[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6519-6525]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING THE RECENTLY FALLEN SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to have the 
opportunity to be on the floor for such an important issue and joined 
by my colleagues.
  I am holding the time until the distinguished gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Richmond) arrives. But let me just indicate that this is 
an enormous crisis when nine of our soldiers are killed in the way that 
they were killed in Afghanistan. And for many of us who are concerned 
about the continuing conflict and the next steps, it is important to be 
able to offer our sympathy to their families and, as well, to be able 
to ask for an investigation as to the basis of their loss.
  So it is important tonight that we educate our colleagues about the 
challenges that those brave soldiers faced, the conditions under which 
they lost their lives, and to say to their families that we will not 
rest until we have the opportunity to secure all of the facts and to be 
able to establish a reaction or a basis on seeking a response from the 
Afghan Government and certainly from those who are in supervision of 
the Armed Forces in the region, in the theater.
  With that in mind, as we offer our sympathy and express our desire 
for a full understanding and story as to what happened, Mr. Chairman, 
let me just say I look forward to a full airing of this unfortunate 
circumstance, and I hope that we will continue to seek information for 
these families and on behalf of these brave soldiers.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond) is 
recognized for the remainder of the minority leader's hour.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I want to first, before I start, thank the 
gentlewoman from Texas, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, not only for 
introducing this segment tonight but for the work that she has done for 
people all across the country, and especially when you talk about 
disasters. She was there for the city of New Orleans in the 
metropolitan region after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to make sure that 
everyone was included in the rebuilding and the reconstruction, and it 
was a lot of her effort that made sure that we could rebuild the city 
of New Orleans. And as we have just suffered losses around the country 
with the tornadoes that hit, I'm reminded of Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita, but more importantly, Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of the people in 
this Congress who go above and beyond to make sure that we take care of 
everyone in this country. And for that I want to thank Congresswoman 
Sheila Jackson Lee.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight I want to focus on our brave soldiers who 
recently fell in Afghanistan. We want to focus on their sacrifice. We 
want to focus on their bravery. We want to focus on their legacy.
  Last week, on a diplomatic military congressional delegation which 
was headed up by and whose idea was Congressman Bill Shuster's, he also 
went the extra mile to make sure that he included freshman Members in 
that so that we would get a chance to see what's going on over there. 
So last week while on a diplomatic and military delegation in Europe 
and Afghanistan, I attended a memorial service for the following heroes 
on this board. They are:
  Lieutenant Colonel Frank Bryant, Jr.; Major David Brodeur; Major 
Phillip Ambard; Major Raymond Estelle; Major Jeffrey Ausborn; Captain 
Charles Ransom; Captain Nathan Nylander; Retired Lieutenant Colonel 
James A. McLaughlin; Technical Sergeant Tara Brown; Private First Class 
Jonathan Villanueva; and Staff Sergeant Matthew Hermanson. These are 
just some of the faces of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice 
while protecting America's interests abroad and helping to keep our 
country safe from threats far and wide.
  I am joined by a couple of my colleagues who were with me on a fact-
finding trip.

                              {time}  1850

  We will focus on the sacrifice made by these brave men and women, as 
well as the sacrifices being made by all of our brave men and women on 
a daily basis.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I want to yield to Congressman Bill Shuster, 
who will have the opportunity to not only talk about one or two or 
three of the individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice but just on 
the experience in Afghanistan, where we are, the progress we're making.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for yielding and 
thank the gentleman for traveling with us on our codel, which was a 
bipartisan codel made of up six Members--2 Democrats, 4 Republicans--
and we traveled to, obviously as the gentleman from Louisiana said, to 
Afghanistan. It was, I think, an eye-opening experience for all of us 
getting to see and hear firsthand from not only our military leaders 
but also soldiers who were in the field and traveling out to Herat 
Province and be able to go to a village and talk to the village elders, 
the people that 18 months ago in this village it was controlled by the 
Taliban. Today, with the help of the U.S. Special Forces, the Taliban 
is gone and the people of this community, the people of this village 
and region are setting up their own police force.
  The village elder committed to us that he would never allow the 
Taliban to come back and how much he appreciated the support of U.S. 
Special Forces and their training and the fact that they were living 
with them in the community, 30 of our Special Forces in two different 
compounds, again offering training and guidance to these folks that 
live out in a very, very rural part of Afghanistan and actually 50 to 
60 miles from the Iranian border. And they're doing good work. So we 
saw those kinds of positive developments.
  Of course, we all know what happened at the end of this weekend. Our 
Special Forces were able to go in and kill Osama bin Laden and bring 
justice to him, and America's grateful for their efforts.
  As my colleague said, we were also able to participate in two 
ceremonies. One was a ramp ceremony of one of our fallen heroes. They 
actually put the coffin on the plane to bring it back to Dover Air 
Force Base to meet its final destination, and then also a ceremony to 
honor the nine fallen Americans that were killed by an Afghan pilot, 
somebody they had been working with for 9 months, somebody they 
trusted, who came in during a meeting last week, and brought in a 
weapon and killed nine people. They were not all military. There were 
eight people that serve in our military and one civilian, a civilian 
contractor, A retired lieutenant colonel. So there were also officers 
and enlisted people, and all of them gave the ultimate sacrifice 
serving for us in Afghanistan, and it was also the largest loss of life 
for the U.S. Air Force since the Khobar Towers were bombed by Osama bin 
Laden some 12 or 13 years ago.
  Tonight, we are joining here--and I think we are going to be joined 
by others that were on the trip--to talk about

