[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5566-S5569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ESTABLISHMENT OF CAMPAIGN MEDALS
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3104, which the clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 3104) to provide for the establishment of
separate campaign medals to be awarded to members of the
uniformed services who participate in Operation Enduring
Freedom and to members of the uniformed services who
participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Debate is controlled. Who yields time?
The Senator from New Mexico.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I yield myself 6 minutes off of the time
on this side, and then the remaining 4 minutes will be reserved for the
Senator from Arkansas who is in the Chamber to speak. I know Senator
Warner intends to speak as well.
First, I thank the majority leader, the Democratic leader, Senator
Warner, and Senator Levin for their leadership in bringing this
legislation to the Senate floor today for a vote.
H.R. 3104 is a bill to honor our service men and women in Iraq and
Afghanistan with campaign medals that recognize--appropriately
recognize, in my view--their service and their sacrifice.
A few days from now we will all honor those who have given their
lives in defense of this great Nation. That is, of course, Memorial
Day. This year it takes on special meaning since we clearly are engaged
in two wars in which we have suffered many losses. Many fathers and
mothers, sons and daughters will spend this Memorial Day not with
family and friends but instead in Afghanistan or in Iraq. It is for
them and their families that I believe we need to pass this
legislation.
Over the last 2 weeks, we have been flooded with horrific images of
Iraqi prisoners mistreated at the hands of a few soldiers. This set of
incidents has cast a dark shadow over the honorable and courageous
service of over 2 million men and women in uniform. Today, we have an
opportunity to send a strong, unequivocal message of support for our
brave young men and women who have served and continue to serve both in
Iraq and in Afghanistan.
H.R. 3104 will provide the special recognition to these soldiers
that, in my view, is long overdue.
The administration made a decision to award a generic global war on
terrorism expeditionary medal to all of the men and women who have
served in
[[Page S5567]]
those two theaters of war. In my view, that is an effort to essentially
practice a one-size-fits-all solution. I think it missed the mark. I
think we can do better. This legislation will do better.
A campaign medal, such as is contemplated in this legislation, is
different from an expeditionary medal. We can look back into the
history of campaign medals and expeditionary medals awarded by our
Department of Defense in previous campaigns and see that the campaign
medals are reserved for those engaged in actual combat, or duty that is
equally hazardous as combat duty, during the operation with armed
opposition. That is what our men and women are facing today both in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Clearly, service in those two locations warrants
the authorization of campaign medals.
I am very pleased to see many of my colleagues have chosen to
cosponsor the Senate version of this bill. This bill now has 24
cosponsors, including Senators Lugar, Lott, Landrieu, Inhofe, Gregg,
Johnson, Rockefeller, Pryor, Reid, Daschle, Lincoln, Boxer, Durbin,
Biden, Akaka, Edwards, Kerry, Clinton, Bayh, Feingold, Nelson, Conrad,
Kennedy, Stabenow, Dole, and Byrd. And, of course, I wish to thank the
chairman and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee again
for their important leadership in getting this legislation enacted.
Also, I wish to acknowledge the very hard work and good work that was
done by Representative Vic Snyder, who was the sponsor of this measure
in the House.
This measure we are going to vote on is identical to the bill we
introduced in the Senate, and Representative Snyder deserves great
credit for his hard work in getting it enacted there.
Mr. President, I am informed there is some additional time. I have
been informed we do not expect to start the vote until about 11:30 a.m.
Let me continue for another minute and say that after a particularly
dangerous and brutal April, America now mourns the deaths of nearly 800
service men and women in Iraq, as well as 119 in Afghanistan. There
have been nearly 3,000 Americans injured in those campaigns.
More than a year after the initial Iraqi invasion, the administration
has announced plans to maintain a force of at least 135,000 troops in
Iraq through 2005. Despite the assurances we would be able to handle
this with an $87 billion supplement through this fiscal year, we now
see that is not going to be possible. This is a significant military
occupation. It is a significant reconstruction effort. In fact, it is
the most significant we have ventured into since World War II. We must
not underestimate the importance of the sacrifice these men and women
are making.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used his time.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be
allowed another 2 minutes.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I certainly will not object, but we should
clarify that the vote will now go off at 11:30 a.m. Therefore, why
don't we equally divide the time and the Senator from New Mexico take
such time as he wishes, and our distinguished colleague from Arkansas
wishes to speak. I do not think there is any rush. The Senator can take
the time he wishes.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I concur with that assessment, and ask
the additional time between now and 11:30 a.m. be split equally between
the two sides.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time will be divided equally, after
subtracting the time that has already been consumed, I suspect.
