Warner & Kaine Cosponsor Bipartisan Bill to Honor 13 American Heroes Killed In Afghanistan with Congressional Gold Medal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), cosponsored a bipartisan bill to award a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to the 13 American servicemembers who lost their lives during the terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26th . The bicameral legislation was first introduced by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Steve Daines (R-MT), and Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-MI-10) introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the 13 servicemembers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the last days of the war in Afghanistan,” said Senators Warner and Kaine. “We must never forget their bravery. Honoring them with the Congressional Gold Medal is one way to remember their heroic service to our nation.”
Senators Warner and Kaine are pushing for Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak and Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
Along with Warner and Kaine, the bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Rick Scott (R-FL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), James Lankford (R-OK), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tina Smith (D-MN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jim Risch (R-ID), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Todd Young (R-IN), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).
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