[[Page 6520]]

these individuals and honor these individuals.
  With that, the first person that we want to honor is Major Jeffrey O. 
Ausborn. He was in the NATO Air Training Command in Afghanistan. Major 
Ausborn was born in August 1969 in Hokes Bluff, Alabama. His military 
career began on August 9, 1991, after being commissioned as a second 
lieutenant from the Troy State University Reserve Officer Training 
Corps. After completing basic communications officer training at 
Keesler Air Force Base, he remained as an instructor for nearly 4 
years, and in 1996, Major Ausborn was selected for undergraduate pilot 
training and proceeded to Columbus Air Force Base where, as a pilot 
trainee, he went on to earn the coveted wings of silver.
  Major Ausborn went on to fly the C-130, eventually completing two 
flying tours in the mighty Herk. In 2001, he joined the air education 
and training command as an instructor pilot. Major Ausborn spent 9 
years of that command transitioning through the T-37, the T-6, and T-1 
aircraft at Laughlin and Randolph Air Force Bases.
  In November of 2010, Major Ausborn joined the NATO Air Training 
Command in Afghanistan as a C-27 evaluator pilot and the chief of 
current operations with the 538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron. 
His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service 
Medal, and the Aerial Achievement Medal.
  Major Ausborn is survived by his wife, Suzanna; daughters, Emily and 
Shelby; son, Eric; and stepchildren, Summer and Mitchell.
  Our hearts and prayers go out to that family, for their loved one who 
gave the ultimate sacrifice. It is with that tonight that we remember 
Major Jeffrey O. Ausborn.
  I yield to my colleague from Wisconsin.
  Mr. DUFFY. I'm grateful for the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  You know, we were on a trip together, a bipartisan trip to 
Afghanistan, and as we were able to tour the country and meet with our 
military leaders, our CIA and our State Department, it was for me an 
interesting trip in that you see that support of our young men and 
women who are overseas fighting for their country does not have 
political boundaries. Our group on this trip came together and 
unanimously were supportive of the men and women who we have sent to 
defend this country, and I think it was quite remarkable to see this 
team come together.
  Before I talk further, I would like to yield to the gentleman from 
Louisiana.
  Mr. RICHMOND. I thank Congressman Duffy for yielding, and I know that 
your constituent and the person from Wisconsin was someone that you 
wanted to talk about and you had the privilege of performing the ramp 
act. I wanted to give you chance to switch podiums so that you can go 
down now that we have the pictures presented, but I also wanted to take 
a minute to say what a ramp act is.
  And it's a ceremony performed in the country of the soldier's death. 
It's not a funeral but it's a memorial, and it's good-bye to a fallen 
soldier on their return home. So this solemn ceremony, it may have 
words by a chaplain or commanding officer, but it's just a very, very 
surreal experience in the fact that all of the troops are out there, 
and we had a chance to participate in that, to watch one of our fallen 
soldiers get put back on a plane to be sent home to his parents and the 
family that he left behind. So that is our farewell for them, and I 
will tell you that the ceremony is performed for all coalition forces, 
not just the U.S. military.
  So it was that ceremony that we had a chance to participate in, and 
it was one that was very humbling, something I will never forget.
  With that, I will yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin, Congressman 
Duffy, to talk about his constituent who we had the privilege of 
watching and participating in that ramp act.
  Mr. DUFFY. I'm grateful to the gentleman from Louisiana for yielding.
  I do want to briefly talk about one of our Wisconsin heroes who last 
week was fighting for his country in the Wardak Province. It's Matthew 
Hermanson, who is pictured here in the lower left corner of our 
diagram. He is from Appleton, Wisconsin, and he is survived by his wife 
and his parents.
  He was, again, last week fighting for his country. He was part of the 
2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th 
Mountain Division, and the division's 4th Brigade is stationed in Fort 
Polk.
  In Wisconsin, we have like many States suffered losses recently, and 
our hearts go out to the family, the parents of Matt and to his wife, 
who at a time when many Americans are celebrating what has happened in 
Pakistan with Osama bin Laden, this family and other families are 
grieving the loss of their loved one. And here is a great Wisconsin 
hero, a great American hero who was fighting for his country who gave 
us the ultimate sacrifice in his pursuit for freedom. And I am grateful 
for all that he has given his State and his country, and we are proud 
of him.

