[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 144 (Tuesday, August 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6002-S6005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING JOHN McCAIN

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I am standing at a different desk this 
evening to give my remarks because I want to be actually behind this 
desk in front of me, which is Senator McCain's desk draped in black, 
with beautiful flowers, signifying the loss that we are all feeling 
here in the U.S. Senate.
  As we have heard from so many in this Chamber all week--this evening 
in particular--Senator John McCain's passing represents an incalculable 
loss not only to his family, his dear wife Cindy, his friends, and a 
legion of admirers across the world, but also to his colleagues here in 
the U.S. Senate--Democrats and Republicans--and to the institution of 
the Senate itself, where he served as a model of honor and integrity 
and character for 31 years.
  There are so many people who served with him much longer and knew him 
much better than I did. I have been watching the speeches, the 
wonderful, passionate, and emotional words from my colleagues like 
Senator Graham--Lindsey Graham--his best friend here in the Senate this 
afternoon; Senator Whitehouse, a good friend of Senator McCain's, a 
good friend of mine whom I met through many trips with Senator McCain; 
Leader McConnell; Senator Sasse--so many have been coming to the floor.
  The tributes on the Senate floor and in the newspapers across the 
country have been inspiring, and they have been true, talking about a 
man of courage, a steadfast patriot, an American hero, a warrior of 
indomitable spirit, who not only believed in American exceptionalism 
but inspired millions of Americans and millions of people across the 
globe to believe in it as well.
  As I have watched and listened, sometimes I have started to wonder 
what more there is to add--there has been a lot said--especially from a 
freshman Senator who hadn't served with John nearly as long as most in 
this august Chamber. But if Senator John McCain taught us anything, it 
was to speak when you feel compelled to speak, and when it comes to 
him, I certainly feel compelled to speak, particularly as a newer 
Member of this body who thought the world of this man and learned so 
much from him.
  John McCain was a leader. There is no arguing about that. One of the 
qualities of leadership that is so important and sometimes gets 
overlooked and that was a huge quality of this great Senator was his 
ability to focus on and give his time and willingness to mentor newer 
Members of the Senate.
  If you look at the arc of his three decades of service in the U.S. 
Senate, one thing he always took the time to do was to take newer 
Members under his wing, show them the ropes, travel with them, teach 
them, coach them. Of course, this takes time, effort, energy, and 
initiative. We are all busy here in the U.S. Senate, but this was and 
is a truly important hallmark of the McCain legacy--critical--and it is 
a bipartisan legacy.
  Just look at the Senators who have come to the floor to speak about 
Senator McCain. Look at some of the newer Senators who have come to the 
floor: Senators Whitehouse, Klobuchar, Ernst, Sasse, and Graham, of 
course--so many who had that privilege, the great privilege, of having 
John McCain actually take an interest in them and spend his precious 
time and energy on their well-being and careers in the Senate.
  One of the true honors of my life was having John McCain as a friend 
and a mentor in the Senate. At the time this was happening, I didn't 
always think about it too much, but now, as we look at his desk, I am 
so grateful that I had these experiences.
  Like most things with John McCain, it wasn't a subtle experience. In 
fact, a lot of the time I didn't feel I had a choice in the matter. My 
first month in the Senate, in January 2015, like a lot of the new 
Senators, I was pretty clueless here, quite clueless--rules, faces, 
names, votes. This lion of the Senate, John McCain, pulled me aside on 
the floor of the Senate on two different times in the first month I was 
a Senator.
  On one occasion, he was talking about an institution that really 
mattered to him--the U.S. Naval Academy. He said to me: Dan, do you 
know what? Under Federal law, the chairman of the Armed Services 
Committee--which he was--sits on the boards of all the service 
academies, or his designee. He asked me if I was interested in sitting 
on the Board of Visitors for the Naval Academy. This was from John 
McCain, who went to the Naval Academy. His dad went to the Naval 
Academy, and his grandfather went to the Naval Academy. The name McCain 
and the Naval Academy are almost synonymous. He is going to be buried 
there, in fact.
  I looked at the Senator, and I said ``Yes, sir.''
  Another time, in the Armed Services Committee, he mentioned to me 
that he had always taken a very strong interest in the Asia-Pacific and 
our force posture out there, what was happening in places like Okinawa, 
and he wanted the newer Members of the Senate to be part of it. 
Reaching out to new Senators--I want you to do this. I am going to 
travel the region, and I want you to come with me. I mean, it was 
unbelievable. And I said ``Yes, sir'' to that.
  Like so many here who have talked about it, we went to these places. 
Just

