[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 7479-7483]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today with great honor and pride 
to pay tribute to the men and women of our Armed Forces, tens of 
thousands of whom are deployed right now in the Middle East in military 
action against Iraq. I encourage all my colleagues in the Senate, and 
in the Congress, that we take a few moments out of each and every one 
of our days we are engaged in this conflict to come to the floor and 
speak to our constituents, speak to the American people, and speak to 
the servicemen and servicewomen who are so valiantly out there 
defending our freedoms and this great country that we believe in. We 
are going to take a few moments here today to talk about how important 
are these men and women in service to our country. We would like to 
encourage, again, all Members of Congress to come to the floor and 
spend a few minutes out of their day or out of their week to talk about 
the incredible lives of these individuals who are there on our behalf, 
defending our freedom.
  Over the course of the last week, since hostilities began in earnest 
on March 19, our troops have made tremendous progress toward the 
objectives of their mission. At the same time, we have seen a few 
setbacks, but these do not detract from what has been accomplished. For 
that, we have no one to thank but the courageous, hard-working men and 
women of the American service arm and the coalition of Armed Forces.
  We hear a great deal about the technology behind this war--missiles, 
aircraft, telecommunications devices, weaponry, and other equipment of 
battle. But we should all remember that even the best equipment and the 
best technology is of little value without the best soldiers and 
commanders to make it useful.
  Today we have over 230,000 troops representing air, sea, and land 
forces in the theater, with our allies in the coalition contributing an 
additional 45,000. These young men and women are serving in a wide 
variety of capacities but with a unifying mission--to liberate the 
Iraqi people from the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein, and to destroy 
his weapons of mass destruction which threaten our globe. They are 
separated from their families and their friends, placing themselves in 
great personal danger in order to provide for a safer, more secure 
world for all of us.
  I myself have a young man from my staff who is serving in the Middle 
East. He was called up on a Tuesday, left here on Friday, and I just 
recently heard from his mother. He is in Baghdad. Our thoughts and 
prayers go out to him. We want him to know we are thinking about him 
and that we are looking forward to his safe return to us here at home.
  We are all deeply grateful for the sacrifices our service men and 
women are making and the risks they are taking on all of our behalf. 
Those sacrifices and those risks will not be forgotten.
  In addition, I remind my colleagues that a large number of these 
troops come from the National Guard and the Reserve, nearly 217,000 at 
our last count. Over 2,000 of these guardsmen and reservists come from 
my home State of Arkansas. One of those soldiers is Major Stephen 
Wilson, of Rogers, AK.
  Major Wilson, who is 38 years old, is the operations officer for an 
Apache attack helicopter unit, the 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry of the 
11th Aviation Regiment. We have all seen in recent days the difficult 
odds our attack helicopter crews work under. They are vulnerable to 
small arms fire from the ground, not to mention difficult weather 
conditions that we have all been seeing on the television. In spite of 
these difficulties, Major Wilson and his colleagues persevere in an 
extremely challenging but extremely necessary mission.
  He is a proud representative of our State and our Nation, and we are 
extremely proud of him for his service to this country.
  If there were a way to thank each and every soldier by name, I would 
do it. I would take the necessary time to make sure that each of them 
knows how important they are in this conflict and in our resolve. Since 
it is not possible for me to recognize who is serving

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today, allow me at least to give a sense of where these units come from 
all across our great State of Arkansas: Little Rock, North Little Rock, 
Fort Smith, Van Buren, Siloam Springs, West Memphis, Ozark, Charleston, 
Marked Tree, Fayetteville, Pine Bluff--and the list could go on.
  Furthermore, these units are comprised of individuals from all over 
the State, meaning that we have soldiers serving from virtually every 
community in our great State of Arkansas. It is a reminder that even 
from thousands of miles away, Arkansans have a very serious stake in 
this war.
  On behalf of the people of Arkansas, I wish to say we are proud of 
all of our troops, and we look forward to welcoming them back home soon 
and safely.
  It is also true that as of today we have suffered casualties, and we 
should not turn away from this fact. It is believed that up to 14 of 
our troops from both the U.S. and our broader coalition are missing or 
captured by enemy forces. Our prayers are that they will be returned to 
their units safely and timely.
  We also had a number of our troops wounded in battle, and we wish 
them the best in a speedy, full recovery from all of their injuries.