                              {time}  1900

  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Congressman Duffy.
  And now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the gentleman from 
Connecticut, Congressman Chris Murphy, who was the senior Democrat on 
the trip who provided an awful lot of guidance as a senior Member of 
Congress in terms of what we were seeing and the effect of it also.
  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Thank you very much, Representative 
Richmond. It is kind of scary that I get senior status in my third 
term, but things move fast here in the United States House of 
Representatives.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana for bringing us together 
for this Special Order hour. I have been here now for 5 years. And when 
votes are done and you go back to your office to get some work together 
for the next day, we often flip on the TV, and we watch these Special 
Order hours as, frankly, millions of Americans do across the country. 
What you see every night essentially starts to look the same. You see 
Republicans on one side having 1 hour, and Democrats on the other side 
having another hour. Too often that time is spent by both parties 
talking down the other side.
  This is unique, to have Members of both the Republican and Democratic 
side joining together in a testimony to something that binds us as 
Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, whatever we are 
in this Nation. We know how important it is to support our men and 
women abroad and then to memorialize them when they don't come home. 
And you know what, if you got any of us individually and asked what our 
perceptions were of our trip and of the future of the war in 
Afghanistan, you would probably get different stories. But you won't 
get different stories when it comes to the respect that we have every 
day for the men and women who fight for us and I think the new 
understanding you get of the threats that are posed to these brave 
soldiers when you spend a little bit of time in theater.
  Not only did we have the tragic honor of being part of a ramp 
ceremony and then a memorial service for the nine airmen and civilians 
that perished in the attack at the airport, but we got the chance a day 
later to walk the beat, essentially, with some of our Special Forces 
units in one of the western provinces of Afghanistan. And that's where 
you realize how dangerous this job is in a remote outpost with mud 
walls. A couple dozen of our bravest are trying to do their best to 
provide some security for Afghans in Herat province who had barely seen 
a coalition or American soldier before the last year, trying to cobble 
together the money that they had at their disposal to build some 
infrastructure projects to make the lives of the community members and 
the tribe members better.
  Whatever you think about the future course of this war, we have got 
our best and our brightest fighting for us over there. We have 1 
percent of Americans fighting for this country, protecting the other 99 
percent. And, unfortunately, there are more and more that aren't coming 
home.
  In Connecticut, as I got the chance to remark in a short speech 
before the

[[Page 6521]]

