[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 27580-27581]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           FORT HOOD SHOOTING

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, our Nation mourns every death of an American 
servicemember. We grieve alongside the families who sacrifice so much 
while their loved ones serve and hurt even more when loved ones give 
the ultimate sacrifice.
  I can remember the many calls I have made to Nevadans as a result of 
the deaths of their loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are 
difficult calls to make when that Nevadan does not come home.
  I remember the first call. A young man, a star athlete in high 
school, was killed. I spoke with his coach, his friend who took care of 
him. That was the first. I remember the last, just a couple of days 
ago, a death in Afghanistan.
  We are especially heartbroken by last week's tragedy that occurred 
deep in the heart of Texas. The entire Senate sends its deepest 
condolences to those who have lost mothers and fathers, sons and 
daughters, husbands and wives at Fort Hood. Our thoughts are with the 
troops who have lost their friends and fellow soldiers and those who 
continue to heal as I speak. These men and women died in the Soldier 
Readiness Processing Center. This is supposed to be the last place our 
troops go before they are deployed, in this instance to Afghanistan and 
Iraq. No one ever suspects it will be the last place they would ever 
go.
  As we mourn, we honor the lives of those who died on that base. We 
hope for the full and speedy recovery of those who have been injured, 
and we are thankful for the men and women who came to the aid of the 
wounded and exhibited the kind of heroism that makes our Armed Forces 
the best in the world. And, of course, we are especially grateful to 
Kimberly Munley, who stopped the gunman.
  The 13 who died at Fort Hood were from 11 different States, States 
that border the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Great Lakes, States high 
in the Rockies and in the Great Plains. These public servants ranged in 
rank from private to colonel and even included an Army civilian. The 
oldest was a husband, a father, and a grandfather from Spokane, WA. He 
was a civilian, a physician assistant who worked in rural clinics and 
veterans hospitals. He was 4 years away from his retirement. The 
youngest was just barely 19 years old, a private first class from 
northern Utah, who was just months away from deploying to Afghanistan. 
A 29-year-old sergeant from Wisconsin joined her Nation's military 
after the September 11 attacks. A 21-year-old from outside Chicago 
enlisted in the Army to help him afford college, where he dreamed of an 
education studying music. A 22-year-old specialist from Oklahoma had 
been married for just 2 months. A 21-year-old private first class from 
Chicago was 3 months pregnant. A 55-year-old lieutenant colonel was the 
grandmother to six. A 52-year-old major spoke very little English when 
he came to this country from Mexico in his teens, but he earned a Ph.D. 
in psychology, became a teacher, and ultimately chose to serve his 
country in the military. And Kimberly Munley, a woman who was shot 
several times. Kimberly was a sergeant and a civilian police officer. 
She took down the alleged shooter with her pistol, even as she suffered 
wounds of her own from the gunman. Yes, Fort Hood is home to truly 
remarkable, selfless Americans.
  Our Nation misses those who were murdered, and our thoughts are with 
those who are now healing as a result of having been wounded in that 
senseless crime. The appropriate officials both inside and outside the 
Army will continue to investigate how such a tragedy occurred. The 
Senate will support them in every way we can.
  In the meantime, one of the ways we can support the brave Americans 
who volunteer for duty is to give them the resources they need when 
they come home. We are trying to move forward on a package of bills 
that will make wounded veterans' lives a little easier. Sadly, these 
bills are being inexplicably held up by the minority. We have a number 
of very important bills that have been reported out of the Veterans' 
Committee, and we have not been able to move forward on them. Among 
other things, these bills will help veterans to get access to the 
caregivers they need for even the smallest task they cannot handle on 
their own. These bills will support veterans' mental health services 
and other health benefits, and they will make sure our veterans do not 
have to live on the streets.
  Right now, a Republican Senator is singlehandedly standing in the way 
of these bills. Under the rules of the Senate, that is what he decided 
to do, but that doesn't make it right. I hope he will drop his 
objection so we can put our veterans' health ahead of whatever issues 
he is concerned about. The same Senator did this for months on a number 
of very important environmental bills, some lands bills. In that 
instance, we gathered all the bills together and put them into one bill 
and on a bipartisan basis got them out of here. We

[[Page 27581]]

have done the same with these veterans bills.
  These are extremely important, popular pieces of legislation, and we 
are going to move forward on these as quickly as we can. It would be 
nice if we could do them before Veterans Day, which is the day after 
tomorrow. I also look forward to moving ahead the Military 
Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations that will fund housing for 
our military families, improve our bases, and support veterans 
programs.
  Tomorrow morning when the Senate convenes, we will have a moment of 
silence to honor the fallen at Fort Hood. I encourage all Senators to 
come to the Senate at the time the Senate opens tomorrow for this most 
important time.
  I have spoken with the Republican leader today. He is going to be as 
helpful as possible in making sure we move forward on this Military 
Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill at the earliest 
possible time. I hope we can do it tomorrow.

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