[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 51 (Monday, March 31, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4542-S4546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I thank our distinguished majority 
leader for visiting with the families of our troops from the 101st from 
his State. All of us are personally visiting with families of people 
who are there, and particularly in my case, I spent quite a bit of time 
talking to the families whose loved ones are either missing in action 
or are verified prisoners of war.
  There is nothing more rewarding than talking to these incredible 
people who are afraid of what might be happening. They are, of course, 
going through something that all of us hope we will never have to go 
through, but they are very strong. They trust that we are doing 
everything possible to inform them, to find out the whereabouts of 
these prisoners or missing persons. Most certainly, our military--this 
is something I personally ask in our briefing sessions--is trying to 
find out exactly where these prisoners or missing people are located.
  They are working through the Red Cross to try to have a Red Cross 
representative see these prisoners just as the Red Cross 
representatives are being able to see the Iraqi prisoners who are being 
held by the allied forces. So it is a tough time for these wonderful 
people of America who are supporting their loved ones in this very 
trying time for them.

  All of us want to be reminded that there are specific laws, 
international laws, called the Geneva Convention, about the treatment 
of prisoners. Article 17 explicitly prohibits inflicting physical or 
mental torture and any other forms of coercion on prisoners in order to 
obtain information of any kind, including publicizing photographs where 
they can be recognized. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer questions 
may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to unpleasant or 
disadvantageous treatment of any kind.
  Article 23 of the Geneva Convention prevents a prisoner from being 
sent to or detained in areas where they may be exposed to the fire of 
the combat zone, and in no case can prisoners be used as human shields.
  The Geneva Convention also requires access to the prisoners by 
officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
  We have informed the Iraqi Government that we intend to treat their 
prisoners with dignity and abide by the Geneva Convention. We most 
certainly are appealing to the Iraqis to let in the Red Cross 
personnel.
  One of the benefits of the so-called embedded media is that they are 
on the scene with our military and are able to provide some very candid 
photos of our troops in action.
  I want to show a few more of the photos. I started some of them last 
week. I think these photos really speak more than a thousand words 
about what it is to be at the front. We see the pictures on television, 
but I wanted to display some of the still pictures showing how we are 
treating prisoners of war and the people of Iraq as our allied soldiers 
are coming upon them.
  This photo shows a U.S. marine helping an injured prisoner of war 
moments after securing the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. It was 
taken on March 23 of this year.
  U.S. Marine LCpl Marcco Ware of Los Angeles carries an Iraqi soldier 
who was injured in an attack on Ware's outfit on Tuesday, March 26, 
2003. This unit has been attacking LCpl Ware's unit, but he found this 
injured soldier and is carrying him to safety.
  I am very proud of the character and courage of our forces and the 
way they are treating those who are in their care. At the same time, we 
have seen our soldiers paraded on Iraqi television in clear violation 
of international law. We applaud our troops' bravery, courage, and 
professionalism. Our prayers are with them and their families in this 
most difficult time.
  President Bush has demanded that the Iraqis immediately comply with 
the Geneva Convention. I urge all of those who might have information 
that could be helpful to the Red Cross in getting in to see our 
prisoners of war to bring that forward. I encourage the Iraqi 
Government--if there is any shred of dignity--to make sure they abide 
by the Geneva Convention, just as our forces are abiding by it.
  I know so many in the Senate are reaching out in their individual 
States, trying to make sure that we touch the families who are 
suffering so much. In churches throughout my hometown of Dallas, they 
have prayer lists including every person who is connected to a member 
of that particular parish. Those young men and women are being named 
individually in those prayers. I think all of us are touched. We have 
Texas embedded media.
  I close with part of a piece in the San Antonio Express that was 
written by Sig Christenson, their military correspondent who is 
embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division:

       March 25: It was a little after 3 p.m. today when the 
     little slice of Iraq that we occupy dimmed.
       A vicious sandstorm, almost certainly the worst one yet for 
     the 3rd Infantry Division troops that have been here for 
     months, swept over the sandy plateau we took from 200 or so 
     Iraqi troops this past Sunday.
       ``Wow, it's dark,'' Airman 1st Class Dan Housely said.
       Not to mention surreal.
       In less time than it takes to watch a rerun of ``The 
     Beverly Hillbillies,'' the once-overcast but relatively clear 
     desert was a swirling mass of sand. An orange hue descended 
     over the landscape, creating a scene resembling Viking probe 
     photos of Mars.
       Sand gets into everything around here, and especially seems 
     drawn to your sinuses and ears. Take a ``Baby Wipe bath,'' as 
     soldiers call it, and you'll clear out clumps of dirt from 
     your ears--day after day.
       Outside, gale-force winds kick up the sandy floor and turn 
     each fine grain into a weapon. . . . Within an hour, I had a 
     headache that pulsated at the back of my skull.
       It could be worse.
       We hold the high ground and have lots of firepower, but 
     that won't stop Iraqis loyal to Saddam Hussein. Already we've 
     lost a soldier within walking distance of my cot--he was shot 
     dead--and our troops have encountered Iraqis wearing American 
     military uniforms close to our camp.
       If today's battle for a bridge outside An Najaf is any 
     example, we can expect a determined, fierce resistance all 
     the way to Baghdad. Iraqi regulars and elite militia driving 
     trucks took on 70-ton M1A1 tanks, coming at them again and 
     again.
       That kind of fanaticism is cause for my imagination to go 
     wild as I prepare to sleep. A sandstorm gives perfect cover 
     to infiltrators and snipers out here, and as I worked today I 
     found myself frequently looking out my Humvee. It could 
     become a habit.

  Mr. President, I appreciate very much Senator Lincoln from Arkansas 
sharing this hour with me, and the rest of the hour on our side will be 
managed by Senator Thomas of Wyoming.

[[Page S4543]]

  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arkansas is 
recognized.
  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I compliment my colleague from Texas. 
She and I have embarked on this opportunity to really highlight a 
tribute to our troops. I am honored to share the responsibility with 
her, and I am certainly appreciative of all the stories she brings to 
light as we do highlight and pay tribute to our troops. It is really a 
forum for all of us to share in saluting the efforts of our men and 
women in uniform, and also to remind one another that as we lift up our 
prayers and thoughts for the families of our constituencies that have 
men, women, and family members who are fighting in the Middle East in 
this conflict, we can also lift up our thoughts and prayers for one 
another's constituents. It is not just the people from Arkansas I can 
lift up my prayers for but all the service men and women, so that they 
know in return it is not just their Senators but our whole body having 
thoughts and prayers for the men and women who are so gallantly 
defending our freedoms in a land so far away.
  When we kicked this off last week, we really hoped to have daily 
contributions from our colleagues paying tribute to our Armed Forces 
and to those among our own constituents who are sacrificing in the 
liberation of Iraq and other operations. I speak for myself and, I am 
sure, Senator Hutchison when I say the response has been overwhelming. 
We appreciate the contributions made by our colleagues and others who 
have brought stories to the floor. We thank our colleagues for their 
participation and encourage all of them to continue to bring forth 
those stories so that we all might share with one another the 
experiences we are having in our own offices, particularly with our own 
constituents.
  Today I want to briefly speak about two of my constituents from 
Arkansas, both of whom were called to serve in Iraq.
  The first is Hospital Corpsman Michael Vann Johnson, Jr, a 25-year-
old Navy medic and Little Rock native who was serving in the 3rd 
Battalion of the 5th Marine Expeditionary Force.
  On Tuesday of last week, Michael was the first Arkansas serviceman 
reported to die in action, as well as the first Navy casualty, when he 
was hit by shrapnel from an exploding grenade. At that time, Michael 
was tending to another wounded soldier, placing himself in harm's way 
in order to minister to the needs of others.
  His was a display of incredible courage and a testament to our 
troops' dedication to their brothers and sisters in battle.
  Oftentimes we do not really think about the camaraderie and the 
dedication these men and women in uniform have with one another, but it 
is a tremendous sacrifice they make on behalf of one another.
  His was a display of courage and certainly dedication to his fellow 
man. I have with me today a story about Michael Johnson that was 
published in yesterday's Washington Post, a story that gives us a 
glimpse of the kind of man he was. The story details a number of 
Michael's qualities as remembered by those who really knew him the 
best--his energy, his intelligence, his compassion, and his generosity. 
These were the qualities that spurred him to volunteer for an 
assignment in the Middle East because he wanted to be there to help his 
brothers when they went into battle.
  I ask unanimous consent that this Washington Post profile of Michael 
Johnson be printed in the Record following my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mrs. LINCOLN. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, as his father, Michael Vann Johnson, Sr., said last 
week:

