[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11594]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           EXECUTIVE SESSION

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      NOMINATION OF STANLEY A. McCHRYSTAL TO BE LIEUTENANT GENERAL

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 599; that the 
nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, no other motions in order, that the President be immediately 
notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate resume legislative 
session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The nomination considered and confirmed is as follows:


                              in the army

       The following named officer for appointment in the United 
     States Army to the grade indicated while assigned to a 
     position of importance and responsibility under title 10, 
     U.S.C., section 601:

                        To be lieutenant general

     Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal

  Mr. WARNER. I thank the distinguished Presiding Officer, a member of 
the Senate Armed Services Committee. This nomination is for General 
McChrystal. General McChrystal is well-known to many of us in the 
Senate. I recall very vividly the period when our Nation was building 
its force structure to go into the situation in Iraq. And putting aside 
all of the honest debate on that decision to go in, I think the 
professional soldiers like McChrystal did their job.
  McChrystal used to come every morning that the Senate was in session, 
at 8 o'clock, and brief Senators in S. 407. I know the Presiding 
Officer was there on a number of occasions. He was accompanied by COL 
Bill Caniano, who is currently on my staff, and they answered the 
questions, kept the Senate informed as to the buildup of that operation 
as our forces built up tempo and moved into the Iraq situation. A very 
fine officer.
  He has been in Iraq now--well, I don't think you add up the number of 
tours because he has basically been there almost constantly over 2\1/2\ 
years; one of the longest serving members, whether it is a general 
officer or a private, in the Iraq theater. He has distinguished himself 
particularly on his initiatives to take on al-Qaida at any place, at 
any time of day or night, and to do the very best to eliminate that 
threat to not only the U.S. forces, Iraqi forces, but the Iraqi people 
who were brutally treated by that organization. And to the extent that 
we have reduced that situation of al-Qaida's capabilities in Iraq 
today, and also Afghanistan--this officer goes back and forth between 
those two theaters--then it is, I would say, with a sense of humility 
he would say: I think I have done my best.
  I am very pleased the President recognized his outstanding career, 
that he has been nominated now to become the chief of staff for the 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in operating that very essential 
part of the defense complex in the Department of Defense.
  I thank the Senators, I thank the leadership, the Democratic 
leadership, particularly Senator Durbin, who worked on it, and Senator 
Levin; and on this side, the Senator from Alabama, Mr. Sessions, and 
others who worked with me on this nomination during the course of last 
night's deliberations on a variety of matters on the Senate floor.
  I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.

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