[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 69 (Friday, May 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5991-S5992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HAIL TO THE CHIEF
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the other morning, as I read the clips
from the Anchorage Daily News, I was taken by a report of an event that
took place when President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier off of
San Diego.
I ask unanimous consent that this Anchorage Daily News article be
printed in the Record following my remarks on this subject.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. STEVENS. This article referred to Petty Officer 3rd Class Francis
Cushingham IV, who met and shook hands with the President three times
while he was on the aircraft carrier. It describes how this 21-year-old
Alaskan from Eagle River and his 5,000 shipmates played host to
President Bush and what they did.
President Bush was on board all day getting to shake hands with
almost every member of the crew. As the article says:
Trust an Alaskan to make the most of opportunity. Despite
an uncertain start, Cushingham managed to shake Bush's hand
three separate times, get his picture taken with the
President, and appear in a background shot on the Today show.
The article goes on to say that Cushingham considers it to be proof
of his few moments of glory and has a quote from him:
It's something I'm going to keep to show to my children and
my grandchildren. I can say, ``Hey, I met the President.''
There are people who criticized the President for having landed on
that aircraft carrier. As a pilot, I envy the opportunity he had to
land on that aircraft carrier and I certainly do not criticize the
President for his visit.
Our battle carrier groups are tremendous examples of the ability of
the United States to project force to all corners of the globe. What
better way to show the world that force than to have the President of
the United States land on this aircraft carrier as it returned to its
home base?
In fact, before the President landed on that carrier, the basic air
combat groups on board the carrier had left. They fly ahead of the
vessel as it goes into home port so they can go have their reunions
with their families at the air bases, which reflect their duties. The
sailors' families meet them as they come in to port. In this instance,
it was San Diego. I have witnessed some of those real amazing events
when a major ship comes back into port.
This visit of the Commander-in-Chief was accomplished within normal
allocation of training flight hours to the pilots who flew him there.
He was a passenger. He, as well as I, would like to experience landing
a plane on an aircraft carrier but we know we cannot do that.
Very clearly, the President was carrying out the tradition of every
President since John Tyler in 1844. President Eisenhower visited
aircraft carriers after World War II. In 1980, Jimmy Carter visited the
Nimitz, and in 1994, President Bill Clinton, on the George Washington,
went from England to France for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of
Normandy. I do not remember any criticism of that. In fact, to the
contrary. I think Americans are proud of the fact their President goes
out to greet the troops as they are coming back and spends time with
them.
As this article points out, this Alaskan greeted the President as he
came out of the gym. He had gone to work out with some of the guys and
gals on board. I cannot think of a better way for a Commander-in-Chief
to demonstrate the great confidence we have in the young men and women
who performed their duty in Iraq.
I ask unanimous consent that another article which I have be printed
in the Record following my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 2.)
Mr. STEVENS. This is an article from the Copley News Service entitled
``Bush Continues Seagoing Tradition.'' It points out the number of
times that Presidents have gone on board aircraft carriers.
Long before I came to the Senate, I remember when Adlai Stevenson
came to Alaska. He was just a Presidential candidate. We traveled miles
and miles to see him, although I was a Republican candidate for office
at the time. I think every American wants to see the President and is
totally honored to ever be in the presence of the President. That
person represents the honor of our country, and I cannot think of a
better way for a President to do it than to go out and land on an
aircraft carrier and honor those who have served our country so well in
Iraq.
I do congratulate the President and I hope he keeps it up. I hope he
visits every naval vessel he can visit and every military base he can
visit.
This generation has done a tremendous job for us in Afghanistan and
Iraq. My generation was referred to as ``the greatest generation.'' I
think these young people far surpass what we did in terms of their
ability to follow orders, to achieve the goals that are set for them,
and to do it in a very humane and humanitarian way.
Again, I think the President did the right thing by thanking the
soldiers and sailors and marines on that aircraft carrier in person. I
again repeat, I hope he will do it again.
Exhibit 1
After Shaky Start, Alaskan Greets Bush Three Times
(By Sheila Toomey)
Petty Officer 3rd Class Francis Cushingham IV was so
nervous about meeting the president that he almost blew his
first opportunity.
``I'm all freaking out. I was basically scared to meet him.
I mean, he's like basically the most powerful person on the
planet,'' Cushingham said by phone Friday from San Diego,
where the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is docked.
The 21-year-old from Eagle River and his 5,000 shipmates
played host Thursday to President Bush, who declared victory
in Iraq in a speech broadcast from the carrier as it
approached the California coast. The ship, which lift the
United States in July, was returning from duty in the Persian
Gulf.
Bush was on board all day, and getting to shake his hand
became a ship-wide obsession.
Trust an Alaskan to make the most of opportunity. Despite
an uncertain start, Cushingham managed to shake Bush's hand
three separate times, get his picture taken with the
president and appear in a background shot on the ``Today''
show.
``I'm basking in it,'' Cushingham said. ``Everybody was
honored and excited. There's a lot of people who didn't get
the chance to shake his hand, and they're all bummed out.''
The first occasion was outside Cushingham's work station, a
room of computers used in navigating the massive ship that's
located along a corridor leading to the captain's cabin. When
a bunch of Secret Service agents appeared, signaling the
president's approach, Cushingham said he got nervous and
turned to leave. A colleague stopped him, and the first shake
took place.