       He died for the freedom that we have, the freedom that each 
     of us loves.

  A beautiful sentiment and a fitting tribute to a young man who made 
the ultimate sacrifice to make this world a safer place for all of us.
  I know my colleagues join me in sending out our deepest condolences 
to Michael's family, friends, and loved ones, particularly his parents 
and his wife Cherice, in this very difficult time.
  As I mentioned earlier, it is so important for us collectively, as a 
body, to lift up our prayers for each and every man and woman serving 
this country in conflict right now. So I ask all of my colleagues to 
keep his family in their prayers.
  I would also like to recognize today LCpl James Smedley of the U.S. 
Marine Corps. Prior to being deployed to Iraq, Jason was assigned to 
the 4th Civil Affairs Group here in Washington, DC. He was also 
enrolled as a student at Howard University. And if all of that is not 
enough to keep a young man busy at his age, he was also a valuable 
full-time member of my personal staff here in my Washington office.
  In January, Jason was deployed to Iraq. He was called up on a 
Tuesday, and he left on that following Friday. Some of my colleagues 
may recall that Jason accompanied me here one morning before his 
departure so that I could recognize his service on the Senate floor. He 
is a very handsome young man, full of energy, excitement, and 
dedication not only to his country but to his fellow man and to his 
Creator. He is the epitome of what we think of in the youth of America: 
young people who are excited about what they can contribute, who they 
can become, and what they can do for others.
  On Friday morning, we received news that Jason had been wounded in 
combat and was being transported to a field hospital. For several hours 
that morning, we were uncertain as to the extent of the injuries he had 
suffered, but I am happy to report that although Jason had been 
wounded, he is safe and secure at a military hospital in Germany with 
relatively minor wounds to his arm and his hand. He is expected to 
recover fully from his injuries and may, in fact, return to the 
battlefield upon his recovery. That is yet to be determined.

  I have to share what I felt when I got an e-mail that said Jason had 
been wounded. We did not know how he was. All we knew is he was in a 
field hospital probably about to undergo surgery. I knew that I was 
going to have to call his mother, Carolyn, whom I knew and who had come 
up with Jason to help him pack for his departure.
  I thought about how she must feel. I thought to myself: Here I am 
with twin boys almost 7 years old. Sometimes I even have a twinge of, I 
do not know, guilt, or certainly just distance when my children go for 
a sleepover, and here this woman had sent her son across the sea to a 
land unknown to him and to her. How she must feel to have gotten word 
that he had been injured but she did not know how badly, she did not 
know where he was, she did not know who was caring for him.
  I called her, and she was remarkably steady. She, too, had gotten an 
e-mail from Jason just a couple of weeks ago where he had lifted up a 
prayer for her, just like the e-mail he had sent me: Dear Senator, I 
want you to know how I am doing. I have wonderful men that I am 
traveling with and who I will be fighting with, and I want to lift up a 
prayer for you. I want to lift up a prayer for you and for my friends 
in the office.
  This was a young man not worried about himself but about others.
  When I spoke with Carolyn, she was remarkably steady, and through the 
course of the day, we received another e-mail saying that he was doing 
OK, we knew where he was, and that he was going to be all right. I 
heard the sigh of a comforted mother who had gotten word that 
everything was OK for the time being. What small way I could identify 
with that, I lifted up my sigh, too.
  Along with Jason's families and friends, I wish to say I am deeply 
proud of his valiant service, and we all look forward to him returning 
home in good health as soon as possible.
  Jason Smedley, a young marine wounded in action, and Michael Johnson, 
a Navy corpsman killed as he bravely sacrificed to help others--these, 
Mr. President, are the human faces of the war to liberate Iraq. We will 
not forget their courage and commitment, and it is in their honor that 
the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, in conjunction with the 
troops of our allies, will move forward with their mission to liberate 
Iraq from the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein and destroy Saddam 
Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The sacrifices of these young 
men and women will be well honored when this mission is complete.