  Most tragically of all, over 40 troops from the U.S. and from Great 
Britain have been killed in action or in accidents. We extend our 
deepest sympathies to their families, their friends, their loved ones, 
and we vow that we will honor their service and their memories by 
finishing this great task in which they have given their lives. Those 
lives will not have been lost in vain.
  In the days and weeks to come, we will no doubt discover that others 
of our troops will have been captured, wounded, or cut down, but we 
must remain firm in our resolve that Operation Iraqi Freedom will 
continue to move forward.
  My own father, who passed away last October, was a veteran of the 
Korean war, and he taught me always to respect the great commitment 
made by our troops in fighting to protect our freedoms. He taught me 
better to understand the mind of a soldier when he shared with me the 
stories and experiences he had on the front lines of Korea. And also, 
sitting at the foot of the chair of my grandfather, who served in World 
War I--both of my grandfathers did--I listened to stories of his 
travels on trains from Helena, AR, west to Little Rock, to catch 
another train to boot camp, and then on to France.
  To better understand the minds of the men and women who serve us in 
the armed services, each of us must take the time to reflect on the 
personal stories of the family members, the neighbors, the friends, the 
staff, all of those who are so critically involved in this conflict in 
which we now find ourselves.
  I again encourage all of my colleagues to take those few moments out 
of their day, out of their week, to think about what these generous 
souls are giving on our behalf to be there, to defend so many of the 
freedoms we in this great country take for granted, to remember them 
and their families in our thoughts and prayers.
  Our troops of today's generation deserve the same respect for the 
work they do as when we look back at many of our family members who 
have served in previous wars.
  As I reflect today with my colleagues in the Senate, there is no one 
I think of more at this moment than one of my colleagues here in the 
Senate, who I would like to share my time with, someone who has a son 
overseas in the Middle East.
  I have to say, as a mother of twin boys who are now in the first 
grade, it is amazing to imagine how quickly our children grow up. The 
questions that I get at night from my children--Where they are going? 
What they are doing? What is our country involved in? Where will they 
be in 10 or 15 years from now?--it is so important for each of us to 
reflect on this as we lift up the service men and women who are there 
valiantly now defending our freedoms.
  They and their families will be in our hearts and in our minds and in 
our prayers in the coming weeks. We wish them Godspeed, God's safety, 
and a timely return home to this country and this land that we all love 
so much.
  I thank you, Mr. President. And I want to again tell my colleague, 
Senator Johnson, how much I appreciate him and his family for the 
incredible contribution they make with his son serving in the Middle 
East right now. It is an unbelievable gift, and we are all truly 
indebted.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I am honored to have an opportunity to 
take part in this tribute to our American troops this evening here on 
the floor of the Senate.
  I express a special commendation to my colleague and good friend, 
Senator Lincoln of Arkansas, for her comments and for her leadership in 
helping to put together this tribute, as well as my South Dakota 
colleague, Senator Daschle, for all his support of our troops and his 
suggestion that we go ahead with a regular tribute and acknowledgement 
of the contributions our American military personnel are making.
  This is a matter of particular personal importance to me with my own 
oldest son Brooks serving in the 101st Airborne in Iraq today. But 
there are thousands of others from South Dakota--Reserve, National 
Guard, Active Duty, Ellsworth Air Force Base in our case in South 
Dakota--and around the Nation who each are making profound 
contributions to the security and freedom of this country and for 
stability in that troubled part of the world.
  We owe so much to each and every one of them, not only to honor the 
men and women who put on our Nation's uniform and jeopardize their 
lives by doing so but their families who suffer mightily from the 
sacrifices that are made, and from the prospect of death, injury, 
captivity--all that to which our military personnel subject themselves.
  In our own family's case, we recognize this is a voluntary military 
in this day and age. Our son Brooks chose to enter the military. It was 
not my encouragement, particularly. It was his choice. All the credit 
goes to him. And that young man, with so many others, has served in 
four conflicts in the last 5 years: Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and 
now in Iraq. And we in South Dakota, and many around the country, do 
what we can to demonstrate our pride and support. In South Dakota, we 
have revived an old World War I tradition of wearing the blue star if 
we have a family member in the war. We have banners on our front door 
and at my offices around the State and here in Washington with that 
same blue star. We recognize that as the tradition goes, some of those 
blue stars will eventually become gold stars, and that is the symbol 
worn by parents who have lost a loved one.
  We keep a map of Iraq in our family kitchen, as I am sure, in some 
similar way, the hundreds of thousands of other parents do all across 
this country, trying to keep track, as best we can, where our son is, 
as others keep track of where their sons and daughters are, their 
husbands and wives.
