ICYMI – Senator Hassan Highlights the Importance of Defending Freedom After Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of D-Day
WASHINGTON – Last week, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined a bipartisan congressional delegation trip to Normandy to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. During the visit and in interviews afterward with Fox News, the Union Leader, and SiriusXM, Senator Hassan emphasized the role that American service members played in defending freedom during World War II and highlighted the importance of continuing to stand up for freedom and democracy at home and abroad. On SiriusXM, Senator Hassan also discussed the ongoing importance of working together to make progress, following her recognition by the nonpartisan Common Ground Committee as the most bipartisan Member of Congress.
See coverage highlights below from Fox News’ Your World with Neil Cavuto, Union Leader, and SiriusXM's The Julie Mason Show:
Fox News’ Your World with Neil Cavuto
Senator Hassan: It was the honor of a lifetime for me to be at the 80th commemoration. And look at these veterans – my dad was a World War II veteran, who survived the Battle of the Bulge. And these veterans reminded me so much of him, that understanding that you have to put something greater than yourself first. That freedom is the exception in history, not the rule, and that appeasing tyrants never works. Dad had this habit of looking at us at the breakfast table and saying, “What are you doing for freedom today?” I actually got to share that with President Zelenskyy last week, and he is stepping up for freedom. The Ukrainian people want what we have. They are fighting back against a bully and a tyrant who conducted an unprovoked and brutal invasion of their country, and this is about the free world coming together and understanding that we are stronger and better when we are democracies. We can address challenges together when we have friends who are democracies and that we need to stand with the Ukrainian people, not only for their own sake and ours, but because China and Iran and North Korea – authoritarians are watching what we do, and watching if we really understand the importance and value of freedom.
Union Leader: Hassan-Shaheen say D-Day anniversary was a renewed call to preserve democracy
By Kevin Landrigan
U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan said taking part in the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion last week renewed their commitment to fight autocratic leaders in Russia, Iran, China and North Korea who threaten our freedoms.
“Everybody has to do their part and especially during this particular moment in history that Ukraine is fighting for its freedom,” Hassan said during a telephone interview following her return to Washington. “Authoritarians around the world are watching to see what America and our allies will do.”
[…] For both New Hampshire Democrats, the journey had personal overtones.
Hassan’s late father, Robert Coldwell Wood, left Princeton University to join the Army 76th Infantry Division during World War II, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Bronze Star.
At the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in 2019, Hassan met veterans who had served with her father.
Sirius XM’s The Julie Mason Show
SiriusXM’s Julie Mason: Common Ground Committee, a nonpartisan, citizen-led organization working to reduce incivility and political polarization, ranks every member of Congress on how much they reach across the aisle. On the Common Ground scorecard, Senator Hassan scores a perfect 110 out of 100. That includes bonus points for her exemplary bipartisan work in Congress. Last month, she became the first elected official ever to earn a perfect 110 on the scorecard. She’s the highest-scoring elected official in the U.S., including all members of the House, Senate, and all 50 governors. Her score is more than three times the average of 29 for all elected officials…
Senator Hassan: I’m really honored for the recognition. I’m really, more than honored, I’m very appreciative that the Common Ground Committee does this work, because it is really essential for the health of our democracy that we follow the example of our constituents, and work together, remembering that we all have a love of freedom and a love of country in common. And recognizing that most people who aren’t in Congress, who aren’t in elected office, work together with people they disagree with all the time. I try to follow that example, and I think it’s really important, too, because our history of compromise and bipartisanship in the United States, I think, has also made us pretty creative, and I think a lot of the solutions we have forged have made us a stronger, better country.
[…]
Mason: Now, can you tell us about your trip to Europe last week?
Hassan: What an honor it was for me to go with a bipartisan delegation to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. My dad was a World War II veteran. He didn’t fight in D-Day, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, but to see these veterans, most of them being wheeled up a ramp that covered the territory they had been ordered to take 80 years ago, to be honored by the President of France as well as the President of the United States, was really an extraordinary honor. I just thought of the things that they might be remembering, or seeing in their mind’s eye, and I was just really very moved by their dignity and steadfastness.
And I think it was an important time for Americans to reflect on our love of freedom and the fact that democracy is history’s exception, it’s not the rule, and you have to fight for it sometimes. 80 years ago, these brave men stormed a beach that was heavily fortified by the Germans. They had to cross at low tide, which meant they ran over a distance that was about three football fields long, with a shower of mortar and gunfire coming at them so that they could liberate France and Europe and defeat Hitler and save the world and preserve freedom. And it’s a good reminder right now when authoritarians around the world – whether it’s in Iran, or China, or North Korea – are watching what’s happening as Putin has invaded Ukraine. And watching the Ukrainian people fight for their freedom, fight for what we have, and wondering whether America and the allies that it worked with to free Europe are really going to stand by freedom this time. And I think we are, and I think we have to, but it was a really evocative experience for me, just given what’s going on in the world today.
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