March 25, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 51 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages H2784-H2785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING ARMY SPECIALIST ROSS McGINNIS ON NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR DAY

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, today is National Medal of 
Honor Day, when this Nation recalls the sacrifice and heroics of all 
Medal of Honor recipients.
  Over 150 years ago, on March 25, 1863, the first Medals of Honor were 
presented. In 1990, Congress designated March 25 as National Medal of 
Honor Day. The Medal of Honor is the highest military honor our Nation 
can bestow.
  In 2016, I was able to recognize one of Pennsylvania's very own Medal 
of

[[Page H2785]]

Honor recipients, the late Army Specialist Ross McGinnis. The post 
office in Knox, Clarion County, is named for Specialist McGinnis, who 
died in December 2006 in Iraq.
  While on patrol in eastern Baghdad on December 4, 2006, an 
unidentified insurgent positioned on a nearby rooftop threw a grenade 
into a Humvee carrying McGinnis and other troops. Specialist McGinnis 
threw his body on top of the grenade, saving the lives of his fellow 
soldiers.
  He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President George W. 
Bush in 2008.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a grateful Nation, I salute all our Medal 
of Honor recipients.

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