[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 50 (Thursday, March 27, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4470-S4472]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
brave service men and women from Georgia who are serving in Operation 
Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Several weeks ago I had the 
privilege of being in Fort Stewart, GA, which is located in Hinesville, 
to visit with several hundred of our men and women preparing to leave 
as soon as we finished our visit to board an airplane headed for 
Kuwait. They are members of the 3rd Infantry Division, one of the more 
notable infantry divisions in the history of our great country. I 
swelled with pride as I had the opportunity to visit with those men and 
women who were so prepared, so well trained, and so well equipped to 
ensure that democracy and freedom continue to ring and to do what is 
necessary on their part to free the people of Iraq from the dreaded 
rule of Saddam Hussein.
  The 3rd Infantry Division is known as the ``Rock of the Marne.'' They 
fought bravely in World War I and they held their ground during the 
Battle of Marne when surrounding units retreated. Since then they have 
been operating under the motto ``we'll stay there.'' Their most famous 
soldier was one of the most decorated soldiers in the history of the 
United States, Audie Murphy. They have a proud history of serving in 
World War II, the Korean war, and Operation Desert Storm.
  Georgia and America can be proud of the history that the 3rd is 
making today in Iraq. Currently, there are over 7,000 tanks, humvees, 
Bradley armored vehicles, and trucks in theater. This is undoubtedly 
one of the largest convoys ever in the history of the United States 
Military. They are facing heavy resistance and fierce sandstorms, but 
because of their training and their preparation, thankfully they have 
suffered only light casualties.
  This morning, as we speak, the 3rd Infantry Division is less than 50 
miles from Baghdad, preparing to encounter the elite Iraqi Republican 
Guard. Over the last 3 days, soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division 
have surrounded the city of Najaf and taken captive over 500 Iraqi 
soldiers in their effort to liberate the Iraqi people and overthrow the 
oppressive Iraqi regime.
  In addition to the 3rd Infantry Division, there are many other brave 
men and women deployed from Georgia to the Middle East and Afghanistan, 
including the 94th Airlift Wing from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in 
Atlanta; the 165th Airlift Wing from Savannah; the 4th Supply Battalion 
from the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, GA, which is near my 
home; the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron from the Naval Air Station 
in Atlanta; the 221st Military Intelligence Battalion in Atlanta, from 
the Army Reserve, and the 116th Air Control Wing from Robins Air Force 
Base, who are very proud of flying the Joint Stars weapon system.
  I have had the privilege of representing Robins Air Force Base for 
the last 8 years as a Member of the House. I have flown with the Joint 
Stars about four times. They are so proud of the work they do, and 
justly so. They are the eyes of the Army when it comes to gathering 
intelligence on the enemy and its movement.
  Sadly, they are also prisoners of war and brave soldiers that have 
been killed and wounded in the line of duty from Georgia. Just this 
week, there was an Apache helicopter shot down. On that helicopter were 
two chief warrant officers, Rob Young from Lithia Springs, GA, and 
David Williams. Both of these men now are prisoners of war of the Iraqi 
Army.
  I had the opportunity to visit with Officer Young's father on Tuesday 
this week. He was obviously, like all of his family and all Americans, 
very concerned about the health and safety of his son. But he was so 
proud of the work that his son was doing and so proud that his son was 
doing exactly what he wanted to do. I share in that pride with his 
family.

  Killed in action in Iraq over the last couple of days have been 
Specialist Jamall R. Addison of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort 
Bliss, TX, who is a resident of Roswell, GA; Specialist Gregory P. 
Sanders from Company B, 3rd Battalion of 69th Armor, stationed at Fort 
Stewart, GA.
  Unfortunately, also killed in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan 
over the last few days, they were flying a Pave Hawk search and rescue 
helicopter, 1LT Tamara Archuleta, SSgt Jason Hicks, MSgt Michael Maltz, 
SrA Jason Plite, LTC John Stein, and SSgt John Teal, all from Moody Air 
Force Base in Valdosta, GA. We will be praying for them and their 
families in this time of hardship and sorrow.
  The men and women I have described are all part of the All-Volunteer 
Force that make up the best and brightest our country has to offer. 
They have chosen to put their lives on the line for the freedom of 
their families and their country, and we could never adequately express 
our gratitude for the sacrifice they and their families have made and 
will continue to make for the United States.
  I am proud of all of these young men and women. I salute them. We 
want to make sure they and their families know they continue to be in 
our prayers. We wish for immediate success and a safe return of all.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, in the early stages of the conflict with

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Iraq, my State of Oregon is already mourning, already forced to count 
the cost of this war in real and human terms.
