[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 87 (Thursday, May 23, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3077-S3078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MEMORIAL DAY

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this is the weekend before Memorial Day, 
and we will be honoring the brave men and women who have served our 
Nation and who gave their lives to protect the very freedoms that we 
enjoy today.
  Ronald Reagan said:

       Freedom is never more than one generation away from 
     extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the 
     bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on 
     for them to do the same.

  Our Nation is incredibly fortunate and grateful to have had no 
shortage of those who are ready to lead that fight. Throughout our 
history, brave men and women have answered the call to serve our 
country. Whether they answered the call nearly 250 years ago to fight 
for our independence or in recent years to combat the global threat of 
terrorism, all of them are our heroes.
  I have always had tremendous admiration for our servicemembers--
something instilled in me from an early age because of my dad's 
military service. He was a B-17 pilot in the Army Air Corps and flew 
with the Hell's Angels in the 303rd Bomb Group out of the 8th Air Force 
in World War II. On his 26th mission over Germany, after leaving the 
base in Molesworth, England, and flying over the English Channel to 
Germany, he was shot down and captured as a prisoner of war. By the 
grace of God, he survived the Nazi prison camp where he was interned 
for the last 4 months of the war.
  My dad went on to serve in the Air Force for 31 years and retired as 
what we affectionately called a full-bird colonel. Both during and 
after his service, he was an unabashed patriot and demonstrated every 
day to us, his children and family, what it meant to selflessly serve 
your country.
  While my dad made it home after the war, many of his friends and 
comrades did not. Like the great soldiers before them, and many after, 
they laid down their lives in service to our country and the values we 
embrace as a nation.
  This Memorial Day, we remember the fallen and thank them for the 
ultimate sacrifice to preserve our way of life. We mourn their loss and 
celebrate the great gift they have bestowed upon us and the freedoms 
they protected.
  Since last Memorial Day, we have lost some incredible servicemembers 
who call Texas home. In December, we said good-bye to Richard Overton, 
American's oldest World War II veteran. At the ripe old age of 112, he 
had a lot of wisdom to share, including a few unlikely tips for living 
a long life, like enjoying a little bit of whiskey in your morning 
coffee and smoking cigars.
  In April, we mourned the loss of Richard Cole, the 103-year-old World 
War II veteran who was part of the Doolittle Raiders. He and his 
brothers in arms carried out a strike on factories and military 
installations in Tokyo, against enormous odds, providing a desperately 
needed morale boost after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
  Just last week, we said farewell to another member of the Greatest 
Generation, 100-year-old Bill Hayes. Colonel Hayes was one of the last 
living Pearl Harbor veterans and spent nearly four decades serving in 
the U.S. Army.
  While we honor those who served in the past, we also celebrate those 
serving now and the young men and women who one day will put on a 
uniform.
  In just a few days, I will have the privilege of speaking to young 
Texans who will be attending one of our country's five prestigious 
military service academies. I hold the sendoff each year in Texas to 
meet the next generation of our military leaders and to thank them for 
their willingness to serve our country in uniform.
  Today, in advance of this holiday weekend, I would like to say thank 
you to the men and women stationed across my State and the veterans who 
call Texas home.
  On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you to all the brave men and 
women who lost their lives while fighting for our freedoms. We will 
never forget your service or your sacrifice.


                            DISASTER RELIEF

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, on another matter, we were all hoping that 
the Senate would soon be able to vote on a disaster aid bill that would 
send funds to States throughout the Southeast and Midwest that continue 
to battle with the impacts of severe weather.
  When a hurricane, tornado, wildfire, or whatever the case may be, 
hits your State, securing funds to help with relief and recovery 
becomes priority No. 1. I know because after Texas was hit by Hurricane 
Harvey in 2017, I worked with the entire bipartisan Texas delegation to 
secure funding that would help both with the immediate aftermath and 
long-term recovery and rebuilding efforts.
  We received tremendous support from our colleagues here in Congress, 
as well as President Trump, in making sure that Texas communities had 
the funding and resources they needed. Our State has made a great deal 
of progress since Hurricane Harvey hit, and most Texans have returned 
to some sense of normalcy, but the recovery process is not over.
  In February of last year, Congress appropriated more than $28 billion 
in community development block grants for disaster recovery, with 
roughly $12 billion intended specifically for mitigation purposes. 
About $4 billion of that was designated for Texas to fund projects that 
will improve resiliency and help us prepare for future storms. But as 
Texans who continue to recover from Hurricane Harvey have learned, 
getting a disaster relief bill passed in Congress and signed by the 
President doesn't mean the check is in the mail.
  It has now been 15 months since that bill was signed, and Texans 
haven't seen a penny of it. Despite numerous attempts to get the 
funding untangled from the redtape at the Office of Management and 
Budget, we are still waiting.

[[Page S3078]]

  That is simply not acceptable. It is not acceptable to me, it is not 
acceptable to Texans still in need, and it shouldn't be acceptable to 
the U.S. Congress.
  I recently introduced a bill that would ensure that the Office of 
Management and Budget wouldn't stand between communities impacted by 
disaster and vital funding appropriated and approved by Congress. Once 
signed into law, it would establish a ``shot clock'' requiring the 
Office of Management and Budget to release funds appropriated by 
Congress within 90 days.
  This change would apply not only to this particular block of funding 
but to any funds appropriated to the States which are being withheld by 
the Office of Management and Budget.
  With hurricane season just about a week away, there could not be a 
more critical time to act.
  It is important for us to come together in a bipartisan agreement 
that can pass the Senate and the House and get the President's 
signature. I hope that those who are negotiating this disaster relief 
bill, including this shot clock provision, will continue to negotiate 
in good faith so we can reach a compromise and reach a result soon.
  Communities across our country need this money for disaster recovery 
and mitigation, and they are simply tired of waiting for Congress to 
act. I am hopeful that any agreement will include this shot clock 
provision so we can finally get the roughly $4 billion in disaster 
mitigation funding untangled from Washington redtape and get it to the 
Texans who desperately need it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut

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