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a couple of months later, I had the incredible honor of traveling to 
Vietnam with Senator McCain, with Senator Reed from Rhode Island, 
Senator Ernst from Iowa, and that is a trip I will never forget.
  We actually went to the Hanoi Hilton, which has been talked about a 
lot this past week, where John McCain suffered and was tortured. There 
is a tribute in that place of torture. It is not really a tribute, but 
it has pictures of him. We walked in, and we looked at this, and there 
were a couple of Americans in front, reading about this. They turned 
around, and they saw John McCain, and two of them just started crying.
  By the way, when you were in Vietnam with John McCain, he was treated 
like a hero--the hero that he was--by the Vietnamese people, which was 
amazing. These codels--and Senator McCain has led them all over the 
world with Senators--have gotten a lot of attention. Of course, they 
are very important. Senator Graham was talking about them recently in 
the Senate. We focus a lot on foreign policy and national security. You 
can't learn that from watching cable TV, but you can learn when you go 
out into the world and travel and meet with leaders and meet with 
people and see the suffering, see the opportunities, and see the 
challenges.

  John McCain took so many of us, through his leadership and 
mentorship, on these congressional delegations all over the world.
  There has been some joking now about how, with his energy and his 
focus, some Members called these forced marches. By the way, nobody 
could keep up with him--even the newer Members. They certainly were 
tense.
  Back to the idea of mentorship, on a codel with John McCain, he once 
again showed that leadership. He would be leading it. He would be in a 
room with a world leader, and then he would take the time to name and 
introduce every Member of the Senate on the codel and have them ask 
questions, have them engage. He could have dominated every one of these 
conversations. He never did. He was always asking the Members: What do 
you think? Do you have a question?
  These codels were also a great opportunity to bring Senators 
together--Democrats and Republicans. When you are traveling overseas, 
partisan differences fade if you are in a war zone or in a poverty-
stricken country or dictatorship. You see that what unites us is a lot 
more important than what divides us.
  The bottom line is that he clearly saw that part of his mission was 
to work with and mentor the next generation of Senators on 
responsibilities that he clearly cared so much about, particularly on 
foreign policy and national security.
  I would like to talk a little bit about my class, the class that was 
elected in 2014. We had 13 new Senators in that class. The Presiding 
Officer is a Member of that class. It is a great class. There is a lot 
of energy and a lot of youth. Of the 13 Members of the class of 2014 
who joined the Armed Services Committee, if you look at it right now, 
there are 8 who are on it. That is John McCain in action as the former 
chairman of that committee, taking newer Senators and getting them on 
that committee to focus and learn about the world.
  There have been numerous articles and commentary--particularly in the 
realm of foreign policy and national security--saying that the passing 
of this great Senator has left a huge void in the Senate, and I 
couldn't agree more. The combination of service, sacrifice, moral 
authority, military and combat experience, and a deep, abiding 
conviction about America's role in the world makes him a unique 
Senator, unmatched by anyone in this body.
  One of the things I believe Senator McCain knew about leadership and 
one of the reasons he focused so much on the issue of mentoring other 
Senators over the years was to prepare this body and the next 
generation of Senators, whether on the Armed Services Committee or as 
part of another institution he led for many years, the International 
Republican Institute--making sure and being ready so that when this day 
happened, other Senators who were taught and mentored and encouraged by 
John McCain would be focused on issues that he cared so much about, 
like the indispensable role of America and the Senate in making the 
world a better place.
  A mentor is, almost by definition, a teacher. Many of us have learned 
so much from him. Much has been said about this, and I am sure that 
over the years, we will learn more about what Senator McCain taught us. 
I would like to highlight two areas where I personally learned so much 
from John McCain.
  The first was how to fight for what you believe in. When you look at 
the arc of John McCain's whole life, whether in the Hanoi Hilton or on 
the Senate floor, it was about fighting for what he believed in. Pretty 
much everybody in this body has had a scrap with John McCain, and when 
you did, you had to be ready to fight with all you had because he was 
so passionate and intense.
  On the Armed Services Committee, I had a bit of a tradition with him. 
Prior to the markup of the National Defense Authorization Act, I would 
go and have a one-on-one meeting with him on some provisions that he 
might not like that I was trying to get in the bill. These were mostly 
behind-closed-door battles, some of which got a little heated, fingers 
pointed, voices raised. I won a few, lost a lot more than I won, but it 
was never personal for John McCain. He was a warrior, and as he often 
said, ``A fight not joined is a fight not enjoyed.''
  When he took a stand, he could be unwavering, but he was always 
willing to listen to reason and to compromise when the reasoning was 
convincing and the principle sound, regardless of who was making the 
case--a Democrat or a Republican.
  ``We are Americans first, Americans last, Americans always,'' he once 
said. ``Let us argue our differences. But remember we are not enemies, 
but comrades together in a war against a real enemy.''
  He always fought with honor, and he always kept his word. In his 
final memoir, ``The Restless Wave''--which I recommend everybody read; 
it is a great book--he has a chapter called ``Fighting the Good 
Fight.'' It recounts a lot of his battles on the floor of this body, 
but when the fight was over, he emphasized the importance of keeping 
your word--what he called the Senate's principal virtue. He always did 
that, and he taught others to do that.
  Another thing I learned early on from Senator McCain was how to have 
fun and not take life too seriously here in the Senate. Senator 
McCain's good friend John Lehman, who was President Reagan's Secretary 
of the Navy, recently wrote an op-ed about Senator McCain's life 
entitled ``A Life of Service, Lived With Good-Natured Irreverence.'' I 
think for those of us who knew and loved John McCain, that was a great 
description of him. His wit was legendary. After a while, I learned 
that if you were a target of it, it was ultimately a term of 
endearment, although it could take some getting used to. Senator Sasse 
was just on the floor talking about some of the barbs, some of his 
first engagements with the Senator.

