Biden honors fallen U.S. troops on Memorial Day

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Biden honors fallen U.S. troops on Memorial Day

Joe Biden, president of the United States, lauded the sacrifice of generations of U.S. troops who died fighting for their country as he marked Memorial Day with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

First lady Jill Biden, vice president Kamala Harris and Harris husband Douglas Emhoff joined Biden for the 155th National Memorial Day ObservanceMemorial Day Observance. He had a moment of contemplation in front of a wreath, adorned with flowers and a red, white and blue bow, and then bowed his head in prayer.

We must never forget the price that was paid to protect our democracy, Biden said in a speech at the Memorial Amphitheater. We must never forget the lives these flags, flowers and marble markers represent. We remember each year, he said. And every year, it never gets easier. Monday's federal holiday honoring America's fallen service members was a day after Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached final agreement on a deal that would raise America's debt limit and awaits approval by Congress.

As it stands, the deal would keep nondefense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1% the following year. The measure would allow for 3 percent defense growth in fiscal 2024, up to $886 billion, and another 1% in fiscal 2025, up to $895 billion.

The president has taken pride in the fact that his Democratic government has overseen a time of relative peace for the U.S. military after two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's been nearly 21 months since Biden ended the U.S. longest war in Afghanistan, making good on a campaign promise to end a 20-year-old forever war that cost the lives of more than 2400 U.S. service members.

However, the war in Afghanistan ended in fatal and chaotic fashion on Biden's watch in August 2021, with critics blasting the administration's handling of the evacuation of some 120,000 American citizens, Afghans and others as poorly planned and badly executed.

The administration released a review of the last few days of the war last month, largely blaming his Republican predecessor, President Donald Trump, and asserting that Biden was heavily influenced by Trump's decisions.

The U.S. is now battling a coalition of allies pouring tens of billions of dollars into Ukraine as it tries to counter the Russian invasion, which appears to have no end in sight.

While making clear that he does not want U.S. troops to enter the war, Biden has maintained that he sees the Russian effort to gain territory as an affront to international norms and has vowed to help Kyiv win, sending artillery, tanks and drones and recently agreeing to let allies train Ukrainian military on American F - 16 jets.

The Bidens held a breakfast for veterans organizations, military service and military family organizations, surviving families of fallen U.S. troops, senior Department of Defense officials and other administration officials before Monday's ceremony at the White House.

The president and the first lady were expected to return to their home to spend the rest of the day at their home in Wilmington, Delaware.