND REHAB" in the House.

RECOGNIZING GATEWAY NURSING AND REHAB

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 70 (Monday, April 28, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 70 (Monday, April 28, 2025)] [House] [Page H1670] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] RECOGNIZING GATEWAY NURSING AND REHAB (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.) Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, it was an honor to visit Gateway Nursing and Rehab in Lenoir, North Carolina, this past Friday and attend a program that honored veterans who are receiving care there. I commend Shannon Price, the director of social services, as well as members of the staff for taking the time and making the effort to recognize those veterans. The program was very positive. Shannon is a true patriot, and so, too, are members of her family, including her son Seth, who is currently serving in the Army. Mr. Speaker, I thank Shannon and all the wonderful staff at Gateway Nursing and Rehab for all they do in service to our Nation's veterans and for those who are currently serving in the Armed Forces. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record the statement of Shannon Price. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from North Carolina? There was no objection. ``Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.'' When President Ronald Reagan spoke these words, he wasn't simply offering a quotable line--he was issuing a challenge that resonates across time. Today, as we gather in the presence of heroes who have answered that challenge, I invite you to consider: What does freedom mean when it's no longer an abstract concept, but a living legacy entrusted to our care? What does freedom demand of those who enjoy its blessings? And how do we honor those who have sacrificed to preserve it? For many of us, freedom exists like oxygen--essential yet invisible, noticed only in its absence. We exercise our liberties daily without reflection--speaking our minds, pursuing our dreams, making choices large and small. Yet this seemingly effortless inheritance has been secured through tremendous effort. It has been purchased with courage, preserved with vigilance, and passed down not as a birthright, but as a sacred trust. Today, I want us to make the invisible visible. To recognize that behind every freedom we enjoy stands someone who was willing to protect it--someone like the six distinguished veterans seated before us, like my son currently deployed overseas, like countless others who have answered when liberty called their name. Look at our honored guests today--veterans who served in Korea and Vietnam. Their stories reveal a profound truth: freedom's defenders rarely speak of heroism. Instead, they talk of duty. Of brotherhood. Of the families who waited for their return. They describe ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, guided not by grand ideologies but by love of country and commitment to the principles that define us. Witness the solemn precision with which today's service members folded our flag moments ago. Each crisp movement, each respectful gesture represents more than protocol--it embodies a promise. That flag, with its stars and stripes, symbolizes not just a nation's history but its ongoing covenant with those who serve. It reminds us that freedom isn't preserved in marble monuments but in living commitments renewed by each generation. Freedom's meaning transforms when you have someone you love in the game. As the parent of a son currently deployed, I've learned this truth in ways both profound and painful. Each morning brings both pride and concern. Each evening ends with prayers for safety. The abstract becomes intimate when you love someone who stands on freedom's frontier. Every service family understands this reality. They know the weight of missed birthdays and empty chairs at holiday gatherings. They recognize the value of ordinary moments-- Sunday dinners, bedtime stories, casual conversations-- because they've sacrificed countless such moments for something greater. They measure freedom not in lofty rhetoric but in delayed dreams and postponed reunions, all given willingly in service to principles that transcend individual comfort. ``Greater love has no man than this: to lay down his life for his friends.'' These words from the Bible capture freedom's ultimate cost. Some who answered liberty's call never returned to receive our thanks. Their sacrifice created absences that can never be filled--empty chairs that remain empty, voices preserved only in memory, futures unlived so that our futures could continue. These fallen heroes represent freedom's highest price--a debt we can never fully repay but must always acknowledge. Their legacy lives not just in the freedoms we enjoy but in how faithfully we steward what they have preserved. They challenge us to ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain-- that the liberty they protected remains worthy of such devotion. Freedom is indeed never more than one generation from extinction. It survives not through inheritance but through commitment--through citizens who understand that liberty requires more than celebration; it demands stewardship. Today, I ask you to join me in recognizing our veterans present with us. Let their example inspire us to be worthy custodians of freedom's flame. Let us honor their sacrifice not just with words but with lives that reflect the values they defended. And let us ensure that this precious legacy--this freedom-- remains secure not just for our time but for generations yet unborn. For in the end, freedom's story is still being written--and we each hold the pen. Thank you. ____________________