  I first met John McCain 4 years ago. I remember the meeting like it 
was yesterday. I was a huge fan. I had read books about him. I read 
books by him. I was here as a candidate for the Senate and had recently 
won my primary, and I was meeting Senators at one of our lunches. 
Senator Murkowski, my colleague from Alaska, was taking me around and 
introducing me to a number of Republican Senators, and she said: Dan, 
have you ever met John McCain?
  I said: No. I would be honored to meet him.
  I walked up to Senator McCain. Of course I was a bit nervous. My 
colleague from Alaska, Senator Murkowski, was introducing me and 
telling him about my background--that I was in the Marine Reserves 
commanding a battalion--and Senator McCain looked at me very seriously 
and said: Well, that is interesting, Dan. I almost joined the Marines.
  I said: Really, Senator?
  He said: Yeah. I almost joined the Marines, but the Marines told me I 
wasn't qualified.
  I said: Really? Why weren't you qualified?
  As I was asking this question of him, I noticed other Senators 
gathering around, all smiling.
  He said: Why wasn't I qualified? Because I knew who my parents were.

[[Page S6004]]

  Of course everybody laughed. Senator McCain laughed. I realized I and 
my beloved Marine Corps had just been assaulted by John McCain in the 
first of what would be many jokes. Only later did I know--and Senator 
Graham was talking about it--that this Marine joke was one of the many 
in the McCain repertoire. I have heard it many times now. It always 
gets a laugh. These jokes are a great part of his wonderful 
personality--irreverent wisecracks to keep people humble, keep them 
laughing even about serious topics.
  I remember when I was in Vietnam with Senator McCain. We were at the 
lake in Hanoi where he had been shot down and had parachuted into this 
lake. There is a statue of John McCain coming out of the lake. The 
language is in Vietnamese. He said: You know, I really don't like this 
statue. I can't stand it. Do you know why, Dan?
  No. I have no idea, John.
  Look at what it says: John McCain, Major, U.S. Air Force.
  Then he let a few choice words out that I can't say here on the 
Senate floor.
  He said: I wasn't a major in the U.S. Air Force; I was a commander in 
the U.S. Navy.
  Even in the twilight of his life, the wit and wisecracks were as 
strong as ever. I had the honor of visiting Senator McCain about 6 
weeks ago in Arizona with his wonderful wife Cindy. We were talking 
about the National Defense Authorization Act that we were getting ready 
to vote on that was named after him. I was getting ready to leave, and 
I said: John, I just want you to know all your Senate colleagues really 
miss you.
  He hadn't said much during the conversation. He looked at me and 
said: Dan, that is a lie.
  Again, after all he had been through, he still had a lightness of 
being and wit and laughter. He still knew how to love the world, how to 
appreciate it in all its humor, splendor, and creativity.
  The story of John McCain is a story for the ages--carefree, somewhat 
reckless young man; a rebel searching for a cause who found that cause 
in love of country as a POW in Vietnam; a person who underwent 
unimaginable pain and suffering and yet came back better for it and 
loved America more for it and wanted most of all to pass down that 
love, that sense of service to the next generation. He succeeded.
  Let me close by quoting the same Robert Louis Stevenson poem Senator 
McCain recited during his father's funeral service:

