[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 98 (Wednesday, July 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5602-S5603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE FALLEN HEROES OF THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN INTERAGENCY HOTSHOT 
                                  CREW

  Mr. FLAKE. I rise today with a heavy heart to remember 19 brave men, 
19 grieving families, 19 empty places in the Prescott community that 
will never be filled. Arizona and the entire Nation, shares in their 
sorrow.
  The loss of the members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and the loss 
to the community was both terrible and swift. We are right to ask why.
  Why were they taken from us? Why were these seemingly fearless men, 
these exemplars of all that is brave, good, and decent in men, choose a 
job that causes them to run into an inferno just as everyone else is 
running away from it?
  In answering that, we get an essence of who these men are, these 19 
lives of achievement and purpose, courage and discipline.
  From all corners of America, they came together in Prescott with a 
single goal in mind: protecting people and property. To do this, they 
trained relentlessly, willingly took the worst that Mother Nature could 
throw at them, all to save lives and homes for their friends and their 
neighbors.
  They did so accepting the risks, embracing them even, in the words of 
the old hymn, ``calm in distress, in danger bold.''
  They did so in the name of community.
  Americans are characterized by the world, by our sense of communal 
spirit, civic duty, and service to others. This is what makes us who we 
are.
  Those characteristics describe perfectly the 19 members of the 
Granite Mountain Hotshots. They were not merely given the gratitude and 
respect of the citizens of Prescott, they earned it. They earned all of 
our admiration and respect, as well.
  Now in that same communal spirit, we must help the families who carry 
the weary load.
  Grief is a lonely thing, but those who are grieving for a husband or 
for a son, know that millions of us are thinking of you and praying 
that your hearts find solace and comfort.
  To the children of these men, carry deep inside of you the knowledge 
that they were as proud of you as you are of them.
  This band of 19 embodied what is best about our country. I am honored 
that they were, in the end, Arizonans. We should all be proud to live 
in a community, State, and nation built on the kinds of guts and 
selflessness that these men personified.
  Today we are all, in the words of A.E. Housman, ``townsmen of a 
stiller town.''
  May God bless the souls of these 19 brave men.
  Senator McCain and I had the privilege yesterday to travel out with 
the Vice President, two Cabinet Secretaries, and other Members of 
Congress to a memorial service for these brave 19. It was an incredible 
experience to see a community come together as it did. The townspeople, 
people from across the State, across the country, and people across the 
world were sending their condolences for the actions of these men.
  We are so fortunate to live in a country like this. Senator McCain 
and I are so fortunate to be Arizonans. We are fortunate to witness 
what we have witnessed in the past couple of weeks.
  I am pleased to submit this resolution to honor these men.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coons). The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. First, I thank the Senator from Delaware for his kind 
words about me and my friend and colleague from Arizona, who I believe 
is carrying on in the fine tradition of his predecessor Senator Kyl in 
a spirit of bipartisanship and dedication to the people of Arizona.
  I come to the floor with my colleague from Arizona to offer a 
resolution honoring the fallen heroes of the Granite Mountain 
Interagency Hotshot Crew.
  Yesterday, Senator Flake and I were privileged to attend a memorial 
ceremony in Prescott, AZ, honoring the life and sacrifice of the 19 
brave men of the Granite Mountain Hotshots who lost their lives last 
week battling the Yarnell Hill Fire in Yavapai County, AZ.
  I know I speak for all of my fellow citizens in expressing our 
gratitude to the Vice President of the United States, who came all the 
way to Arizona and gave a moving, stirring, and wonderful testimony to 
these brave Arizonans. I believe it is typical of my friend for so many 
years, the Vice President of the United States, that he and his 
wonderful wife would come to Arizona to join us to honor the efforts of 
these brave men.
  These were not men merely worth knowing, they were men to admire. 
They were men to emulate if you have the courage and character to live 
as decently and honorably as they lived. Not many of us can. But we can 
become better people by trying to be half as true, half as brave, half 
as good as they were and to make our lives count for something more 
than the sum of our days.
  The news accounts of their lives and the testimonials to their 
virtues that have appeared in the days since we lost

[[Page S5603]]

them give the rest of us a glimpse of what a blessed memory they are to 
those who knew and loved them. Some of them were the sons of 
firefighters who grew up wanting to be like dad, their hero. Some leave 
behind wives and children. Some were expecting the birth of their first 
child. Some married their high school sweethearts. Some were engaged 
and looking forward to being husbands and fathers.
  Two were cousins and best friends. One rescued horses. One aspired to 
preach the word of God. One was a standout ball player. One dressed in 
a yellow raincoat when he was 6 and pretended to put out fires. Some 
were born in Arizona. Some came from other places and fell right in 
love with the beauty and people of Arizona.
  Some were shy. Others were practical jokers. They were all respected 
and admired, the kind of men you just like being around.
  They all loved the outdoors. They were athletic and adventurous. They 
loved their jobs. They wanted to serve others. They wanted to make a 
difference. They all had a purpose greater than themselves. They were 
all young, so young. They were all brave, so brave. They were all loved 
and were loved, so loved. They will all be missed, so terribly missed.
  I will forever be touched by what their families and friends have 
told me about them and how much they meant to them and their 
communities. Their stories teach us how to be better people. Their loss 
reminds us to hold each other a little tighter, to love each other a 
little harder. I will always consider myself disadvantaged for not 
having known them. From the little I know about hope in the face of 
daunting challenge and the indomitability of the human spirit, it is so 
vital to helping us keep our faith and to endure. I hope I can offer 
some solace when I say the courage of those we honor today is immortal. 
It does not perish with them. How they lived and what they did will 
inspire others to live courageously, purposefully, selflessly.
  Of these qualities, we tend to see merely flashes throughout our 
lives. In these men of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, we see grand 
examples--sublime, shining, and unforgettable examples--that will 
summon good men and women today and long after our time has passed to 
live bravely, compassionately, and honorably.
  In a fierce and terrifying encounter with extreme danger, they stood 
their ground like the heroes they were and fought for their community. 
While they did not come home to the people who loved them so much and 
will miss them always, I firmly believe we will see them again in the 
better world that is to come.
  Until then, we fondly remember the humanity and the heroism of these 
brave men, their wonderfully unassuming down-to-Earth nature, all of 
their marvelous imperfections known only to their closest family and 
friends, and how, in the face of dire peril, they rose beyond all that 
makes us merely ordinary and let God cradle them in his arms and carry 
them away.
  The lost men of the Granite Mountain Hotshots died having taught us 
all to live. For that, as we honor them and pay our respects to their 
loved ones today, I submit we should all find great solace.
  I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. 
Res. 193, submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 193) honoring the fallen heroes of 
     the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. McCAIN. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 193) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Mr. McCAIN. I yield the floor.
  Mr. FLAKE. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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