[[Page S4544]]

  Mr. President, I wish to touch on one other item. I mentioned the e-
mails. Many of our offices are getting e-mails and letters. I have 
recently received many e-mails from schoolchildren who want to send 
packages to our troops. They want to do letters and collages. They want 
to send care packages. Such patriotism among our young people always 
inspires me, and it is a wonderful tribute to the young people of this 
country. I know letters and pictures from schoolchildren across this 
country would light up the faces of our troops, many of which woke up 
this morning and each morning in sand-filled dugouts.
  At this point, the Department of Defense wants to make sure the 
letters and drawings from relatives make it to our troops first. So 
they asked us to hold off sending care packages to the Middle East for 
the time being.
  The Defense Department is encouraging folks who want to show their 
support to do so in a variety of ways, and I thought I would take a 
moment to share those with everybody.

  To send a message to the troops, you can e-mail them through 
www.operationdearabby.net. If you have already purchased goods to send 
in care packages, the Defense Department suggests that for the time 
being you send those to a local veterans home. A wonderful way to honor 
the men and women in service to this country today is to certainly 
honor those who have served our country in the past.
  If you have perishables or items you have brought together with the 
intent of sending them abroad, perhaps you could take them to a local 
veterans home and share them with the veterans community of this 
country. Then perhaps at a later date, you can do something for the 
troops abroad.
  You could also call a local base to notify the families of deployed 
servicemen that you have goods, and they can collect them and send them 
off if it is at all possible. The real key has been that the Department 
of Defense, for security purposes, does not want to be inundated with 
packages for our service men and women and hope you will look at 
creative ways to honor our troops, just as we are today and each and 
every day coming to the floor of the U.S. Senate to honor these 
wonderful service men and women who are defending our country. We are 
looking also for the multitude of ways we can honor them. We encourage 
each and every one of our constituents to be inventive and to look for 
other ways they can honor those service men and women who are serving 
our country. You could also support the troops by displaying a flag and 
teaching your children respect for the flag.
  Our hope is that in the coming weeks we will all look for ways to 
honor those men and women who are serving our country abroad, who are 
defending our freedoms, and who are working to eliminate the tyranny of 
Saddam Hussein.
  I thank all of my colleagues who join us in this effort, and in the 
coming days I look forward to the ways we can honor our troops. I do, 
again, appreciate the support and the work of my colleague from Texas, 
Senator Hutchison, in this effort.
  I yield the floor.

                               Exhibit 1

               [From the Washington Post, Mar. 30, 2003]

                  Medic Who Died Torn by Duty, Doubts

                           (By Amy Goldstein)