  This morning I expressed my condolences to the families and friends 
of all of those who have given their lives in this war, but I 
particularly recognize the brave soldiers being mourned today by the 
people of Oregon. Army Reserve Specialist Brandon Tobler, who was only 
19, lost his life in a humvee accident during a sandstorm. Brandon was 
the only son of Leo and Gail Tobler of Portland. He grew up there and 
joined the military to help pay for college. He was in a convoy headed 
to Baghdad providing engineering support to the combat troops. Private 
Tobler's death reminds us that a soldier doesn't have to be on the 
combat line to face tremendous danger and possible death.
  It reminds us how brave each and every person who puts on a uniform 
for the United States must be regardless of their particular 
assignment.
  Air National Guard MAJ Gregory Stone was a 20-year veteran of 
military service. He was killed in the grenade attack at the base of 
the 101st Airborne in Kuwait. He leaves behind two young sons today, 
Evan and Joshua, as well as his mother in Ontario--who I just spoke 
with--and others across our State who loved him dearly. Major Stone 
graduated from Oregon State University, and from Benson High School in 
my hometown of Portland. He died far from the front lines but, again, 
called to sacrifice in war.
  Army SGT Donald Walters is now missing in action after his convoy was 
ambushed in Southern Iraq. His wife and kids are in Missouri. His 
parents, Norman and Arlene, are in Salem, OR, awaiting word on his 
safety. Sergeant Walters comes from a family with a rich tradition of 
service across the military, including the Army, Navy, and the Air 
Force. He is a specialist in decontamination. His convoy was moving to 
support troops in battle when they took a wrong turn into terrible 
circumstances. The people of Oregon now are praying for his family and 
his friends. I join with all of them in hoping for his safe return.
  Each of these very brave Oregonians, in my view, is an example of the 
best of the American spirit. We mourn the deaths of those killed. We 
pray for the safe return of Sergeant Walters and, above all, we give 
thanks for all of those living as well, who still serve so bravely in 
this time of war.
  Madam President, the special people who are serving our country cross 
generations, and they represent every ethnic group. They serve in a 
wide variety of capacities. Some come from Reserve units or the 
National Guard. Others are in the permanent services. They are members 
of very different fighting forces--Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, 
and Air Force. Amidst all of this diversity, there is so much that they 
share--especially a deep love for our country, and a common willingness 
to risk their lives for the lives of others.
  Together, they stand between the citizens of our Nation and those who 
would do America harm. They all know that at any time they could be 
called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. Yet, each day, they go in 
and put their uniform on and charge into harm's way for all of our 
sakes.
  Throughout American history, members of our military have made the 
sacrifices that allow our great Republic to survive. Today, as the 
pictures of this war play out on television screens across the Nation, 
people in this country can see as never before just what a war requires 
of men and women who fight on behalf of all of us. As we watch, it is 
important to remember these images are not created in Hollywood. They 
are the actions of real human beings. The soldiers are real people, 
loved by countless Americans here at home who worry every single hour 
for their safety, and mourn them when they are lost.
  I will close today by expressing my gratitude to all of the Americans 
who serve our great Nation, and take special time today to reflect on 
the contributions of the Oregonians we have lost. Our concern for the 
missing people of this country today is great. The people I represent 
at home in Oregon offer their prayers every day for the success of the 
mission of those who serve and for their safe and speedy return.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arkansas is 
recognized.
  Mrs. LINCOLN. Madam President, I am truly pleased and honored to be 
here today for the second continuing day of the Senate's tribute to the 
troops. I want to say to my good colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden, 
that the purpose really of us being here today and the time we are 
trying as a body to take is to recognize and to speak out to his 
constituents in Oregon; and it is not just his thoughts and prayers 
that go out to those families but all of our prayers.
  When it comes to our troops and the tribute we pay to these men and 
women who serve us, serve this great Nation, we act as one body. We 
come together with collective thoughts and prayers for each and every 
one of these service men and women.
  Regarding the two Oregonians whose lives were lost and the two who 
are missing, each of us feels what Senator Wyden does. We want to 
express that as a body. I think it is so important at this time in our 
country's history that we as a body are not divided, that we are here 
as individuals to say our thoughts and prayers are collective for the 
men and women who have put their lives on hold here, left their 
families, and gone to a foreign land to defend our freedom and our 
security against the tyranny of this individual who has the 
unbelievable capabilities of weapons of mass destruction.
  So I am pleased the Senator from Oregon was able to join us, and I 
hope his constituents understand they have the entire body's thoughts 
and prayers with them. I want to expand on that a little bit.
