[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 25710-25711]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   116TH BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM IN IRAQ

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, tomorrow and through the weekend, we will 
be celebrating Veterans Day. I thought it was appropriate that I come 
to the Chamber this morning for two purposes. First, as chairman of the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee in the Senate, I have had the distinct 
pleasure of working with the VA and working with veterans across this 
country over the last year to not only provide them the services they 
need to improve their lives but to recognize the changing scene of 
veterans health care and the new veterans that are being created out of 
the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan and the kind of care and service 
those brave young men and women will need as they return home, some of

[[Page 25711]]

them certainly not as physically or mentally whole as we would like.
  Because of their tremendous service to our country in the war on 
terrorism, I can say very proudly that this Congress and our committee 
and the Veterans' Administration have clearly stepped up to do what is 
right and appropriate in the recognition of the time-honored care we 
have provided for our veterans down through the decades and down 
through the conflicts in which America found itself, in the 
preservation of our freedom and the advancement of all peoples around 
the world.
  Idaho played a unique role this year, and I am here today to talk 
about the Idaho National Guard 116th Brigade Combat Team that is now 
returning from service in Iraq. For the last 18 months, these brave men 
and women have made a tremendous sacrifice to be away from their 
families and friends to defend our Nation and work to build a stable 
and free Iraq. For that, I am extremely grateful to all of them.
  It is important to remember that the soldiers of the National Guard 
are civilians first and soldiers second. They are our doctors and our 
business men and women, plumbers, farmers, teachers. Yet they have all 
answered their country's call to action during this time of need. The 
skills these civilian soldiers bring to the table have proven to be 
invaluable as our soldiers work side by side with the Iraqi people to 
restore the critical infrastructure, establish a thriving economy, and 
promote a free and prosperous system of government.
  Earlier this year, I had the privilege, once again, to visit Iraq--it 
was my second time while we have been engaged there in the war on 
terrorism--fulfilling a promise I had made to the 116th as I and the 
delegation and the Governor saw them off now over a year ago. So I was 
extremely proud to be there and to see this phenomenally enthusiastic 
civilian soldier in his or her work area as they did what they do so 
very well in a very courageous and skillful manner.
  These civilian skills not only were essential to provide the security 
for the Iraqi people, but they also provided the essential ongoing 
construction efforts. I was humbled to have that opportunity to meet 
with these fine young men and women on the battlefield in Iraq and to 
express the gratitude of the people of the State of Idaho and our 
Nation for these efforts.
  I also have enormous respect for what they did, but what is 
phenomenal is the feedback we received from the Iraqi Government 
officials regarding the work of the 116th. As I say, these are unique 
soldiers. The Iraqi people saw that and understood that these were 
really civilians who had tremendous talents in civilian life, and they 
incorporated that not only in the protection and the soldiering that 
went on over there but in the rebuilding of the infrastructure about 
which I talked. These soldiers faced a very difficult and dangerous 
task of maintaining the peace and stability in some very hostile 
environments. Yet they continued their mission, and they handled it 
with tremendous honor.
  The members of the 116th have spent 12 months in Kirkuk and other 
areas within that region. Their mission was to provide for the security 
of the people of Iraq against insurgents and terrorist attacks, 
establishment of self-reliant government institutions, and the 
reconstruction of the basic and critical infrastructure. Their two 
overriding missions were overseeing the successful national elections 
in January and the national referendum vote on October 15. Both of 
these missions were tremendously successful. We know about that. This 
is exactly what our President had proposed and laid out before us.
  While Americans and Members of Congress are tremendously anxious 
about the war currently going on in Iraq, the reality is we are on 
schedule and on course to do exactly what we set out to do to help the 
citizens of Iraq in standing up for government, providing a 
representative form of government, and stabilizing that area of the 
world. The 116th from Idaho, these tremendous civilian soldiers, 
participated in that, and I must tell you that in representing the 
largest deployment from the State of Idaho that has ever happened to 
our National Guard, we stand as Idahoans today tremendously proud of 
the work they did.
  The good news is, they are coming home, and most of them will be home 
for Thanksgiving. We will be glad to see them back with their families 
and back in their communities and reassuming their civilian lives and 
doing that not only for the Idaho National Guard but for all guardsmen 
and reservists around the country. As chairman of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee, working with the Secretary of the VA, holding hearings in 
Idaho and other places around the country, we want to make sure that 
this transition back into civilian life is as seamless as possible.
  These are men and women who have been at war. To simply step out of a 
war zone and step into their community is not going to be an easy task. 
Yet that is exactly what a civilian citizen soldier does. Whether it is 
the Idaho 116th or whether it is the tens of thousands of other guards 
men, women, and reservists around the country, we owe them a phenomenal 
debt of gratitude for the work they have done.
  You see, we have a system within our military that it is not just the 
active soldier who serves so well, but it is that citizen soldier, our 
friends and neighbors in our communities across the country, such as 
the 116th of Idaho, who continue to serve and, in a time of war, serve 
with honor and dignity.
  As we celebrate Veterans Day tomorrow and this weekend, recognizing 
those who have stood in harm's way and in many instances have given 
their lives so our lives could be freer, let's remember those currently 
serving in Iraq, be it the active soldier or be it the Guard or 
Reserve, for they are all one and their missions are all the same. The 
116th of Idaho Brigade Combat Team has made Idaho extremely proud.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alabama.

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