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I will conclude. This legislation and
the establishment of these campaign medals will also serve to honor
those who will not return home from these conflicts, including those
who have fallen from my home State of New Mexico: Army SP James Prittle
from Carlsbad, NM; Air Force Special Operations pilot, CPT Tamara
Archuleta from Albuquerque, NM, a single mother whose helicopter
crashed in Afghanistan; Marine PFC Christopher Ramos of Albuquerque,
NM; and Marine Cpl Aaron Austin of Lovington, NM.
These heroes gave their lives for this Nation. This medal will honor
that sacrifice as well. The great men and women of our military forces
are doing their jobs every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is
appropriate that we honor them with an award that truly stands for
their heroic service. The Iraq and Afghanistan campaign medals will do
that.
As I indicated before, I will now yield time to my colleague from
Arkansas, and he can take as much time as he would like of that which
remains on our side.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I rise to indicate my full support for the
passage of this legislation, H.R. 3104, which requires the President to
establish separate campaign medals for service members who participate
in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi
Freedom. My good friend and colleague, Congressman Vic Snyder of
Arkansas, has worked tirelessly to pass this measure in the House.
Congressman Snyder is a man of character and conviction, and he has
worked to develop a bill that rightly recognizes the service of our men
and women in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
This bill truly is a credit to his leadership and his ability, and
once again he is demonstrating his effectiveness in the Congress.
I am a cosponsor of S. 2262, the Senate companion measure offered by
Senator Bingaman, who has also shown great leadership on this issue. I
want to acknowledge that and thank him for championing this measure in
this distinguished body.
This is a solid measure. The Senate Armed Services Committee, whose
chairman is in the Chamber today, Senator John Warner, my distinguished
colleague from Virginia, has shown tremendous leadership over the last
several months and even over the last years as chairman of the Senate
Armed Services Committee. The committee has passed identical language
in the Defense authorization during the committee markup. The committee
also reported favorably H.R. 3104.
This bill was not intended to replace the administration's Global War
on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism
Service Medal. Instead, it complements the Global War on Terrorism
Medals by providing additional separate campaign medals that would be
awarded to qualified service members.
As we view and read about the difficulties that our troops are facing
in Iraq, we see the camaraderie that exists between people who have
served in the same war. There is definitely a unique bond. Separate
campaign medals for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom honor those two distinct and separate military campaigns.
Separate campaign medals provide our men and women in uniform who
serve in these operations with tangible acknowledgment of their duty to
their country. I think this humble token of acknowledgment is the least
we can do, and I urge my colleagues to support this very important
bill.
I yield the floor.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to support this
legislation, as it recognizes America's fighting men and women serving
today in Iraq and Afghanistan. These soldiers, sailors, airmen, and
marines are serving their country, in harms way, in two distinct
theaters, and it is time that we recognize them appropriately.
The armed forces of this country have defended us valiantly for the
last two hundred and twenty nine years. When our Nation has been
challenged, each generation has risen to the occasion. And I do need to
inform anybody in this chamber that the current generation has done the
same, and that they are fighting valiantly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
America knows all too well that many of our troops have given what
President Lincoln called the ``last full measure of devotion.''
The generation that fought in Vietnam was given a medal for their
service, as were the men and women who served in Korea. The generation
that fought in World War II was awarded with a medal commemorating the
victory, as well as service in the Pacific, European/African, and
American theaters. And today we bestow the same honors upon the current
generation that their fathers and grandfathers received.
[[Page S5568]]
This legislation is the right thing to do, and I am proud to join my
colleague, Senator Bingaman, in this effort.
Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today as a proud cosponsor to
express my support of legislation introduced by Senators Bingaman,
Inhofe, Landrieu, and Lugar which would establish separate campaign
medals to be awarded to those members of the Armed Forces who
participate in Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF, and Operation Iraqi
Freedom, OIF.
