Glenn C. Nye

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the man behind so many pivotal diplomatic achievements that have improved the lives of so many around the world and made our Nation safer: Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.

As a former Foreign Service Officer I first met Ambassador Holbrooke while I was serving at the U.S. Embassy in Macedonia, and most recently during a congressional delegation I led to Afghanistan. I will remember him as a key figure in the middle of many delicate, quintessential diplomatic negotiations.

Few Americans have left as big a mark on U.S. foreign policy as Ambassador Holbrooke. From his historic role brokering peace in the Balkans, to his final mission in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region, Ambassador Holbrooke had a fearless love for his country. He shied away from nothing, always diving head-first into the challenging issues of his time.

With the passing of Ambassador Holbrooke our country, and indeed the world, has lost a brilliant and respected diplomat. But his legacy will live on in the improved relationships we now have with countries in the world's toughest regions.

My heart and prayers are with his wife Kati, his sons David and Anthony, his stepchildren Elizabeth and Chris Jennings, and his daughter-in-law Sarah.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my good friend and distinguished colleague Chairman Ike Skelton. For nearly three and a half decades, Ike has dedicated his life to serving the citizens of Missouri. During his tenure, Ike has been a steady, moderate voice during some of the greatest challenges this hallowed body has ever faced.

I have been humbled to serve with Chairman Skelton on the Armed Services Committee. In my time on the HASC, I have been deeply impressed by Ike's ability to keep partisan hyperbole--so prevalent in today's discourse--out of committee proceedings. For Ike, the sacred commitment to our servicemembers, their families, and our national security always supersedes petty politics.

As chairman, Ike shepherded some of Congress' most important legislation through a minefield of disparate interests and motives while maintaining an even hand, fair disposition, and unwavering dedication to his craft.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a great honor to serve alongside such a principled chairman, consummate statesman, and dedicated public servant as Ike Skelton.

Madam Speaker, I submit the following.

Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Our God, M'kor Chayim U'vracha, Infinite Source of Life's Blessings,

Dear Veterans, Families, Donors, Friends, Zeh Ha'Yom Asa Adonai, Nagila V'nismecha Vo! This is the awaiting day the Lord has granted us, that we may find joy and meaning in it!

Tenderly, tearfully and triumphantly we recall our very own fighting Jewish men and women in uniform who alongside fellow Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life, and to the last full measure of devotion, borrowing a phrase from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address--served and sacrificed, secured and saved on behalf of our great and grateful nation, a flourishing democracy which has been a tower of strength to a weary and vulnerable world as well as a steadfast beacon of Shalom's flickering lights of hope, harmony and healing.

Our cherished kin, some with their long-loving and supportive families here on this festive Veterans Day of the Jewish War Veterans Monument Dedication, have proudly, patriotically and profoundly responded to freedom's far-reaching sacred call from these golden shores to the most noble of duties in defense of all we hold precious. Their selfless acts of unflinching heroism and exemplary conduct under harrowing circumstances brought genuine honor and lasting glory, sanctifying God's holy name.

This significant monument is an essential addition to the beautiful grounds of the Reba and Sam Sandler Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community in the unique region of Hampton Roads, home to the nation's largest cluster of military installations. The monument, linked by design to the Helen G. Gifford Holocaust Memorial Garden, is forever an inspiring testimony to unforgettable brethren, the dead and the living, who participated in the monumental liberation of the surviving remnant, myself included, of European Jewry from the threat of total extinction by humanity's foes.

At the approaching Chanuka celebration, we salute our veterans who like the Maccabees of old, through wondrous deeds and abundant sacrifices of a faithful spirit, have bequested unto us all the inseparable twin gifts of life and liberty.

``Minesharing Kalu

M'arayot Gaveru

They were swifter than eagles,

They were stronger than lions!

Eich Naflu Giborim

B'tock Hamilchama--

How have the mighty fallen

In the thick of battle''

Second Samuel 1:23, 25

And humbly let us say, Amen.

Rabbi Israel Zoberman is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Chaverim in Virginia Beach and president of the Hampton Roads Board of Rabbis and Cantors. He was born in Kazakhstan in 1945 to Polish Holocaust survivors.