[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 143 (Monday, August 27, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING JOHN McCAIN

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, this week, of course, we remember and honor 
our colleague and an American hero John McCain. He embodied our most 
cherished values of service and sacrifice, and he understood the 
principles that make our country great.
  One of those principles, as we know, is our First Amendment 
protections for a free and independent press. Something I always 
admired about Senator McCain, even before I got to know him well many 
years ago, was his openness with the journalists, the workaday 
reporters who were doing their jobs every day and who covered him on 
behalf of the American people. He didn't hide from the people he 
served, and he was always willing to stand up for freedom of the press.
  When those freedoms came under attack, he stood up and said to 
journalists: ``The fact is we need you.'' He wrote an op-ed in the 
Washington Post in January that I would like to quote from. This op-ed 
was partly in response to the President's declaring several times, 
repeatedly, that the media are enemies of the people. John McCain put 
that to rest with these comments:

       Ultimately, freedom of information is critical for a 
     democracy to succeed. . . . Journalists play a major role in 
     the promotion and protection of democracy and our unalienable 
     rights, and they must be able to do their jobs freely. Only 
     truth and transparency can guarantee freedom.

  Senator McCain was right. We will miss his moral leadership on this 
issue and his moral leadership on so many others. It is up to all of us 
to continue to stand up for the freedom of the press to serve and 
inform our communities. That is why I want to highlight, like I do 
every week, yet another story in an Ohio paper informing the public, 
reported by a journalist serving her community.
  Last week, the Dayton Daily News ran a story by staff writer Emily 
Kronenberger on the opening of the city of Trotwood's new, renovated 
community and cultural arts center. The facility was in need of major 
repairs and had been shuttered for a decade. After this major 
remodeling, the center is reopening and will provide the community with 
art exhibits, concerts, and classes.
  Ms. Kronenberger talked to the Trotwood city manager, who said the 
new center ``will make impacts on the community and region for decades 
to come.''
  The paper also informed Miami Valley readers about a new partnership 
with Central State University. The school will have a satellite office 
in the reopened community center that will offer 4-H youth development 
programs on everything from agriculture to engineering to scholarship 
opportunities.
  This kind of reporting is what journalists do every single day in 
Ohio, in Oklahoma, and across this country. They do their jobs: They 
serve their readers, they serve their viewers, and they serve their 
communities.
  As we pay our respects to Senator McCain this week, let us also 
recommit ourselves to the values he fought for his entire life. That 
includes a free and independent press.

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