Campaign medals in the United States have a long history and date
back to George Washington's time when he received a gold medal from
Congress for the recovery of Boston on March 17, 1776. By 1907, members
of the Army were wearing newly issued campaign medals, and by 1908, the
Navy and Marine Corps began to recognize exemplary service with
campaign medals.
During World War II a series of area campaign medals were authorized
for service in the American Theater, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, and
the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of the war. These medals
were the same for all services and inaugurated a trend that exists
today by recognizing the valor and service of military members involved
in specific difficult deployments.
I had the privilege of traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan in March
2004 where I met many of our men and women proudly serving our nation.
It was an honor for me to witness their dedication to duty and country.
While our Nation is engaged in a global war on terrorism, it is clear
that our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are engaged in distinct
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of them have served in both
operations and deserve separate medals.
Campaign medals were specifically designed to recognize the service
of military members in specific operations during a period of active
hostilities. Service men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan
deserve this distinctive honor. I fully support this bill which would
establish campaign medals for members of the Armed Forces who
participate in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I express my appreciation to Senator
Bingaman and Senator Pryor and acknowledge our colleague in the House,
Mr. Snyder. I would like to add to that Congressman Ike Skelton. He
talked to me about it. He feels very strongly. He is a marvelous man.
He is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
So I think this is a splendid initiative. I strongly urge Members of
this Senate to support it. It is H.R. 3104, the act to provide for the
establishment of separate campaign medals for those uniformed services
participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi
Freedom.
The bill before us passed the House in late March by a vote of 423 to
0. During the markup of the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year
2005 on May 6, the committee unanimously decided to include the text of
this provision in the bill as section 542. At the same time, in order
to expedite its enactment, the committee also voted favorably to report
out this bill. So we covered it in both ways in the Armed Services
Committee, again showing our strong support.
I will touch on a little bit of history. Going back to World War II,
we had a campaign medal called the Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal, and
that covered all of the operations in the Pacific region. There was
another separate medal for the Philippine campaign, to my recollection,
but basically it was one to cover the many actions in the Pacific.
Likewise, a second was the European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal awarded to those who served between 1941 and 1946, which covered
all of the operations in those three theaters.
There was a third medal which was sort of a medal that covered those
who saw service, but their training and other duties did not require
them to go overseas. They were largely in the continental limits of the
United States and participated in actions along the coastlines of
America, the Atlantic side, and, of course, the Pacific side.
Then when we came down to the campaigns in Korea, there was the
Korean Service Medal given from 1950 to 1954. My distinguished
colleague, Senator Bingaman, worked on a slight revision for the
qualifications, which I supported, expanding the period of time, which
I thought was a wise decision.
Then when we came down to the question of the service in Vietnam,
again, we had the Vietnam Service Medal. So there are many precedents
for this type of action regarding the very important recognition of the
individuals who participate.
These particular categories of decorations indicate the geographic
area where that individual saw service during the periods of conflict.
Through experience I have found that the men and women of the Armed
Forces--again, I say with the deepest humility I was entitled to the
Korean Service Medal for very modest service--but I remember this
weekend, as other Members do, where we traveled back to our States to
seek out those who saw service in Iraq, and I met with six individuals
in connection with a graduation speech. They had been reservists at
this small college. They had been called back into active duty, and
coincidentally with my visit they had just gotten home from their year
obligation of service in Iraq.
The first question they asked me was, What sort of recognition do we
get for service over there? Now, two of them had been wounded and, of
course, received the Purple Heart, but they were anxious to know was
recognition forthcoming. That is why I have joined in total support of
this effort to bring to the attention of those people in this country
the remarkable service that has been performed in both these theaters
of operation in the past year or so.
So I strongly support this bill. The superb service rendered by our
Nation's fighting forces since September 11 fully warrants the
establishment of campaign medals for service in Operation Enduring
Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I urge all of my colleagues to
vote for it.
I again thank those who have taken a leadership role, our
distinguished colleagues Senators Bingaman and Pryor, and the two
individuals on the House side.
I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, how much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There remains 2 minutes 45 seconds.
Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, let me take another minute to conclude
the discussion. Again, I thank Senator Warner particularly for his
leadership in getting this bill up for a vote today, and, of course,
Senator Pryor, who was here a few minutes ago to speak; I appreciate
his efforts. Of course, the majority leader and Senator Daschle on the
Democratic side have both participated in helping do this.
