Biden marks Memorial Day nearly 2 years after ending America's longest war, lauds troops' sacrifice

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden lauded the sacrifice of generations of U.S. troops who died warring for their state arsenic helium marked Memorial Day with the accepted wreath-laying ceremonial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Biden was joined by archetypal lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, for the 155th National Memorial Day Observance. He had a infinitesimal of contemplation successful beforehand of the wreath, which was adorned with flowers and a red, achromatic and bluish bow, and past bowed his caput successful prayer.

"We indispensable ne'er hide the terms that was paid to support our democracy," Biden said aboriginal successful an code at Memorial Amphitheater. "We indispensable ne'er hide the lives these flags, flowers and marble markers represent."

"Every twelvemonth we remember," helium said. "And each twelvemonth it ne'er gets easier."

Monday's national vacation honoring America's fallen work members came a time aft Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached last statement connected a woody that would rise America's indebtedness bounds and that present awaits support by Congress.

As it stands, the statement would support nondefense spending astir level successful the 2024 fiscal twelvemonth and summation it by 1% the pursuing year. The measurement would let for 3% defence maturation successful fiscal 2024, to $886 billion, and past different 1% successful fiscal 2025, to $895 billion.

Biden has taken pridefulness that his Democratic medication has overseen a clip of comparative bid for the U.S. military aft 2 decades of warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's been astir 21 months since Biden ended the United States' longest warfare in Afghanistan, making bully connected a run committedness to extremity a 20-year-old "forever war" that outgo the lives of much than 2400 U.S. work members.

The warfare in Afghanistan, however, ended successful deadly and chaotic manner connected Biden's ticker in August 2021 with critics blasting the administration's handling of the evacuation of immoderate 120,000 American citizens, Afghans and others arsenic poorly planned and severely executed.

The Biden medication past period released a reappraisal of the past days of the war, mostly blaming his Republican predecessor, President Donald Trump, and asserting that Biden was "severely constrained" by Trump's decisions.

The U.S. now finds itself starring a conjugation of allies pouring tens of billions of dollars successful subject and economical assistance into Ukraine as it tries to repel the Russian invasion, which appears to person nary extremity successful sight.

While making wide that helium has nary tendency for U.S. troops to participate the conflict, Biden has maintained that helium sees the Russian effort to drawback territory arsenic an affront to planetary norms and has vowed to help Kyiv win, sending artillery, tanks and drones and precocious agreeing to let allies to bid Ukrainian subject connected American F-16 jets.

Before Monday's ceremonial astatine the Arlington, Virginia, cemetery, the Bidens hosted a meal astatine the White House for members of veterans organizations, subject work and subject household organizations, surviving families of fallen U.S. troops, senior Department of Defense officials and different medication officials.

The president and the archetypal woman were scheduled to instrumentality their location near Wilmington, Delaware, aboriginal Monday to walk the remainder of the national holiday.