       Here he lies where he longed to be
       Home is the sailor, home from the sea
       And the hunter home from the hill.

  To Cindy McCain and the whole McCain family, please be assured of our 
continued prayers and deepest condolences for your loss. We miss John 
McCain so much, as we know you do.
  To my friend John McCain, Godspeed. Semper Fidelis. Fair winds and 
following seas. It was an honor to serve with you. You will always be 
with us.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise, as my colleague from Alaska just 
did so eloquently, to pay tribute to our colleague and our friend, 
Senator John McCain.
  I guess I have to start with a question: Where do I begin? Where does 
anyone begin after all we have heard these last number of days and will 
continue to hear in the days ahead when we pay tribute, in a more 
formal way in the next few days, here in Washington, in Arizona, and 
around the world?
  John McCain lived to serve his country. His life could be best 
described in many words, but three come to mind: courage, commitment, 
and character.
  There is a line attributed to Abraham Lincoln in which he said: In 
the end, it is not the years in one's life that count; it is the life 
in those years. It is a loose translation, not exact. Yet, when you 
consider the life in those years in the context of John McCain, what a 
life it was. He was a remarkable human being who was able to rise above 
the horror of being a captive and of being tortured in order to achieve 
so much in his life after that in the Navy, as an elected official, as 
a Presidential candidate, and, of course, most especially, as a leader.
  John McCain demonstrated a kind of courage that most people cannot 
even begin to imagine--5\1/2\ years spent in an enemy prison camp in 
North Vietnam. I was thinking, as it was recounted this week, that 5\1/
2\ years is just a little less than a Senate term that he spent as a 
captive. Given the opportunity to cut the line and be released ahead of 
his fellow prisoners, likely because of his father's rank as an 
admiral, John McCain said, no, he would wait his turn and endure the 
beatings and suffering that he had to endure.
  A few years ago, a number of us retreated to the rare privilege of 
listening to John McCain talk about that experience. We had a lunch--
both sides of the aisle--in the caucus room in the Russell Building, 
and John McCain talked about some of his experiences as a prisoner of 
war. I will never forget those stories, and I will never forget how he 
walked through those experiences with such humility. There is no 
recitation of facts that would lead you to the conclusion that he was 
heroic--though, he was. There was no self-aggrandizement, no effort to 
tell you how tough he was or how strong he was. He just told stories 
about what it was like--the daily suffering and the pain his captors 
would inflict on him day after day after day.
  This experience, obviously and certainly, impacted his approach to 
foreign policy and his approach to military policy for the rest of his 
life. It especially impacted his work as a public official in the House 
of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate.
  In his 2008 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, 
John McCain said:

       I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in 
     someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of 
     life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith in the 
     wisdom, justice, and goodness of its people.