  The communication, of course, at this time is just spotty. Initially, 
we were able to get a couple e-mails. A short time ago, I received a 
note from our son Brooks on the back of a beef stew box, a piece of 
cardboard. They had no paper anywhere, and they had to make do as they 
could. We will keep this forever.
  We sent, obviously, notes and cards to them. There are organizations 
that have encouraged this to go on, and I am sure that builds morale, 
as these troops suffer through incredible circumstances, both 
militarily as well as just the sandstorms and all that goes with living 
out in a desert and in a troubled place.
  One of the things Barbara and I recognize, that all the other parents 
share in a way that is more profound than could possibly be the case 
unless you have had a loved one in a circumstance like this, is that 
every glance at the television, every glance toward the radio could 
convey to you at any moment some catastrophic news. There are many who 
follow the conflict, have

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an interest in it, but the families recognize more so than anyone the 
very real nature of what is happening.
  These are not video games. There is a tendency sometimes in the media 
to talk about collateral damage and casualties, and you see numbers on 
the maps and colored diagrams going in one direction or another. But 
the families recognize that each one of those represents real people 
and real hopes and the love of real families. We in this body 
understand the sacrifices that need to be made. But it goes almost 
beyond understanding how much we owe to these men and women and all 
that they do.
  This past week, Barbara and I were listening at our home to some 
reports, and there was a report of casualties and deaths in our son's 
division. I went to tell Barbara about it, and it was almost impossible 
for me to even speak. She had been following the news herself and knew 
that in this instance it involved a different brigade than where our 
son was; our son had left Kuwait for Iraq the day before. We breathed a 
sigh of relief as parents will when their own son or daughter has 
escaped harm, but we recognized more than ever because of our 
circumstances that while our son in that case was safe, the losses were 
very real. Someone else's son, someone else's husband was injured, was 
killed, somewhere else families are devastated.
  We will win this war. We have the greatest military in the world. The 
world will be a better place when we are victorious. But it is 
important for us to take stock of the men and women who make this 
possible. It is important for us to express our honor for what they do 
and who they are. It is important for us to share our prayers that this 
conflict is a short and decisive conflict with the fewest losses of 
life possible on either side.
  We as a people owe more to these men and women than words can 
possibly convey. It is my hope that as we follow this conflict and pray 
that it is a short one, we in the Senate will do all we can, obviously, 
to express our honor and our praise for these people, but also that we 
will go beyond that to take the steps necessary so when they come home, 
they will come home to a country where there is opportunity, where 
schools for their children are good, where the environment is clean, 
the economy is growing, where there are jobs available that are 
challenging and meaningful to them, and that so long as they remain in 
the military, their pay, their housing, their quality of life is what 
it deserves to be.
  Every night when we go home and live in relative comfort, I hope we 
keep in mind these hundreds of thousands of our troops, who this very 
night, many of them, are sleeping in a hole in the sand 2 or 3 feet 
deep to protect themselves from shrapnel during the course of the 
evening, blowing sand, horrible weather, fear of snipers, bombs, 
biological, chemical warfare that could arise at any moment, and 
appreciate the quality of these troops and how we as a free people 
could not possibly sustain our freedoms were it not for the willingness 
of these troops, these men and women, to voluntarily step into this 
kind of circumstance and fight this war.
  I yield to our leader, Senator Daschle. Again, I acknowledge my 
gratitude to him for helping to organize this tribute to our American 
troops.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I am sure everyone can appreciate the 
difficulty that our Senator from South Dakota has experienced in coming 
to the floor to talk, as he has with pride and enormous appreciation, 
of the commitment made by a member of his own family.
  On a regular basis, we want to come to the Chamber with our 
Republican colleagues and call attention to all those who, like Brooks 
Johnson, are now serving in the Persian Gulf. I thank the distinguished 
Senator from Arkansas for agreeing to help organize today's colloquy 
and reiterate my deep gratitude to my dear friend and colleague, 
Senator Johnson. We thought it would be appropriate today, as we begin 
this practice, to call the Senate's attention to the fact that Senator 
Johnson is the only Member of this Congress who has a child serving in 
Iraq.
  As he has noted, Brooks, his son, is a staff sergeant with the Army's 
101st Airborne Division. He is 31 years old. I know him, and I can see 
why his parents are as proud of him as they are. He is remarkable. He 
has turned down offers to attend recruiter's school because he said he 
wants to be close to the men he leads.
