[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 214 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8883-S8884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request--S. 858
Mr. JUSTICE. Mr. President, well, I don't come to you very often, but
I come to you, when I come, with important stuff. You know, I am not a
politician. It is easy for you to see that. We have so much work that
can be done and should be done, all the time here.
You know, I am going to speak to you today about folks that we owe
everything to--not some, but everything, to. You know, I have said so
many times as a Governor of West Virginia--I said over and over and
over--that we owe every single thing to those who serve in our
military, the active folks that are serving in our military. They have
given us everything--everything.
You know, in my little State of West Virginia, we are really proud
because we step up. We step up in every way.
I am here today, in a lot of ways, for Sarah and Andy too. Surely,
God above, we have not forgotten Sarah and Andy.
We just lost Sarah Beckstrom, a great National Guardsman, absolutely
in the prime of her life--20 years old--gunned down right on our
streets here.
And Andy Wolfe continues to fight for his life, and he is improving.
He has done wonderful. Andy, in many ways, is our miracle--our miracle
for not only West Virginia but our miracle for this Nation, in lots of
ways.
But I also come today on something that is enormously important. I
come today with my bill for this Nation, for the most prestigious
honor, the most prestigious medal in our military, and that is the
Medal of Honor.
I want to talk to you about the namesake of this bill, Woody
Williams. You know, Woody was a friend, a good friend. His name was
Hershel ``Woody'' Williams. My bill is S. 858. It is going to be called
the Hershel Woody Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location
Act. And in a few minutes, I will ask for unanimous consent for this. I
will ask that we quit playing these silly, silly, silly politics and
step up to the plate and honor absolutely those that have given, in
many instances, the ultimate sacrifice.
So with all that being said, as I move forward here, I would say to
you this: My bill is a testament--a testament--that will go on the
National Mall. It is fully funded. It is fully funded with private
donations.
We absolutely know that the recipients of the Medal of Honor,
absolutely, those folks--all the way back to the Civil War--those folks
have been in every single conflict that this Nation has been in, and it
is so enormously important it is off the charts.
This monument in the National Mall will be in proximity to the other
memorials and monuments that remember wars that these individuals
fought and died in, in an absolutely appropriate setting. This monument
reflects the American people's collective appreciation for the Medal of
Honor recipients' bravery and stands as a lasting tribute to their
legacy.
These individuals come from every corner of our Nation, from Hawaii
to Maine, from every State. We have at least one individual from every
State that has gone beyond the call of duty.
These people are like Army SGT Brian Buker from Maine. These people
are like Navy ENS Charles Hamman from Maryland, Air Force MSgt John
Chapman from Massachusetts, and Coast Guard Signalman First Class
Douglas Munro from Washington State.
Mr. President, we are honored to have these great recipients, many of
them with us today. But I do know that two are really right here with
us today--U.S. MG Patrick Brady from South Dakota, who served in
Vietnam and made several missions to evacuate wounded soldiers. He
utilized 3 helicopters in a single day to Evacuate 51 seriously injured
men.
It is unbelievable. It is totally unbelievable. The bravery. The
sacrifice. Un-flat-believable.
We also have with us U.S. Army LTC William Swenson from Washington
State and living up in California. He made multiple trips to the
enemy's kill zone to evacuate wounded soldiers and recover four fallen
U.S. servicemen.
I just don't know how in the world--you talk about this unbelievable
bravery. You talk about their unbelievable sacrifice. They have given
so much in every single way, and we should be so, so, so proud.
Like I said a few minutes ago, we are asking to do something on the
National Mall. It has been vetted in every single possible way. The
House has passed it unanimously. We passed it out of committee
unanimously. Honestly, what is wrong with us in America? What could
possibly be wrong with us in America to not step up and do something as
small but as great as this for our greatest--greatest--medal
recipients, the Medal of Honor. Absolutely.
I tell you this: I am grateful to be joined in this effort by 12
Senators that have cosponsored, including 5 of my colleagues from the
Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Again I underline that this passed the House 414 to 0. It passed
committee without objection. It is absolutely unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation has been a great
champion and partner on this bill. The National Congress of American
Indians has also supported this effort, as it has 42 recipients who are
Native American.
It is unthinkable for me. I am new to the game. I have white hair,
and I have done a lot of stuff. But Mr. President, absolutely, if we
can't do this--we have a miserable, miserable approval rating as it
is--14 percent. I don't see how in the world it is 14 percent, to tell
you the truth. But if we have 14 percent as our approval rating of what
we do, we should be disgraced off the chart.
But if we can't step up and support these heroes that have given the
ultimate sacrifice beyond belief, these people that absolutely have a
level of courage and bravery, have a level of service, have a level of
sacrifice that is totally off the chart--totally off the chart. Do we
not realize that every single solitary thing we have--everything that
we have today--is due to folks like this?
In every way, I hope and pray that we will just stand up and say
absolutely, unanimously, we concede.
As if in legislative session notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask
unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be
discharged from further consideration of S. 858 and the Senate proceed
to immediate consideration; further, that the Justice substitute
amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; the bill, as
amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from California.