       As a medic at a San Diego naval clinic, he had been 
     resolute in volunteering for duty in Iraq. But Michael V. 
     Johnson Jr. was a healer by training and temperament, and 
     once he arrived in the Middle East, he was uncertain of the 
     morality of having placed himself in war.
       In letters to his wife, Cherice, sometime two letters a 
     day, he wrote out his worries about what he--and the Marine 
     division to which he was attached--might be called upon to 
     do. How would God view him if he helped take a life?
       On the war's sixth day, last Tuesday, it was Johnson who 
     was killed, becoming the first naval casualty in Iraq. His 
     26th birthday would have been tomorrow, his wedding 
     anniversary in two weeks. At 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Cherice 
     Johnson was awakened by knocks on the door of their military 
     housing. Seeing the chaplain and the officer through the 
     peephole, she understood why they had come.
       The information was sketchy--Johnson apparently had died 
     when shrapnel from a grenade struck his head, she was told. 
     The military emissaries did not say exactly where he had 
     been. Nor did they explain ``if it was an accident on our 
     behalf or in combat,'' said his wife, 24, who had fallen in 
     love with him when she was a high school senior and he a 
     college sophomore in Little Rock.
       He was a young man of many facets: an extrovert with the 
     energy of a child, a passion for basketball, a gift for 
     drawing and singing, a knack for science and calculus.
       In Little Rock, his mother, Jana Norfleet, said she is 
     trying to draw comfort from a certain symmetry: a son born in 
     the spring and lost in the spring.
       She said she tried to instill a sense of striving in the 
     youngest of her three children, her only son. ``I pushed him 
     a lot,'' she said. ``We would spend many nights just sitting, 
     studying together. We didn't move until he was finished.'' 
     And even when he was young, she was explicit about her 
     reasons. ``I'm doing this to make you realize there are many 
     kids out there who are going to excel higher,'' she would 
     tell him ``and I want you to be in that group.''
       Starting in second grade, he was in classes for gifted and 
     talented students. He graduated from Parkview Arts and 
     Science Magnet High School, which selects its students from 
     the entire county. His mother and stepfather still keep on a 
     living room shelf a plaque from his freshman year, when he 
     was listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students.
       Six-foot-one, he excelled at basketball. ``I think he saw 
     himself as a basketball professional in his dreams,'' his 
     mother said, ``but we kind of swayed him in the other 
     direction. We told him, `That should be your second love. You 
     need to make a living, son'.''
       Growing up, he had loved the cats, dogs, gerbils and fish 
     in his family's house, and he was fascinated in biology 
     classes by dissection. Compassion was part of his Christian 
     faith, forged by his stepfather's insistence on attending 
     church every Sunday.
       He thought of a career that involved medicine. Together 
     with a girlfriend at the time, he enrolled at the University 
     of Central Arkansas, commuting the 45 minutes north to 
     Conway, Ark. He hoped to enter classes that would lead him 
     into physical therapy, but they were full, and he pursued 
     pre-engineering classes for two years before he left.
       ``He went into the Navy to continue his education, to have 
     it paid for by Uncle Sam,'' said his mother, who was uneasy 
     about his choice but told him she would support him.
       ``He had wanted to strive for bigger and better things and 
     travel, and he just came upon the Navy and decided that would 
     be the starting point for what he wanted to do,'' his wife, 
     Cherice, said.
       After basic training, he trained as a hospital corpsman at 
     the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine 
     Palms, Calif., then was assigned to a clinic at the Marine 
     Corps Recruit Depot that is part of the Naval Medical Center, 
     San Diego. He had an affinity for the work. He gave physicals 
     to potential recruits, helped to treat the sick and, at 
     times, provided counseling.
       He and Cherice formed a wide circle of friends, and he 
     developed an attachment to the men he thought of as brothers 
     in a surrogate, West Coast family. Last June, he extended his 
     five-year enlistment by a year.
       Late in the year, as the prospect of war grew, he was among 
     fewer than half-dozen of the clinic co-workers he knew who 
     volunteered for the Middle East, Cherice Johnson said.
       He did not ask his mother for her opinion before deciding. 
     If he had, she would have told him not to go, ``because 
     that's what mothers say,'' Norfleet said. ``I'm selfish. I'm 
     going to tell you that right here and now. That's my baby. 
     But he didn't ask me. He's a man.
       She told him, once again, that she supported his choice, 
     but her feelings slipped out. ``Don't you think you could 
     find a tent like on the `M*A*S*H' series, a tent to treat the 
     wounded back behind? she asked.
       He replied, she recalled, that ``they were his brothers, 
     and he wanted to be there with them and for them.''
       His final conversation with his mother went on for two 
     hours, on a cell phone as he was about to be deployed from 
     California. He last called his wife on a refueling stop in 
     Spain.
       The last letter to his mother arrived just over two weeks 
     ago from Kuwait. ``By the time you receive this letter, I 
     will have gone to war,'' he wrote. ``If I don't make it back 
     don't be sad for me. Be happy for me and praise God, because 
     I've gone to heaven to be with grandma.''
       ``The reality of war draws you closer to God,'' the medic 
     wrote. ``It lets you know how valuable life really is.''

