administration. the president indeed marked this national holiday with a deeply personal remembrance and passionate defense of democracy. and that's because this memorial day 2021 comes at such an uneasy time in our nation's modern history. biden began the day at arlington cemetery with vice president kamala harris, secretary of defense lloyd austin, honoring americans who died on battlefields. after laying a wreath on the tomb of the unknown, biden spoke of his son beau and veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our democracy. >> each and every day democracy itself is in peril, here at home and around the world. what we do now, what we do now, how we honor the memory of the fallen will determine whether or not democracy will long endure.