House of Representatives 2 weeks ago, we have taken an abnormally large 
number of casualties for a small State in the past 2 months. 
Unfortunately, one of the nine airmen that were killed in the attack at 
the Kabul International Airport was Raymond Estelle II. Major Estelle 
was born in Connecticut. Although he had moved away, he was a native of 
the Nutmeg State.
  His military career spanned two decades back to November 1991 with 
his enlistment in the U.S. Air Force. After completing basic military 
and technical training, Raymond served as an enlisted aerospace ground 
equipment technician, rising to the rank of senior airman before 
earning his commission through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at 
the University of New Mexico in 1998.
  Major Estelle was most recently assigned as the communications 
adviser to the Afghan Air Force with the 838th Air Expeditionary 
Advisory Group. It was in that capacity that he was serving in 
Afghanistan. It was in that capacity that he had befriended the Afghan 
airman who eventually turned his weapon on nine Americans.
  Major Estelle's awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious 
Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf 
cluster, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Air Force 
Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster.
  He is survived by his wife, Captain N'Keiba Estelle, his daughters 
Chanelle and Shayla, his son Raymond III, and his mother Regina.
  As we sat there listening to the final roll call of that unit with 
nine of its members missing, we read through the biographies of the 
nine that were killed. We noted that almost all of them had children, 
young children, three, four, five kids. And as Representative Duffy so 
aptly said, as many Americans are celebrating in the street the heroic 
achievement of our Special Forces in taking down one of the most evil 
people ever to walk this Earth, there are other families that are 
grieving today for those who put their lives on the line to protect the 
other 99 percent of us. And for my constituent Raymond Estelle, we 
grieve in Connecticut today.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Congressman Murphy. I think that you brought 
up a very good point, which was the observation of the sacrifice and 
the fact that as we looked at all of the boots and the helmets of the 
nine troops during that boot ceremony, the fact that it crossed all 
lines. It crossed partisan lines. It crossed racial lines. It crossed 
geographic lines, and it certainly crossed different income levels.
  So I just wanted to reiterate that the reason why we are here today 
with such a bipartisan and diverse group showing our appreciation is 
because that was one of the things that was so noticeable when we 
participated in that ceremony, the fact that it was a very diverse 
group.
  But there was one consistent and one overwhelming issue, one 
overwhelming purpose, and that was to make sure that the United States 
of America stays the best country on Earth and to make sure that this 
next generation, we leave them and we give them the opportunity to 
succeed and the opportunity to live in peace.
  I will just quickly read, and it was one night while we were meeting 
in Batumi, and we were having a deep conversation about the sacrifice 
that our children are making, the sacrifice that the troops were 
making. And there was a parliamentarian from Batumi who used the John 
Quincy Adams quote, and it was the sentiment of everyone. So I just 
thought that I would point out that quote and read it to everybody. Mr. 
Speaker, it is so on point that I thought people needed to hear it: ``I 
must study politics and war, that my sons may have the liberty to study 
mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval 
architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give 
their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, 
statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.'' That is John Quincy Adams.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just again reiterate the fact that it seems like 
we have been fighting forever to make sure that we give those next 
generations the freedom and that they don't have to concentrate on war 
so much and that they don't have to ship their children off to war and 
we don't have to welcome our troops back home in caskets. That is the 
sacrifice we are making, and we hope that we make that sacrifice so 
that the next generations can study the arts and the culture and all of 
those things.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the leader of that congressional 
delegation, Bill Shuster.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman, and I appreciate the gentleman 
talking about the meeting with other parliamentarians in some of the 
other countries that we visited, from the Czech Republic to Azerbaijan 
to Georgia. And one of the things all three of those countries have in 
common is they are really great allies of the United States of America. 
All of those countries contribute forces not only to Afghanistan but to 
Iraq.
  Currently, they either have troops there or have troops just 
returning. And you look at a country like Azerbaijan, which lies in a 
rough neighborhood between Iran to the south and Russia to the north; 
Georgia sits on the Russian border and has had problems with Russia; 
but when those countries send their troops to fight shoulder to 
shoulder with the Americans, they have no caveats, which means that 
their troops are allowed to do whatever the Americans, whatever the 
NATO forces need them to do, whether it's combat, whether it's Special 
Forces, whether it's supporting the NATO troops and the American troops 
in some other way. So it's really important that we, as Americans, know 
these countries and support what they do for us.
  When people think and they hear that Georgia was to provide 900 
troops to the effort in Afghanistan just recently, a lot of people 
would say, Well, that's not a very big force. But when you look that 
it's a country of about 4.5 million people, that would be the 
equivalent of the United States contributing 80,000 to 90,000 troops to 
the effort. So it's really a big contribution, and we owe a debt of 
gratitude to those countries that do that around the world.