Mr. PADILLA. Reserving the right to object, as we know, the
Commemorative Works Act restricts new museums and memorials from being
built on the National Mall without an act of Congress. It is one of the
ways Congress likes to try to maintain and be mindful of the evolution
of the National Mall and monuments and museums that meet our collective
bipartisan standard for placement there.
Since I first arrived in the Senate, I have been working across the
aisle to support the building of two important museums on the National
Mall--one being the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino
and the other being the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum.
Both of these efforts are longstanding bipartisan. In fact, Senator
Cruz and I, along with Senator Moreno and others, have a bipartisan
bill that would adopt the necessary language for placement on the Mall.
Meanwhile, Senators Klobuchar and Lummis have a bipartisan bill to do
the same for the women's museum.
So let me be clear. I wholeheartedly agree that the sacrifices made
by Medal of Honor recipients should have a place of recognition for all
Americans to see in our Nation's Capital. I also supported the Senator
from West Virginia's bill when it came before the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee just yesterday morning.
As ranking member of the Rules Committee, let me also offer to the
Senator from West Virginia and his constituents some good news. I am
happy to share that the committee is working as we speak to approve the
installation of a statue in the Capitol for national Medal of Honor
recipient Herschel ``Woody'' Williams, the individual whom the
placement legislation is named after.
[[Page S8884]]
But as I shared in committee yesterday morning, I also believe that
the story of the American Latino and the fight for equality by American
women should also be enshrined on the National Mall. So we have an
amendment that would add the text of those bills to S. 858 to also
allow the Latino and women's museums to build on the National Mall.
My colleague from West Virginia was very eloquent, very passionate,
and I share his conviction. The effort to approve the placement
language, the location language for the Latino museum and the women's
museum has been held up far too long. So I hope the Senator from West
Virginia will join me in trying to do away with--what was it that he
said?--the ``silly, silly politics'' because when you look at the
history of Latinos in America, it includes 60 Medal of Honor
recipients, beginning with Phil Bazaar and John Ortega for their
service in the Civil War.
Latino contributions, including paying the ultimate sacrifice, is
nothing new. And it includes, by the way, David M. Gonzales from my
hometown of Pacoima for his bravery during World War II. The history of
women in America includes the story of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, also a
Medal of Honor recipient. All these stories deserve to be told in a
location of prominence.
As I said yesterday morning when the Energy and Natural Resources
Committee marked up and approved S. 858--I made remarks at the time
clearly announcing my intention to offer this amendment when the Medal
of Honor bill came up for consideration on the floor of the Senate, so
here I am. It shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.
I would urge my colleagues to agree to include my amendment so that
all three of these bills can finally move forward after years and years
of hard work and bipartisan support.
Therefore, I would ask the Senator to modify his request so my
amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the Justice
substitute amendment, as amended, be considered and agreed to; that the
bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that
the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the modification?
The Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. JUSTICE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, my bill
has gone through all the steps. The great Senator who is here
speaking--his bill has not gone through the steps, and it being held up
is surely not my fault, and of everything in the world, it is not these
great recipients' fault.
I may have missed one person that could possibly be in our Gallery,
and that is Marine Corps Capt. Raymond Murphy of Colorado.
But I want to just tell you this, sir: We have gone through every
step the right way. We have gone through the hearings, the markups, the
unanimous passage by the ENR Committee. Therefore, I absolutely object
in every single way. His bills have not gone through the committee. His
bills have not had a hearing and been passed out of committee. This is
absolutely skipping the proper steps. I may be new, but we have done it
right.
And absolutely what we are doing is we are turning our backs on the
greatest of the greatest of the greatest. This is the very thing--the
very, very thing--I support the museums that he speaks of. We all
would. But absolutely this act right here is the very root of what is
wrong with us.
For God sakes-a-living, how do you absolutely look at those great
people, how do you look at what they have given all of us and turn your
back on them? I don't get it.
I absolutely object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Is there an objection to the original request?
The Senator from California.
Mr. PADILLA. Reserving the right to object, I want to set the record
straight. The museum efforts that I talked about have gone through all
the proper steps. There have been committee hearings. They have been
approved by committee. They have been approved in prior Congresses
separately by both Chambers, so they are ready to move.
I am disappointed, frankly--not surprised--that the amendment is not
accepted.
Therefore, I object and would look forward to working with my
colleague from West Virginia and anybody else to advance all three of
these proposals as expeditiously as possible.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. JUSTICE. Mr. President, I am not going to volley back and forth.
Use the Rules Committee, not this Congress.
Like I said before, I absolutely object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
Honoring Sergeant Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sergeant William Nathaniel
Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat
Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I rise to speak briefly in gratitude today.
Yesterday, Dover Air Force Base once again had the honor of receiving
the remains of three Americans who died in service to our Nation: SGT
Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, of Des Moines, and SGT William Nathaniel
Howard, of Marshalltown--both Iowans, both servicing in the Iowa
National Guard--and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a resident of Michigan,
originally an Iraqi, who served alongside American troops for 4 years
during the war in Iraq and who has become a nationalized American
citizen. All three were killed in a tragic incident in Syria. All three
served bravely. And all three were welcomed home with the dignity and
respect that all who serve our Nation and fall in service to our Nation
deserve.