  It is a rare soul of great courage who comes away from such a 
painful, searing experience with that outlook and with a deep desire to 
continue to serve.
  John McCain's life, obviously, was a life of action and a life of 
commitment. He was committed to this country that he served for 60 
years in the Navy, in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate--
the Senate, of course, for more than 30 after having been elected in 
1986. He was, of course, committed to bringing hope to the oppressed, 
to the persecuted around the world, and to the people here at home.
  When I think of John, I am reminded of some of the words from 
``America the Beautiful.'' The one line that is inspirational is that 
line that we have often heard: ``O beautiful for patriot dream That 
sees beyond the years.''
  John McCain's life was a testament to that dream, not a ``dream'' in 
a theoretical sense but in the belief that, every day, your work has to 
be geared toward the future. The dream of a patriot is not something 
abstract. The dream of a patriot has to be the commitment of working on 
behalf of those who will come after you. That is why the line talks 
about seeing beyond the years, always working, as John McCain did, for 
the future--for more freedom, for more opportunity, for less 
oppression, for less suffering for people here at home and around the 
world. He had that dream that animated his life's work.
  John McCain, of course, would also have been the first person to have 
reminded us that he had been far from perfect. I am not sure I have 
ever heard of a public official recounting or reciting instances in 
which he was not perfect or when he didn't do the right thing. Very few 
public officials are willing to admit that. Of course, John was not the 
usual public official. Even when he cataloged mistakes or things that 
he believed he did wrong, everyone who knew him--everyone who knew 
anything about his life or his work or his service--would also conclude 
at the same time that, without question, John McCain had integrity, 
that John McCain had character, and that character must continue to 
matter in the life of a public official. If it doesn't matter, then we 
are not going to have much of a country. John McCain understood that. 
It is not good enough to be smart and committed to your positions on 
public policy. It is not good enough just to be there for votes and for 
debates. That is, obviously, critical, but character still matters, and 
John McCain was living proof of that.
  I remember one occasion on which he and I had an acrimonious exchange 
in a Senate elevator, for just a couple seconds when the elevator went 
from the

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basement to the second floor. John was very heated, and I was taken by 
surprise as to how heated he was. Yet, as we have heard so many times 
over the past several days, John McCain never let a public policy 
disagreement impact personal relationships with his colleagues.
  A couple of hours later, we were back on the Senate floor. I wanted 
to continue the argument, and I started to approach him on the floor to 
continue the argument. I guess I wanted to get the last word, which 
might have been a mistake with John McCain. Yet, as I got close to him, 
John McCain lifted up his arms, reached out to me, and embraced me. He 
said, ``I'm sorry.'' He apologized. It is not common for elected 
officials in any government or at any level of government to apologize 
on a regular basis, but John McCain was uncommon when it came to being 
a unique public official.
  John worked with so many of us on many issues. I didn't have the 
chance to work with him on a long list of issues, but I do remember one 
that had a particular impact on me. That was his work as a vocal 
advocate for the people of Syria, who were still suffering under the 
oppressive, violent regime of Bashar al-Assad. I worked with John, as 
many did here, to pursue a policy as to how the United States could 
best support the aspirations of the Syrian people for new political 
leadership, for stability, security, and, of course, for a prosperous 
future.
  John McCain and I didn't agree on all national security issues, but I 
will always remember his courage of conviction when it came to standing 
with the oppressed and vulnerable people across the world against 
tyrannical dictators or despots. On this issue, we were on the same 
page and tried to get the policy right.
  Whether it was with international affairs or domestic policies, John 
worked to find common ground with his colleagues, though, to do that, 
we were trying to create, of course, a stronger country and a better 
world, and I am grateful to have been included among those who can say 
they worked with John McCain to try to enact good policy.
  Let me conclude with these words. In one of his final interviews, 
when asked how he would like to be remembered, John McCain's simple 
response was: ``He served his country honorably.'' The final word was 
added with some reservation as if he still wondered if it were 
deserved.
  Let's be clear. John McCain did serve his country honorably, and this 
country is much better for his service. We will miss him in this 
Chamber, but we should all strive to live up to his example of service 
and bipartisan work in the Senate and bipartisan work for our Nation.
  The words ring true for John McCain more than almost anyone else I 
can think of: ``O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the 
years.'' John McCain was always trying to be that patriot who thought 
about the future, who tried to see beyond the years to make life better 
for those who would come after him. We were privileged to have served 
in the U.S. Senate with John McCain.
  On behalf of my family and, I am sure, not just of the family of 
Pennsylvania but of those well beyond our State, we offer condolences 
to John's wife Cindy and to their family, and his many friends. May he 
rest in peace.
  God bless John McCain.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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