  He is 6'1", 215 pounds, almost all shoulders and biceps. He loves the 
rough-and-tumble of the outdoors. But he also enjoys gourmet cooking 
and Broadway musicals. He is a very thoughtful man, an eloquent 
speaker. He loves to read the classics. When he was serving in 
Afghanistan, he was reading the history of the Pelo-
ponnesian wars.
  He has known since he was a very young man that he wanted to serve 
and protect our country. He missed his own high school graduation 
because he was attending Marine Corps Reserves basic training at Parris 
Island. He went to college at the University of South Dakota, and 
during college, Brooks served first in the Marine Corps Reserve, then 
the Army Reserve, then the Army National Guard.
  The reason he served in so many branches is that he was looking for a 
unit that was close to college. He wanted to be able to learn and to 
serve at the same time. When he decided to make a life of the military, 
he chose the Army. He has now been on active duty for 8 years.
  This is Staff Sergeant Johnson's fourth war in 5 years. He served in 
Bosnia. He served in Kosovo. He arrived in Afghanistan in December of 
2001, 2 months after the terrorist attack on America. He served in 
Afghanistan for 6 months.
  Like so many family members who have loved ones in this war, Tim and 
Barb aren't exactly sure where Brooks is detailed, but they do know his 
division has been moved into Iraq.
  The other day, Tim came to the floor and he shared something with me. 
I hope he doesn't mind if I share it with our colleagues. Brooks sent 
him a postcard, but this isn't a normal postcard. This is a postcard 
carved out of the box of an MRE, one of these portable meals that they 
take with them. I have eaten them myself. They are a box about like 
this. Well, Brooks carved out one side of an MRE, brown, cardboard box. 
On one side of that postcard box he wrote a message to his parents. On 
the other side was the address to his parents and his return address. 
Up in the right-hand corner, instead of a postage stamp, it said 
``free.'' There are a lot of connotations to the word ``free'' on that 
postcard.
  So we think of Brooks and the freedom he fights for, the freedom he 
has, and all the things that we cherish as Americans, recognizing that 
Brooks Johnson learned those values from two extraordinary parents.
  A quarter of a million Americans and several thousand South Dakotans 
today serve in the Persian Gulf. We are in awe of their courage. Their 
dedication. Their sacrifice. We are grateful to every one of them and 
their families. We are resolved to ensure they have everything they 
need so they can be successful and return home safely.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it seems only yesterday that Senator Johnson 
and I were sharing stories about our sons, the athletes. They both were 
back here with their parents in the East while we were in the Congress. 
They were little boys then. Then they got to where they were in high 
school, and they were bigger boys, but they were boys. So it is hard to 
imagine now our two boys are grown up. They are adults.
  Barbara and Tim's son, though, is really grown up. This young man is

[[Page 7482]]

fighting in the deserts, in the sands of Iraq so that we can continue 
to enjoy our freedoms in America.
  I had to call Tim at home this past Sunday to talk about some of the 
issues we were working on legislatively. I hated to call Tim because I 
am sure he and Barbara at this stage do not like to get phone calls on 
Sunday afternoons, during nonworking hours. I am sure Tim and Barbara 
every night pray for their boy and probably a few times during the day.
  All of us should recognize that we, too, can join in a prayer for the 
Johnson's son Brooks. We need to do that because you see, what is going 
on in Iraq is more than just numbers. We hear numbers such as 250,000 
people over there, and we hear talk about skirmishes that have taken 
place. I pray that Brooks Johnson will return home safely to his 
parents, Tim and Barbara.
  I received a message yesterday, as we are notified as Senators, when 
something happens to someone from our States. Yesterday I received a 
message about a young man from Tonopah, NV. It used to be a big booming 
town where heavyweight prize fights were held, and at the turn of the 
last century it was a great mining community. Now it is a relatively--
not relatively, it is a small place.
  A man by the name of Frederick Pokorney came there. His parents moved 
around a lot. He wanted to finish high school. He was a sophomore. He 
was able to stay with the sheriff. Wade Lieseke took in this young man. 
It was great for Tonopah High School because he was large--6 foot 7, 
very athletic; he was a linebacker, a center for the basketball team. 
He was a great young man, quiet and kept to himself.
  To make a long story short, he went into the military. He was in the 
military for 11 years. He was just made a second lieutenant. He was one 
of the seven who was taken down in an ambush and killed.