``I said, `How are you, sir? It's a pleasure to meet you,
sir.' He said, `Thank you for your service to your country.'
I swore my face was the brightest hue of red you could
possibly muster, but my friend said I didn't look nervous.''
An hour later, Bush was returning from the ship gym,
wearing workout clothes, needing a shower, friendly and
shorter than he looks on television, the 6-foot-3-inch
Alaskan said.
``He stood in the doorway, saw all of us with our cameras,
and pretty much offered a photo op right there. . . . He
said, `Who has a camera? Who am I standing with first?' ''
``I shook his hand about 4:20 in the afternoon,''
Cushingham said. ``Pacific time.''
The third shake was up on deck, after Bush's speech. Now a
pro, no longer nervous, Cushingham maneuvered to be among the
group Bush was scheduled to shake hands with in the afterglow
of the international media event.
[[Page S5992]]
Pressing presidential flesh was good, Cushingham said, but
the photo is best. It's proof of his few moments of glory.
``It's something I'm going to keep to show to my children
and my grandchildren. I can say, `Hey, I met the president.'
''
____
Exhibit 2
Bush Continues Seagoing Tradition
(By Otto Kreisher)
Washington.--President Bush's stay aboard the Abraham
Lincoln off San Diego today will continue an unbroken record
of presidential visits to U.S. Navy aircraft carriers that
goes back to Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957.
Nearly half of those carrier visits have occurred in the
same Southern California waters that Bush will sail through
during his overnight cruise aboard the Lincoln as it nears
the end of a war-extended deployment to the Persian Gulf.
The Lincoln will be the first U.S. warship Bush has gone
aboard as president, an apt recognition of the major role
that carriers have played in the conflicts that he ordered in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Because the Lincoln will be too far off San Diego for a
helicopter, Bush will fly to the carrier in a tactical
aircraft, a historic first for a president.
After arriving at North Island Naval Air Station aboard Air
Force One this morning, Bush will board a twin-jet S-3B
Viking from Sea Control Squadron 35. The plane will make a
cable-assisted landing on the Lincoln.
Though he served in the Texas Air National Guard, Bush will
be merely a passenger strapped in next to the pilot,
according to White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. ``For the
sake of the landing,'' Fleischer said. ``I'm sure he will be
doing no piloting.''
Closer to land tomorrow, Bush will return by helicopter and
leave North Island before the Everett, Wash.,-based carrier
arrives in San Diego Bay.
The Navy will not discuss where Bush will stay during his
night on the nuclear-powered carrier, citing security
concerns. But the president could use either the spacious
suite provided for the carrier battle group commander, Rear
Adm. John M. Kelly, or the large cabin available to the
Lincoln's commanding officer, Capt. Kendall Card.
Both provide a comfortable bedroom with adjoining
``head''--Navy for bathroom--and large conference or dining
room located several levels above the flight deck.
Presidential staff likely will be put into some of the
officer staterooms vacated by about half of the air wing's
squadrons, which will have flown off to their home stations
before Bush arrives.
Eisenhower started the trend of commanders-in-chief touring
carriers with his overnight stay on the Saratoga in June
1957. But every U.S. president has spent time on a Navy
vessel since John Tyler in 1844, although for several the
only nautical exposure was on the presidential yachts.
Other presidents have spent a lot of time on warships, with
the two Roosevelts--both one-time assistant Navy
secretaries--leading the pack in visits.
Theodore Roosevelt, who had served as acting Navy
secretary, visited at least six warships as president,
including a primitive submarine in 1905.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had been assistant Navy
secretary, spent months aboard 12 different warships,
including many wartime voyages for overseas conferences with
allied leaders.
Although neither Roosevelt ever visited a carrier, both
have had flattops named for them.
George H.W. Bush followed FDR's example of using warships
for security overseas. He stayed aboard the cruiser Belknap
during a 1989 summit with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
in Malta and on the amphibious assault ship Tripoli during a
New Year's 1992 visit to troops in Somalia.
The elder Bush, a World War II Navy carrier pilot, also
visited the carrier Forrestal during his Malta stay.
John F. Kennedy, a PT boat captain in World War II, became
the first president to visit a carrier off San Diego when he
toured the Oriskany on June 6, 1963. He then spent that night
aboard the Kitty Hawk, watching flight operations.
Lyndon B. Johnson spent a night aboard the nuclear-powered
Enterprise off San Diego on Nov. 10-11, 1967.
Richard Nixon used two carriers to broadcast Armed Forces
Day message to the troops: The Hornet on May 17, 1969, off
the Virginia coast and the Independence on May 19, 1973,
docked at Norfolk.
Jimmy Carter's visits aboard the carrier named for
Eisenhower in 1978 and the Nimitz in 1980 occurred in the
Atlantic. The former nuclear-qualified submariner toured the
Eisenhower's nuclear reactor spaces--probably the only
president ever to visit that highly restricted area.
Ronald Reagan spend part of Aug. 20, 1981, on the San
Diego-based Constellation, off the California coast.
Bill Clinton visited three carriers and spent a night
aboard the George Washington on June 5-6, 1994, sailing from
England to Normandy for the 50th anniversary of the D-day
invasion.
____________________