[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 94 (Monday, June 3, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Memorial Day

  Madam President, as I was able to travel around the State and dodge 
the severe weather that seemed to pop up instantaneously, I was able to 
spend time with many of my constituents. For example, I kicked off the 
week in San Antonio at my favorite annual event. It is where all of the 
students who have been admitted to service academies gather with their 
parents and are sent off to their service academy with a rousing speech 
and best wishes by everyone there.
  We had VADM Joe Maguire provide a speech--somebody who was 36 years 
in the Navy SEALs and now is the director of the Clements Center in 
Austin, TX, working with the Strauss Center and other University of 
Texas institutions to try to help educate the next generation of our 
Nation's leaders.
  My office hosts this Memorial Day event to celebrate young Texans who 
will attend military service academies, and this year, we had the joy 
of hosting more than 100 students, plus their families and friends, 
along with several elected officials, community leaders, and 
representatives from various veterans groups. As I mentioned, our 
keynote speaker was VADM Joe Maguire.
  As we honor the lives of those who died in service to our country, it 
is very powerful to celebrate the next generation of leaders who are 
committed to protecting their Nation. These are some of the smartest 
and most accomplished young people in the country, and they have chosen 
to pursue their education at our service academies, but they made the 
decision to take their talents to these service academies and pursue an 
honorable career that will be full of challenges and sacrifices. They 
could have gone to some elite school in the Northeast, with the hopes 
of making millions of dollars over their lifetime, but these students 
have made a different choice--a choice that puts service above self, 
and I applaud all of them. It was great to meet with these young men 
and women because it gives me hope for the future of our country.
  I am grateful to the families as well, who were there cheering their 
students on, who traveled from across Texas to help us celebrate in San 
Antonio.
  I am incredibly proud of these young men and women for answering the 
call to serve. I wish them the best of luck.
  Last week, I also had the chance to spend some time out in West Texas 
at the Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, TX. That is one of 
the principal training sites for our entering airmen, sailors, 
soldiers, and now the Space Force, called the guardians. All of these 
folks who are training to become intelligence specialists come to San 
Angelo for some of their most basic training.
  I got a chance to see them in action and learn about how they are 
evolving their training missions to match the threat of an evolving 
landscape. I also had a chance to meet with some of the base's senior 
leaders and recognize some of the incredible servicemembers who were 
stationed there.
  May, of course, was Military Appreciation Month, and it was great to 
spend some time celebrating some of our country's past, present, and 
future military leaders last week. These young men and women are the 
reason the United States continues to be the greatest, most powerful 
country on Earth, and they deserve our deepest gratitude for their 
enduring commitment.
  Texas is the proud home to many servicemembers and veterans and their 
families, and it also serves as a home to the facilities that produce 
the equipment and the ammunition they use on the battlefield. From F-35 
Joint Strike Fighters in Fort Worth to the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, 
which assembles, disassembles, and evaluates nuclear weapons, we have 
many of these sites located throughout the State.
  Last week, I had a chance to visit the newest addition to Texas's 
defense industry. General Dynamics just opened its new heavy artillery 
manufacturing facility in Mesquite, just outside of Dallas. This 
facility will increase production of 155-millimeter shells, which are 
crucial to Ukraine's defense against Russia and our preparation for 
other conflicts around the world. This new factory will expand domestic 
manufacturing to produce more than 30,000 shells each month, which 
amounts to one-third of all U.S. production of 155-millimeter artillery 
shells.
  One of the things that the war in Ukraine has exposed is our defense 
industrial base, which has not been prepared to meet the needs and 
demands not only of the United States but also of our friends and 
allies around the world. This is the first new ammunition plant since 
the start of the Ukraine war, and I am glad that investment was made in 
the Lone Star State.
  Texas is critical to America's national security, and it was good to 
spend time with the Secretary of the Army, Christine Wormuth, seeing 
the incredible work being done to support our Nation's security as well 
as our friends and allies around the world.
  My final stop last week on my across-the-State travels was the new 
Driscoll Children's Hospital in the Rio Grande Valley. Until recently, 
many families had to travel 150 miles just to receive the specialized 
care their children needed. With the opening of this new, state-of-the-
art facility, that has finally changed. This hospital offers nearly 150 
patient beds, 8 operating rooms, sophisticated technology, and even a 
therapy dog by the name of ``Tesla.'' This is the type of facility that 
is life-changing for countless families in the region, and I was glad 
to join elected officials and community leaders to celebrate the newest 
addition to healthcare delivery in the Rio Grande Valley.
  Madam President, it was a busy week in Texas. We have 254 counties. 
As I like to tell people, it is closer to the Pacific Ocean from El 
Paso than it is from El Paso, far west Texas, to the eastern tip of our 
State. Everybody knows Texas is a big place, and I can attest to that 
again after my travels this last week.
  I am grateful to many of my constituents and friends who shared their 
ideas and feedback with me. It is amazing how different their agenda 
and their priorities are from what we hear emanating from Washington, 
DC.
  It is the honor of a lifetime to serve 30 million Texans in the U.S. 
Senate, and I am ready to get back to work.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.