  People who serve in the Iraqi conflict are in harm's way--every one 
of them. My heart goes out to Senator Johnson. Through Tim Johnson, we 
all recognize the ultimate sacrifice that young men and women are 
making in Iraq. He represents, in effect, the Congress. He is the only 
Member I am aware of who has a family member serving in that conflict.
  I congratulate Tim and Barbara for raising such a wonderful son. As I 
said, Brooks sets a great example for other young men and women in this 
country. I again say I hope that we all celebrate with the Johnsons 
when he returns home.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Nevada for his 
words. We came to Congress together with Tim Johnson many years ago and 
feel a special kinship and friendship with Tim and Barbara and the 
family.
  I was fortunate enough to be walking past the Chamber and saw Senator 
Tim Johnson speaking and stopped to hear the words he had to say about 
his son. I thought he showed remarkable composure when he talked about 
his son who is currently with the Army in Iraq in the midst of this 
battle. Obviously, he has a great deal of pride and, of course, a great 
deal of concern, natural concern of any parent.
  And then to hear Senator Daschle's special tribute to Brooks Johnson 
told us a little more about this young man, an extraordinary young man 
who has done so many things in his short life of 31 years and has tried 
over and over to continue to serve his country.
  What a great reminder of the men and women who are serving their 
country overseas today. I am glad this Senate went on record today with 
an incredible vote of 100 to 0 to increase combat pay and the family 
separation allowance of those who are serving. That is something that 
should be done, and I am glad we said it today and said it decisively, 
and I hope we move quickly to change the law to help those families.
  I also wish to say before I yield to my great friend and colleague 
from West Virginia, that I thank the Senator from Arkansas, Mrs. 
Lincoln, who has brought us to the floor now several times to talk 
about our men and women in uniform. It is important we continue on a 
daily basis to remind America that this Senate, as well as the 
Congress, is very sensitive to the fact that what is happening on the 
screens of the television just a few feet away involves real lives and 
real Americans and that our commitment is to them.
  The vote in the Senate just last week, 99 to 0 in support of those 
men and women in uniform, I think shows the current state of affairs in 
America transcends our political differences. We may disagree on 
foreign policy, we may disagree on what led up to this war, but when 
the first shot was fired, 99 Senators, everyone voting stood up and 
said: At this point, make no mistake; we are standing behind our men 
and women in uniform.
  I have been surprised and disappointed by some of the comments I have 
received in my office from a few people, some by e-mail and some by 
telephone, who have taken exception to that vote. They said: We thought 
you voted against the use-of-force resolution, and now what are you 
doing, hedging your bet by saying you support the men and women in 
uniform?
  What I have said to them and I say on the floor of the Senate is: You 
better draw a clear and bright line between the debate on foreign 
policy and whether or not we stand up for these young men and women who 
have volunteered to serve their country to risk their lives in battle.
  I lived through the Vietnam war and remember it as one of the most 
formative experiences in my life and one of the saddest chapters in 
American history, the fact that many people channeled their hatred for 
the war toward the men and women in uniform. That was unfair. It was 
unfortunate. It should never be repeated.
  Political leaders make decisions about foreign policy, committing our 
troops in various parts of the world, and those men and women who are 
sworn to serve the leaders and our Nation meet their call of duty, and 
we should never forget they did not make the foreign policy decision. 
They are serving their Nation as we asked them to serve. We should 
never ever compromise our commitment to them. That is why I think the 
resolution we have adopted, the vote today when it comes to combat pay 
and the tribute on the floor, is a reminder that we stand as one, 
shoulder to shoulder in unity, with these men and women in uniform.
  In the congressional family of 100 Senators and 435 Members of the 
House, it turns out we have, to my knowledge, only one son, and that is 
Tim Johnson's son, Brooks, who is in our Senate congressional family 
serving our Nation.
  We are going to be mindful of him. I ask Tim every day: Have you 
heard anything from Brooks? We will be mindful of him, as we are 
mindful of people from my town of Springfield, IL, or my State of 
Illinois who may be in harm's way. It is part of an expanding American 
family that we come together in times of fear and in times of crisis.
  To those who oppose the war, to those who favor peace, please draw 
that clear bright line: We should never take it out on the men and 
women in uniform, no matter how much we may disagree with the policy. 
And I think most Americans who feel that way, even those with 
misgivings with the events that led up to this war, feel this 
commitment should be singular.
