On this Memorial Day weekend, I hope you spend some time with your family and loved ones. I hope you have time to take a step back, to breathe a sigh of relief, and to relax. 

For many Americans relaxation is an impossible dream. Who can relax when facing bankruptcy, medical bills, an unpaid mortgage, or potential eviction?

Memorial Day honors those heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice for the Nation and for our liberty. Alas, it is important to contemplate exactly why these heroes made the sacrifices they did.

Many have served, and many have died, to protect our Constitution, Country, Corps, and Family. They laid down their lives to ensure that a Government dedicated to the rights of the people would persist. They made the ultimate sacrifice so that freedom and liberty would live on.

In order to honor that sacrifice we Americans must place our partisan loyalties aside and come together around our shared values again.

This is a very dangerous period for the Republic—distrust of our institutions and of each other is widespread and rampant. Too many of our politicians are craven and short sighted, and they willingly lie to their own constituents and turn us on each other for short-term political gain. On this day when we celebrate our fallen heroes, I would like to remind our leaders that they too swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and that means putting the country before your political Party. 

On this Memorial Day, I would encourage you to contemplate why these heroes were willing to lay down their lives. I believe that they did so to ensure that their children and future generations could and would live free, in a land of liberty, justice, and opportunity for ALL.

If we allow it, rising partisanship and distrust in our government can empower a corrupt government that would fail to meet the needs of the people. In order to honor the fallen, we must work towards establishing a more perfect Union: a Union that ensures the existence of opportunity and economic liberty for all.

To truly honor the sacrifices of our Nation’s patriots, we must set our partisanship aside, address the environmental crisis, economic inequality, the healthcare crisis, and bring Americans together around our shared values, needs, and security. This is what needs to happen to ensure the persistence of liberty and government of, by, and for the people.

Thank you for your time on this important day, and thank you for your commitment to improving life for everyone in our country.