  I come to this body a little bit differently than many of the other 
Senators. I don't have a long list of elected positions that I have 
held, and in terms of the time I have been here, it is probably shorter 
than a good many. I really come as a farmer's daughter and, I guess 
more recently, as a mother. I thought this morning, as I put my twin 
boys who are in the first grade on the school bus, sending them off to 
school, having sat at the breakfast table and made sure they had a good 
breakfast--one of my boys is in a school play and we were practicing 
his lines--when I put them on that bus this morning, I thought about 
the other mothers in the country whose sons and daughters are in a 
faraway land, who they cannot communicate with; all they can do is look 
up in the sky and realize that the same moon, and the same sun, and the 
same stars are shining above their precious children today in a foreign 
land where their lives are in danger. I just lifted up my own prayer of 
thankfulness that I live in this great country, where people want to be 
a part of other people's lives, where men and women are willing to give 
of themselves to defend the things we believe in: freedom, fairness, 
hard work, community, and helping each other.
  Yesterday, I paid tribute to the troops from Arkansas, from all 
across our great State--so many of whom were from small communities, 
almost every community in our State represented. Those proud men and 
women, measuring well over 2,000, are now over there in that conflict.
  Today, I want to talk about how each of us can honor all of the 
individuals who are there serving us right now. As I said earlier, not 
having served in the military myself, and not having a longstanding 
history of elected positions, I look back to my own background, and I 
remember the stories my mother told me. She remembered every detail. 
She had gone to the movies, and when her mother picked her up from the 
movies, she told her that World War II had begun and that her big 
brother would be shipping out in the next couple of days. She 
remembered everything: She remembered the movie, she remembered the 
clothes she was wearing, she remembered the thoughts in her mind. She 
thought, what is it that I can do to make a contribution and honor 
these individuals who are going overseas to defend me, and who I am in 
this great country that I belong to? She thought about that. She was 
immediately introduced to rations and victory gardens and making sure 
that there were plenty of bandages for the Red Cross.
  We must all look at and never underestimate the ways we can honor 
those individuals.
  I think one of the most important ways we can honor these men and 
women who have sacrificed and are giving so much on our behalf is to 
look at

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ourselves as a body. As we stood here this morning and said the Pledge 
of Allegiance to the Flag, which always makes me proud, to be 
indivisible, to come together as one body when it comes to our troops--
we are going to have our differences. We always have and we always 
will. But I think it is so important in this time of paying tribute to 
our armed services, the forces that are out there to defend our 
freedoms, that we act in a nonpartisan and indivisible way.
  I was really saddened today when I picked up the paper and, in what 
has become a very common manner, there was a sense of making fun about 
some of the priorities that many of us Democrats had in this recent 
budget debate. Budgets are all about priorities, and in our household, 
I run our budget. We sometimes have to cut our spending to make sure we 
have enough money for college education and other priorities in our 
household budget.
  I had an amendment on the budget which I thought was very important. 
When the men and women who serve in our Reserves and National Guard are 
activated, they have health care at that point, but prior to that 
point, they do not have health care. I think it is equally as important 
to honor them not just when they are serving but when they are at home 
preparing and willing to serve.
  I do not think it is comical in terms of a Democratic ``spend-o-
meter.'' It is my priority that these men and women are important 
enough to me that I am willing to ask some to delay a tax cut so we can 
provide that kind of health care to their families and to our men and 
women serving when they are willing and preparing to serve us in the 
armed services.
  In these continuing debates--we certainly come to the floor to talk 
about the men and women from our States who serve us in the armed 
services, who have put their lives in harm's way, to talk about their 
families at home who are heartbroken, who are anxious, who are in 
thoughtful prayer--I hope we will also remember in this body as we 
debate these priorities--whether it is a budget, tax cuts, or any other 
issue--that we also remember what they fight for: Our ability in this 
country to have the freedom to disagree but to disagree with respect.
  My priorities in that budget were for the service men and women who 
serve, and I will continue to put them as a priority because when I put 
my son on that bus this morning, I thought about the rest of those 
mothers across this country. I thought about those men and women 
serving us who left family members behind who maybe did not have health 
care, and I think it is critical. Whether or not we disagree, we 
certainly respect the differences of opinions that we may have in this 
body and, for the sake of those men and women who have put their lives 
in harm's way, that we will not be frivolous with our comments or 
comical in the priorities each of us may have, even though there is a 
difference.
  I thank the Chair.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senator 
from Arkansas be allowed to speak for as long as she would like. She is 
making a good statement, and there is no other Member on the floor. I 
make that request.
  Mrs. LINCOLN. I thank the Senator from Montana. I thank him very much 
for what he is going to begin, a tax package that really does serve the 
men and women in uniform. I appreciate his hard work and leadership on 
that issue.

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