Congress Honors U.S. Service Members Killed During Afghanistan Withdrawal
Top lawmakers on Tuesday presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the families of 13 U.S. service members killed in a terrorist attack during the evacuation of Afghanistan, as Republicans make an election-season push to blame Vice President Kamala Harris for their deaths.
The House and Senate voted unanimously three years ago to award Congress’s highest civilian honor to the 11 Marines, one sailor and one soldier who were killed by a lone bomber outside the Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021.
But Republicans’ timing of the award ceremony, weeks before the presidential election, was fraught with politics. It unfolded just hours before former President Donald J. Trump and Ms. Harris were to square off in a high-stakes televised debate. And it came after a contentious back and forth between the two after Mr. Trump recorded a campaign ad with families of the victims in a restricted portion of Arlington National Cemetery. He drew rebukes from the U.S. Army and from Ms. Harris, who accused him of desecrating a sacred space for the sake of politics.
Congressional leaders largely kept politics out of their speeches as they stood shoulder to shoulder in the Rotunda to present the medals to the families of those killed.
“We will never forget the sacrifice of the fallen 13 service members,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, adding that it now falls on Congress “to ensure the sacrifices of all our service members were not in vain.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, opened the proceedings by focusing on the honorees.
“Our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to these service members,” he said. But in the next breath, he implicitly criticized the Biden administration for allowing the attack to happen and for failing to apologize for it.
“To the families who are here, I know many of you have yet to hear these words, so I will say them: We are sorry,” Mr. Johnson said. “The United States should have done everything to protect our troops.”
Republicans have long argued that Mr. Biden was to blame for the service members’ deaths. On Sunday, they fueled that charge by releasing a lengthy investigative report that was scathing in its criticism of the Biden administration and Ms. Harris in particular, while largely absolving Mr. Trump of any wrongdoing. Democrats assailed the document as a political stunt, accusing Republicans of twisting facts to try to tarnish Ms. Harris’s candidacy as the campaign enters its critical final weeks.
Many relatives of the 13 service members have joined Republicans in criticizing the Biden administration.
“They just let our kids die; they just sent them to die,” Coral Doolittle, whose son, Marine Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, was one of those killed, said on Monday. “All this was because of this bad administration.”
In the Capitol on Tuesday, Ms. Doolittle, who was selected to speak on behalf of the 13 families, struck a more conciliatory tone.
“We deeply appreciate the efforts of Congress and the speaker of the House for making this moment possible,” she said, asking members of the audience to honor the fallen and “say their names and tell their stories.”