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I will take some time this afternoon to 
recognize what is being done for us and for this country. All of us 
have strong feelings about those who are defending freedom. We have 
talked about the risks they take, but I rise today to recognize the 
sacrifice of a particular Marine Corps Second Lieutenant, Therrel Shane 
Childers.
  Certainly all of us recognize the necessity of defending freedom. We 
recognize the willingness of brave men and women to do what is 
necessary. We recognize the connection between the land of the free and 
the home of the brave. However, when we have these losses,

[[Page S4545]]

they are a great tragedy to all of us, particularly to the families and 
loved ones.
  Known as Shane to his family and friends, he was assigned to the 1st 
Battalion, 5th Regiment of the 1st Marine Division of Camp Pendleton. 
Shane was the first combat casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was 
30 years old.
  2LT Childers was lost while leading his platoon in a fight to secure 
a pumping station in southern Iraq. Shane's parents, Joseph and Judy 
Childers of Powell, WY, say that Shane always wanted to be a marine. 
His family says he liked the rhythm of life in the Corps, the pride 
that goes with wearing the Marine uniform.
  After his high school graduation in 1990, he enlisted in the Marine 
Corps and served in the Persian Gulf war. After his duty in the gulf 
war, Shane served as a Marine security guard at the American consulate 
in Geneva, Switzerland, and at the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
  Shane later left the Marines and attended college at the Citadel 
where he completed his studies in an untraditional 3 years and was 
commissioned in 2001. Today, we mourn the loss of this young man and 
certainly pray for his family.
  I express my condolences to the Childers family and my gratitude to 
the men and women who wear the uniform and walk the line so that our 
Nation can continue to remain free.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, more than anything else, we all are 
thinking about the conflicts that are going on in Iraq and about our 
men and women who are fighting there. Of course, we have to continue to 
do what we have to do. Our lives go forward. We think about it a lot, 
and hear a great deal about it--I suppose more because of the embedded 
media--than we have ever heard before. We hear various kinds of 
reports. Certainly they are good for us to hear. We need to know what 
is happening. From time to time, we also hear some questionable 
comments and questions about the commitment of our leadership. 
Nevertheless, that is where we are.
  I guess all of us think a lot about why we are there, what needs to 
be done, and what will be the outcome. This morning I met with a group 
of 8th graders from Big Piney, WY, one of the smaller towns in western 
Wyoming. The whole class from the high school came. I think there were 
30 of them. One of them asked: What do you think of the war?
  Well, how would you react to 8th graders who ask that? I think it 
makes you really wonder. So we talked a little bit about it. We talked 
about the fact that it is a war that was brought about by terrorism, a 
war that was brought about by what happened in the Persian Gulf 12 
years ago, a war that was brought about by the fact that Saddam 
Hussein, who had to sign an agreement to finish that war because he was 
defeated, has not done what he was required to do.
  We have to talk a little bit about the fact that the whole reason we 
are there, the whole effort, is to disarm Saddam for the safety of the 
United States, for the safety of the world. No one wants to have a war, 
certainly. It is not anything that we would like to do. He had great 
opportunities to do something different in these past 12 years. He 
refused to do so.
  These 8th grade kids seemed to understand that no one wants war but 
we have to defend freedom. We have had to defend freedom numerous 
times, of course--quite different situations, quite different 
circumstances, but we find ourselves in different circumstance now as a 
result of 11 September, where instead of having to be afraid of 
divisions landing on your shore with artillery, and so on, now we find 
that one or two persons with mass destruction tools and weapons can 
destroy 3,000 people very easily. So it is a different situation. It is 
hard for young people to understand that, but I was very pleased with 
the fact that they do not like war--neither do we--but they understood 
that you have to defend those things that threaten the basis of our 
country.
  They were in Washington, DC, to see the foundation of the United 
States, to see what freedom is about: The Government of the people, by 
the people and for the people. They were here to see the Supreme Court. 
They were here to see the Constitution, the thing that probably ensures 
our freedom more than any other document. They understood that we have 
to defend those things, and I was so pleased.
  They were very skeptical. When they thought about it some and they 
thought about it in terms of the kinds of threats that are there and 
then when they thought about it in terms of those people who are 
voluntarily protecting our freedoms, who have gone into a war 
situation--I am a little bit prejudiced, being a marine, as to the 
Marine aspect of it, but everyone who is there is sacrificing for our 
freedom. Certainly we have a right to speak out and we have a right to 
have different views, but I hope we all recognize our responsibility to 
support our troops, people who are giving more than they could possibly 
be asked. We have the opportunity to do that.
  It is a good exercise for us to be able to talk to young people about 
why it is we are involved and the importance of protecting the kind of 
country we have and want to maintain. Certainly there is nothing more 
important than that.