This is an important step for us to take, to honor the brave men and
women who are serving our country in distant locations. I have had a
similar experience to the one Senator Warner described, talking to
service men and women who have returned--in the case of my State, from
Afghanistan, the ones I spoke to, 2 weeks ago. They are very proud of
what they have done. They have great reason to be proud of what they
have done. This awarding of these campaign medals will help us to
recognize that.
Let me also indicate my appreciation to David Montotya of my staff
for the consistent work he has done trying to move this legislation
ahead, both last year and again this year. I think the dedicated
efforts of our staffs often go unrecognized. He deserves credit. Trudy
Vincent, my staff legislative director, also deserves credit.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I can proceed
for a minute or two in a colloquy with my distinguished friend from
Nevada.
Mr. REID. I agree we need 2 minutes on our side, also.
[[Page S5569]]
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. We do not need the time now.
Mr. WARNER. If I could have a brief colloquy, the leadership needs to
focus on working with Senator Levin and myself, as we always do each
year on this bill. We are hopeful to finish this bill this week. I
think that is shared by the other side of the aisle.
Our Members are going back for the Memorial Day weekend, and the
provisions in this bill are provisions that relate to so many of the
men and women in the Armed Forces with whom they will undoubtedly be
associating over the course of this weekend. It is definitely in the
interest of Members to move forward on this bill.
While we have a hearing in the Armed Services Committee tomorrow
morning on the questions related to prison abuse, the bill is going
forward. Members of our committee will be in the Senate intermittently
as the hearing is going on. That will not in any way, I hope, be viewed
as an impediment to forward progress.
I, personally, am willing to stay here as long into the evenings as
desired by our leadership to get this done. In years past, my
distinguished colleague from Nevada has been most helpful in moving
this piece of legislation.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, through you to the distinguished Senator,
first, on behalf of the people of the State of Nevada, and I think I
speak for the country, the way the Senator has handled this committee
with Senator Levin during this very difficult time has been admirable.
The Senator is my stereotype of the Senate. The Senator is a proud
member of the Republican Party, yet the Senator has the wisdom and the
experience to be able to set those partisan desires to one side. That
is good for the country. The Senator has certainly indicated that
during the past few days. We respect the Senator for that.
Mr. President, we will be happy to cooperate with the distinguished
chairman in attempting to finish this bill this week. It is a big
``ask,'' because we have on our side, and the Senator has on their
side, Members offering amendments. I see the distinguished junior
Senator from Mississippi is shopping an amendment. We have a number of
bipartisan amendments being talked about.
We are in the mode of wanting to cooperate. We understand the
importance of this legislation. It may be very difficult to finish. We
have Tuesday, we have Wednesday, we have Thursday, and Friday.
As the Senator knows, this is the Friday before the Memorial Day
recess. The Senator is more experienced than I, but come Thursday
night, Friday morning, Members will have parades and things to do so it
will be very difficult to finish this bill. However, the Senator should
understand that on this side we will cooperate in any way we can to
finish the bill.
Mr. WARNER. I thank my distinguished colleague. I emphasize tomorrow
morning's hearings will not interfere with progress on the bill. We
have three of our combatant commanders, coincidentally, in Washington
for a variety of reasons.
The letter Senator Levin and I sent to the Secretary of Defense
scheduling additional witnesses offered the option of a teleconference
hearing, thinking they would not be back, but we are fortunate they
have returned for not only this hearing but a wide range of additional
duties they are performing in Washington by way of consultation. That
will not be an impediment. We will move forward tomorrow as scheduled
with our work on the committee.
Mr. President, we are prepared to move ahead.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired. The question is on third
reading and passage of the bill.
The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
Mr. WARNER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The bill having been read the third time, the question is, Shall the
bill pass?
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) and
the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 96 Leg.]
YEAS--98
Akaka
Alexander
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Breaux
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Chambliss
Clinton
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Cornyn
Corzine
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
Dayton
DeWine
Dodd
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Edwards
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham (FL)
Graham (SC)
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hollings
Hutchison
Inhofe
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McCain
McConnell
Mikulski
Miller
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Nickles
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NOT VOTING--2
Inouye
Kerry
The bill (H.R. 3104) was passed.
Mr. LOTT. I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. REID. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
____________________