(Washington, DC, May 11, 2005) — Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen joined her Congressional Black Caucus colleagues on Tuesday on a visit to the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland.  The center provides quality primary care and special services for members of the armed forces who have served in the war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq and other places around the globe where U.S. forces are stationed .

“The visit to our soldiers is a very humbling experience,” said Christensen. “To see such young men and women, so severely injured in service to our country really brings home what it means when one hears of the injuries vaguely reported by the media.”

Christensen said that we owe our troops a debt of gratitude for their willingness to serve their country under sometimes devastating circumstances.  “We are indebted to them and their families for their sacrifice in support of the nation’s goals.”

To date, 1,610 troops have been killed in action in Iraq and 11,888 have been wounded.