  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President and distinguished colleagues, America is 
the greatest country the world has ever known. And, today, in places 
across the world, the greatest fighting men and women the world has 
ever known continue America's legacy of liberating oppressed people.
  My friends, America went to Bosnia to offer liberation and hope from 
despair and suffering--we went to Haiti to offer hope to an oppressed 
people--we went to Somalia to offer America's legacy of a better life 
for people who had rarely seen a day free of suffering, persecution and 
torture.
  Freedom and liberty are two words that should stir great emotions in 
all Americans.
  Freedom and liberty are the gift of America to oppressed people 
everywhere.
  Freedom and liberty, speak often these words because America's sons 
and daughters are in Iraq today doing what Americans have done for 
generations: We offer hope for a better tomorrow.
  Let's talk about America's sons and daughters. They come from an 
America today that is no less interested in its own freedom and 
liberties than the freedom and liberties we wish for all people.
  They are the sons and daughters of a great American revolution that 
never ends. The cause of freedom and liberty never ends.
  We have seen the pros and cons in the streets of American cities 
these past several weeks. There are great passions on both sides. The 
great glory of America is that 28 protestors can occupy the office of a 
U.S. Senator and not fear being put to death for their views.
  This is the fight that America's sons and daughters wage today.
  If we may, for a moment, find peace in the haze of conflict between 
those who support our efforts today, and those who do not, I ask that 
we do it in the name of America's sons and daughters who have been 
called upon to duty and service. Perhaps our energies now can be better 
spent by focusing on the world that we create in America today when our 
troops return.
  Get off the couch; stop watching the news; forget the radio 
broadcasts; turn off the playstation; unplug the TV; get outside, 
America.
  We've had our say. Now let's have our say for the tens of thousands 
of Americans fighting for freedom and liberty.
  Let us dedicate our energy--our pro and our con--to building the best 
possible Nation for our troops to come home to.

[[Page S4546]]

  Join hands and voices to help the moms, the dads, the husbands, the 
wives, the sons, the daughters, the brothers and the sisters to get 
through these difficult days. Offer more than words; offer hope indeed.
  Walk with them together during these times, open your homes and open 
your hearts. Our Nation is at war with an enemy across the world.
  Let us not be a nation at war with each other within. We have a 
common goal: Offer comfort and hope and encouragement to those who 
fight for our freedom, and those who are left behind to pray for their 
success and safe return home.
  America, the greatness of our Nation is not that we can survive 
conflict and division. The greatness of America is that we can build 
upon our differences and multiply our blessings.
  For the sake of the families of those who sacrifice, for the sake of 
the soldiers who are in harm's way, let us build a better America for 
their return.
  These are momentous days in the history of this country. They remind 
me of this remarkable statement by one of our early patriots, Patrick 
Henry, during our war of independence. He wrote:

       These are the times that try men's souls. The summer 
     soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink 
     from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, 
     deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like 
     Hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation 
     with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the 
     triumph. What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; 
     tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven 
     knows how to put a proper price on its goods; and it would be 
     strange indeed if so celestial an article as Freedom should 
     not be highly rated.