  I mentioned Senator Byrd. Today there is a front-page story in the 
Washington Post about a family in West Virginia--and I imagine he will 
bring our attention to that in his remarks which follow. It, too, tells 
the story of a young woman, in this case, who made an extraordinary 
sacrifice and is in an usual, unpredictable situation perhaps being 
captured in Iraq.
  I take the floor today to thank Senator Lincoln and Senator Johnson. 
I urge my colleagues, if you can, spare a few moments each day to come 
and tell a story of those you know who are serving this war and serving 
this Nation so well.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.

[[Page 7483]]


  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, just an hour or so ago, barely 50 feet out 
this door, many remaining members of the Delaware Army and National 
Guard were gathered. Coincidentally, it was a day that had long been 
scheduled for them to be on the Hill. National Guard associations from 
all over the country have converged on Washington, DC.
  In the last several weeks, many of their colleagues in the Army and 
National Guard have since deployed to the Middle East, to the area 
around Iraq, and some to Iraq. On Sunday night, at a National Guard 
headquarters hangar in Wilmington, DE, at the airport we said goodbye 
to almost 100 of the members of the 166th Military Airlift Command as 
they set off to join their colleagues and their aircraft on the other 
side of the world. They are the maintainers of the C-130s which are 
part of the air bridge from the United States to Iraq.
  It starts here with a very large C-5 aircraft and includes the C-17s, 
and at the end of the delivery system, the end of the air bridge, the 
C-130s, the smaller sort of rangers. The maintainers, the members of 
the 166th who have gone to join their colleagues, are the folks who 
make sure the landing gear works, the radio works, the hydraulic works, 
the avionics systems work. Without them we would not have C-130s that 
function, and without C-130s we would not have the kind of air bridge 
that we need to be successful in this war.
  I was privileged to be there to salute them and send them on their 
way, as were our former Governor, former commander in chief of the 
Delaware National Guard, Mike Castle, our Congressman, and our 
Governor, our current commander in chief of the Delaware National 
Guard, Ruth Ann Minner. I was privileged to be their commander in chief 
for much of the last decade when I served as Governor of Delaware.
  As we said goodbye to the men and women of the 166th, we also had 
important words for the families of those who stayed behind, the wives 
and the husbands, the children, the parents of those whose loved ones 
are climbing on to that C-5 and getting prepared to fly thousands of 
miles from home. In some cases--and I say this as one who deployed on 
several occasions as a naval flight officer in the Navy back during the 
Vietnam war--the deployment is tougher not on the one being deployed 
but on the ones who stay behind. To those families we owe a lot because 
they have shared their loved ones with us, and in many cases they put 
their families in difficult straits at a tough time.
  We voted today on several amendments to the budget resolution which 
are designed to lighten the load a little bit for those who are being 
deployed, particularly those who are being put into a hazardous place 
to perform their duties. I am grateful for that and would express on 
behalf of not just the families of the 166th whose loved ones deployed 
this Sunday but on behalf of all the members of the Delaware National 
Guard who are now serving in this war, thank you on their behalf and on 
behalf of their families for thinking of them, for remembering them 
along with the other Guard and Reserve men and women who are being 
called to active duty around this country.
  During the time I served on active duty in Southeast Asia, we would 
from time to time receive a Reserve air crew that came in usually from 
the west coast, but flying their P-3 aircraft for 3 years hunting for 
Red October, tracking Soviet nuclear submarines, but also flying low-
level missions along the coast of Vietnam and Cambodia.
  In those days, back in the early 1970s, when we had a tough and 
dangerous job to do, we would never turn it over to a reserve air crew. 
The Active-Duty crews would take care of that, and we would be careful 
to send the Reserve air crews on a job where they could not get in 
trouble or could not get hurt. That was 30-some years ago. Today it is 
such a different world. We have guards men and women, activated, 
deployed, reservists called to active duty who are serving alongside 
full-time soldiers, sailors, and airmen. They are doing the very same 
jobs, dangerous jobs, tough dirty jobs in some cases, and to them we 
owe an enormous debt of gratitude.
  A closing word to my friend Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota whose 
son is over in Iraq, and I am sure a matter of great concern to him and 
to Barbara, his wife, a concern that is shared by literally tens of 
thousands of families across this country. I say a special prayer for 
Brooks and for the Johnson family, and remember them and all who have 
been deployed and serve our Nation at this tough and challenging time.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Collins). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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