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WASHINGTON — Today, Speaker Johnson hosted a bipartisan Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony to honor the 13 American servicemembers killed in the Kabul airport terrorist attack on August 26, 2021.

The ceremony was held in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and was widely attended by bipartisan Members of Congress. The ceremony featured remarks from mother of Marine Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, Coral Doolittle, Speaker Johnson, Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, and Leader Jeffries, Congresswoman Lisa McClain, and Senator Steve Daines, who sponsored the legislation to award these heroes with the Gold Medal.

The medals were received by family members of all thirteen fallen servicemembers.

Watch Speaker Johnson’s remarks here. 

Read Speaker Johnson’s remarks below:

My colleagues in Congress, our distinguished guests, and the families of the 13 brave service members we lost three years ago. As Speaker of the House, I have the privilege of welcoming you to the Capitol as we award the Congressional Gold medal. This medal is the highest honor that Congress can bestow upon any group or individuals.

Since the time of the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned these medals to show our national appreciation to the achievements and contributions of great Americans. Today, we're here to honor some of our greatest. Scripture teaches us that greater love hath no man did this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Today we honor that very love and that very sacrifice. On August 26, 2021, 13 men and women of valor embodied this profound love while defending this nation at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Their names are etched into our hearts and now into the history of our nation, and they are:

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover

Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Pichardo

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee

Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez

Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan Page

Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Espinoza

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui

Navy Petty Officer Third Class Maxton Soviak

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss

Our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to these service members and those here today who were with them in Kabul. We also owe them something deeper, and that is an apology 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. The United States government should have done everything to protect our troops. Those fallen and wounded at Abbey Gate deserved our best efforts. The families who have been left to pick up the pieces continue to deserve transparency, and appreciation, and recognition. To you and the families who are not here, I can promise you this, you are not alone in shouldering the burdens from that debt, and although we can never fully measure your loss, we can, and we must memorialize the ultimate sacrifice that was paid.

Today, we are reminded why these 13 heroes were serving that tragic day three years ago, why they chose to serve, even knowing the risk, why they stood on the front lines. Surely, they didn't serve so that we would honor them, although we do. They didn't remain loyal so that they would be remembered, though they certainly are. They did it because they had a higher calling, as was said, called to protect the promise and the dignity of America and the blessing to grow up freely and safely.

Just a few more brief reflections before we present these medals, we could talk about each of these 13 brave souls all day long. But a couple of notes. When Taylor Hoover was just 11 years old, terrorists flew those planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on 9/11. By the time he was in high school, he knew he wanted to be a Marine, and he wanted to stand where others had fallen to show that our spirit remains unbroken. If you picked up Ryan Knauss’ second grade yearbook, you would find the picture he had drawn of himself in uniform next to the words: ‘I want to be a Marine.’ It's clear, courage and commitment flowed through his veins. Riley McCollum, as a little boy, would carry around his rifle in his diapers, his mother said, wearing cowboy boots. It was no surprise to his family when he enlisted as a Marine, the heart of a warrior was always in him. And when Johanny Pichardo was in high school, her JROTC drill master said she stood out. She was defined by courage and by empathy, helping save thousands in Afghanistan.

So much more could be said about all 13 of these heroes who stood together that day in Kabul. They came from every walk of life, from every part of the country, from Sacramento to Rio Bravo to Berlin heights. They were descendants of veterans, volunteers in the sheriff's department. They were hockey fans, Boy Scouts, and future electricians. It's been said today that they were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends, and neighbors, and they were united in service and bound by love, a love for their country, for the ideals that it stands for, and for those who could not protect themselves.

Today, their love lives on in their families, in the neighborhoods where they were raised and through their heroic legacy, and it lives on in the hearts of those they saved and in the gratitude of a nation that will never forgive their sacrifice. Today, as their nation, we join their families and their friends to honor their heroism with the Congressional Gold Medal.