[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 97 (Friday, June 27, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8824-S8825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF GENERAL ABIZAID

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, just a day or so ago the Armed Services 
Committee, as is its responsibility, held a nearly 4-hour hearing on 
the nomination of General Abizaid, U.S. Army, for appointment to the 
grade of full general. Within days, a change of command will take place 
such that he will succeed General Franks as the Commander of the U.S. 
Central Command. I think General Franks has performed his duties with 
extraordinary professionalism, courage, and conviction, and his 
strength of mind and knowledge were an inspiration to all members of 
the Armed Forces who served in his command throughout the ongoing 
operations in Afghanistan and the ongoing operations in Iraq.
  I have come to know General Franks quite well. He is a lovely 
individual--he has his soft side--a marvelous husband, and he has a 
wife who has given him enormous support throughout his long and 
distinguished career in the Army.
  We are fortunate now to have an individual whom General Franks 
encouraged the President and the Secretary of Defense to have succeed 
him, and that is General Abizaid.
  General Abizaid will have as his responsibility the Central Command 
which extends from Africa right up to the European sector where it 
abuts with General Jones's role as the Chief of U.S. Forces in that 
area. He served as General Franks's principal deputy in the planning 
and execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  The committee, in the course of the hearings, was very complimentary 
of both General Franks and General Abizaid and their staff and 
particularly the men and women in the Armed Forces who executed their 
plans, especially in the historic, stunning, 17-day advance to Baghdad 
that led to the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime.
  We all recognized throughout that hearing, as we did this morning in 
our briefings with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and GEN Peter Pace, 
that this operation is continuing in terms of the risks to the men and 
women in the Armed Forces every hour of the day. They are courageously 
facing those risks, and we must stay the course in this situation.
  General Abizaid, throughout his hearing, repeatedly said he is 
prepared to pick up the responsibilities of General Franks and stay 
that course and bring, from the military perspective, the fastest 
possible conclusion to the hostilities, such that Ambassador Bremer, 
working in parallel with CENTCOM, can reestablish a form of government 
under the control of the Iraqi people, and to bring to the Iraqi people 
the basic necessities of life, be it electricity, sewage, or otherwise.

  Now, the most challenging phase of the military operation, as we said 
in the course of the hearings, really once the major combat was 
secured, was finally bringing the situation under control to provide a 
sense of security throughout Iraq, and that is being done. We are 
making progress.

[[Page S8825]]

  He assured us that progress is being made and that he has the 
experience to carry it forward with his long distinguished career in 
the Army. He has been a part of the Central Command officer corps on 
four occasions in his career. So he does have extraordinary background, 
a unique background, to take on this responsible post.
  He was joined by his lovely wife Kathleen in the course of the 
confirmation proceedings. He was so respectful to his wife, which the 
record reflects. They have three children, all of whom are of adult age 
now, who are actively working one way or another in the cause of 
freedom in various parts of the world.
  He also brings experience with regard to joint duty, joint 
responsibilities. That means the combined efforts of the Army, the 
Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and such other areas of military 
participation.
  I want to pay tribute to the civilians in the Department of Defense. 
They, too, are present throughout Iraq and accepting a very high level 
of risk in supporting the troops in their missions.
  His prior assignments were as Director of the Joint Staff, Director 
for Strategic Plans and Policy, J-5, on the Joint Staff, and a 
participant in joint operations in Kosovo and Bosnia, and in northern 
Iraq following Operation Desert Storm. He was integral in that 
situation. All of this eminently qualifies him for the challenges of 
commanding general of the U.S. Central Command.
  He brings a unique perspective to this post. He is truly an expert 
and a student in this region. He is currently serving his fifth tour of 
duty in the Middle East. He is fluent in Arabic and has a proud--and I 
underline this, a proud--family heritage closely tied to the cultures 
of this region of the world.
  He is the son of a man who served this Nation as an enlisted man in 
the U.S. Navy in World War II. So he comes from a family with 
longstanding service to this Nation.
  I had the joy of talking with his wife, and we reminisced about how 
her father was a medical doctor, serving in the combat zones of France 
in World War I, as did my father serve as a doctor in the Fifth 
Division in the trenches in France in World War I.
  That concludes my remarks with regard to General Abizaid. I am 
pleased this morning that the Senate has confirmed him and we will 
shortly notify the President.


                   Nomination of Mark E. Ferguson III

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I acknowledge that, as a body, we have 
just promoted Captain of the U.S. Navy Mark Ferguson to the rank of 
admiral. He will receive that promotion in due course. I hope to be 
present.
  Many Senators know Mark Ferguson. Perhaps their first recollection of 
him as a young officer is he was an aide-de-camp to the NATO Supreme 
Allied Commander. In that capacity, he made many visits to the offices 
of Senators, and on the occasions when General Clark was hosting 
congressional delegations in the NATO command area, this wonderful 
naval officer was integral in making the arrangements. He is a 
marvelous family man, what we call a black-shoe naval officer, which 
means he is proud of the shoes he has worn on the decks of all types of 
surface vessels throughout his career. He is a sailor's sailor and 
brings to this new post a marvelous background of achievement. We wish 
him and his family well in his new post as a young frocked admiral, 
which will take place during the course of this summer.

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