  You can talk about equality or you can make it happen.
  You can sympathize with the poor or you can help create a job for 
them.
  Yes, these are challenging times; we are witnessing the birth of a 
new century and a new moment of hope for mankind. Yes, these are 
dangerous, trying times, but it is a great time to be alive.
  Allow me to share some of my favorite quotes from Abraham Lincoln to 
guide our thoughts about this momentous time.
  In the second inaugural, Lincoln said:

       The dogmas of the quite past are inadequate to the stormy 
     present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we 
     must rise to the occasion. As our case is new, so we must 
     think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and 
     then we shall save our country.

  You don't undertake change for the sake of change. But when the 
circumstances have changed, it is folly to stick with the old game 
plan.
  The fall of the Soviet Union changed the world forever.
  September 11 changed the world forever.
  The problem with some at the United Nations and even some in our own 
Congress is that they are ``enthralled'' with the old way of doing 
things. To them you don't deal with evil, you just contain it. But that 
dogma led to the deaths of millions in Rwanda and Cambodia because we 
were too timid to act.
  For decades we allowed terror networks to grow and infiltrate even 
free societies. Because we thought there was nothing we could do about 
so pervasive an evil, we just hoped for the best.
  Now we have historic opportunity to strike a decisive blow against 
tyranny and terrorism in one place and give birth to a new century of 
hope for freedom and security. We must accept the moral responsibility 
our power gives us.
  Lincoln also said:

       Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith 
     let us do our duty as we understand it.

  Our Nation, more than any other, was born on eternal values--That God 
had endowed all people with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the 
pursuit of happiness. But as much as we would like to believe it, the 
power of those ideals do not sweep the globe and enforce themselves. 
Somebody has to do it.
  Right now the United States, Britain and a couple of dozen other 
nations are doing the dirty work of liberty. The lesson of history is: 
somebody has to do it.
  Lincoln was right; it takes faith to do it. Certain things can't be 
proven to people who are devoted to another path.
  We have a duty to do, and to most of us it is clear. Just because 
everybody doesn't see it doesn't mean it isn't exactly the right thing 
to do.
  Finally, a word about our great President. Here is a message for 
``43'' from ``16''. Lincoln said:

       If I were to read, much less answer all the attacks made on 
     me, this shop might as well be closed for business. I do the 
     very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep 
     doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, 
     what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end 
     brings me out wrong, then angels swearing I was right would 
     make no difference.

  I am profoundly grateful that we have a President who does not run 
his life by what the polls say. That is the opposite of leadership.
  I believe in a free media. I believe in the power of public opinion. 
But I see red when I see newspaper and Internet polls one week into the 
war in Iraq, asking about whether we are bogged down or if the 
President is using the right strategy.
  So much of the 24-7 commenting and opinionating out there is 
precisely the substance that covers the floors of Minnesota feedlots.
  In a long ago war it was said:

       They also serve who only stand and wait.

  The same is not true for those who just sit and wait.
  Public opinion is, as it should be, strongly with this President; 
strongly with our fighting men and women; strongly that we are doing 
the right thing in the name of freedom, in the name of liberty; to be 
an end to terror, to be an end to oppression, to be an end to rape, to 
be an end to torture, and to open up new worlds of possibilities. But I 
do ardently wish people would shut off the TV and shut off the computer 
and get out there and build the best possible great Nation for our 
troops to come home to. Shut it all off, say a prayer for our troops, 
say a prayer for our leaders, and go to work building a great America.
  Finally, one more word from Lincoln and I am done:

       With malice toward none, with charity for all, with 
     firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let 
     us strive to finish the work we are in; to bind up the 
     Nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the 
     battle, and for his widow and orphan--to do all which may 
     achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves 
     and all Nations.

  May God bless our fighting men and women on the front line. May God 
bless and support and hold and comfort the families of those who have 
given the ultimate sacrifice. May God bless the United States of 
America.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I understand it is appropriate to speak 
in morning business.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct.

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