                              {time}  1910

  As my colleagues have been talking about, we're honoring those nine 
that were killed last week in Afghanistan. And of the nine, as I said 
earlier, eight were in the U.S. Air Force, but one was a civilian, a 
contractor. That person was Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) James McLaughlin, 
or as he was commonly known as ``Jimmy Mac,'' was one of the nine.
  James Aloysius McLaughlin, Jr. was born on June 16, 1955. He 
graduated from Drexel University with a bachelor of science degree and 
earned a master's degree in business administration from the University 
of Phoenix. Jim retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in 
2007 after service in Iraq.
  His civilian career included program manager, product marketing 
manager, and applications engineer manager with LEMO USA. Jim's most 
recent service was as a contractor with L3 Communications, MPRI 
Division, supporting the NATO Training Command mission in Kabul, 
Afghanistan. During that time, he was a senior mentor to both the 
Ministry of Defense and the Afghan Air Force. Jim held military and 
civilian ratings in both rotary and fixed wing aircraft. One of his 
passions was his ham radio, and he held a current amateur radio 
license. He had a network of fellow ham radio operators throughout the 
United States and the world.
  James McLaughlin is survived by his wife, Sandra, and their three 
children, Adam, Eve and James, all of Santa Rosa, California.
  All Americans should keep their families in our thoughts and our 
prayers and we give, again, a thank you not only to James McLaughlin 
for giving the ultimate sacrifice, but for his family that had to 
suffer this great, great loss.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Congressman Shuster.
  With that, I will yield to Congressman Chris Murphy so that he can

[[Page 6522]]

again pay tribute to another one of our fallen American heroes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Thank you, Representative Richmond. I know 
we're joined on the floor by a few of our other colleagues here. I 
would just underscore the remarks of Representative Shuster. Although 
Americans clearly are carrying the burden of operations in Afghanistan, 
we do have partners there. And many of our partners increased their 
commitment to Afghanistan, as the United States did. Others have walked 
away and drawn down their commitment. But we are fortunate that we are 
not fighting this fight alone there, and that we do have partners. And 
I think it's important for us to remind Americans of that, but also 
remind many of our allies that this fight is an international fight 
because, though the most high-profile of terrorist attacks in this 
world were those on New York and Washington, D.C., and the fields of 
Pennsylvania, the next terrorist attack could be anywhere in this 
world. And our ability to push al Qaeda to the brink of extinction is a 
global effort, not just an American effort.
  In addition to those that we've noted already, there was another 
airman who we memorialized that day, and I would like to just for a 
brief moment of time talk about Major Charles A. Ransom. Major Ransom 
was born in 1979. He attended the Virginia Military Institute, and he 
earned a baccalaureate of science in computer science. And he received 
his ROTC commission in the United States Air Force as a second 
lieutenant on the 18th of May, 2001. It was in that year that he 
deployed for the first time in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 
Then in 2006 he deployed again in Turkey in support of Operations 
Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Fundamental Justice. And then in 
2009 he deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. Finally, in 2011 he deployed for the last time to Afghanistan 
in Operation Enduring Freedom.
  He is survived by his mother and father, SGM (Ret.) Willie and 
Marysue Ransom, and his brother, Chief Petty Officer Stephen Randolph.
  From those that talked about Major Ransom, they talked about what a 
tremendously important figure he was in our operations in Afghanistan. 
But his story and his background are not uncommon in two ways.
  First, Major Ransom comes from a military family. Both his brother 
and his father have served and are retired from the armed services. And 
that's how it goes. This becomes a family occupation, a family passion. 
There are millions of families around this country who have the kind of 
commitment that the Ransom family did. And while we pay our respects to 
those individuals who served, we, frankly, have to remember that this 
is not just an individual commitment. This is not just an individual 
sacrifice; this is a family sacrifice, that the whole family serves, 
whether they are serving through brothers and sister and fathers and 
mothers who have been members of the military, or whether they simply 
serve by picking up and doing a little bit more for their family while 
their loved one is away.
  But he's also not unique in the fact that this was his fourth 
deployment. When we talk about the heroes from previous wars, they are 
no less heroes because they only served one or two tours. But there is 
something unique about the last 10 years in that there are more and 
more people like Major Ransom who have gone back, not just for a second 
time, not just for a third time, but in Major Ransom's case, for a 
fourth time.
  He did it, and I can't speak for the reasons why he did it. But I 
imagine he did it because he knew of the importance of the work that he 
was doing. He knew that he didn't want to leave his men and women 
behind to do it on their own.
  And unfortunately, Representative Richmond, Major Ransom didn't come 
back from his fourth deployment. But we owe him and his family, 
frankly, a degree of gratitude beyond words for their service and their 
sacrifice as an entire family.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Congressman Murphy. I yield to the gentleman 
from Wisconsin.
  Mr. DUFFY. I appreciate the gentleman from Louisiana for yielding. 
And I would echo the sentiment as stated by the gentleman from 
Connecticut. I think he's right. You look at the families and how they 
suffer when they lose one of their sons or daughters or fathers or 
mothers. It truly is felt. I think it was well said.
  Just quickly, as we were on this trip, we had a chance not just to go 
to Afghanistan, but this bipartisan delegation had a chance to go see 
many of our great allies in the conflict in Afghanistan. We stopped 
over in Georgia and Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic. What I thought 
was so unique as I went to those countries was their unabashed support 
for American principles, not just American principles, human principles 
of freedom and liberty and prosperity.
  And when we look around the world and people talk about America, 
oftentimes they pay us great lip service. They tell us they're our 
friend and they're supportive of what we're doing in the world. But 
oftentimes their actions don't meet their words. But you look at these 
three countries that we visited. They just don't express by word their 
support for what we do here in America, but they show their support. 
And they've shown that support most definitely by way of sending their 
troops to Afghanistan to fight for the freedom of those Afghanis who 
want to see some form of democracy in their country.
  Again, while we were in Afghanistan, we participated in a memorial 
ceremony for the nine Americans who were shot at the airport and were 
killed. I want to remember tonight Major Philip Ambard, one of those 
who lost his life last week in that attack. He was born in Caracas, 
Venezuela, on the 4th of April, 1967. He lived in Venezuela until he 
was 12 years old, at which time he moved to America, and he was then 
living in Edmonds, Washington.
  Now, he started his military career in 1985. He enlisted in the 
United States Air Force. With a stellar enlisted career, he rose to the 
rank of master sergeant. From there he attended night school, all the 
while raising a young family, and he obtained his bachelor's degree.

                              {time}  1920

  He was then selected to go to Officer Training School in 2000. He was 
given his most recent assignment as a foreign language professor at the 
Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He taught both Spanish and 
French.
  As we've discussed here, the loss of one of our military men or women 
is felt throughout the family. Major Ambard was survived not only by 
his wife, Linda, but by his five children--Alexander, Timothy, Joshua, 
Patrick, and his daughter, Emily; by his mother and father; and by his 
sister, Diana.
  I know, as they go into this week and into the coming months and 
years, they will mourn the loss of their father, their son, their 
brother, their husband. I just want Major Ambard's family to know that 
we are grateful for his service, that we are grateful for the sacrifice 
he made for his country, and that we are grateful to them for the 
sacrifice they are making, for they don't have their loved one at home 
with them tonight, sharing a meal, and they're not going to have 
Christmases and birthday parties together. That, most definitely, is a 
sacrifice they will feel for a lifetime. I am grateful for what he has 
done in paying the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Congressman Duffy.
  With that, I would like to yield to the gentleman from New Jersey, 
another Member who took the time over the Easter break to go to 
Afghanistan to visit with our troops. He was certainly a rock star when 
he appeared on the base and stopped to sign a bunch of autographs. Of 
course, he was the only one who was asked for an autograph.
  Mr. RUNYAN. I would like to thank the gentleman and also all of my 
colleagues for a great trip, for a really great factfinding trip. It 
was an opportunity to go over there in a bipartisan nature and to 
really learn about what our troops go through on a daily basis

[[Page 6523]]

and about what they're doing for the Afghani people.
  In the same light, it was also an opportunity to learn about some 
other allied nations we have because, when you boil all of this down, 
whether it's the Czechs, the Jordanians, the Afghans or the Azerbaijani 
people, we're all fighting for the same thing. We're all fighting for 
democracy, and we're all fighting for freedom. So it was truly an honor 
to go over there and to learn firsthand about everything that's going 
on there. It was an opportunity to really go out and see what our guys 
go through on a daily basis.
  Being put in a camp there in western Afghanistan and seeing the 
relationships and the support they're building with the Afghan people 
was tremendous. Building those friendships really allows our troops and 
all of our allied troops to go in there, to make friends with them and 
to help them defend their own country. No matter where we went on this 
trip, there was a sense of pride that everybody had in themselves, in 
their country and in their warfighters: that we were all out there, 
fighting for democracy and freedom.
  When you talked to the troops, you could really see it in their eyes 
even when they asked the question: What is the end? When is the end? 
You looked at them and said, Well, the end is to give these people the 
opportunities that we have. The scary thing about it is a lot of the 
Afghani people don't understand what it is to live in a democracy, what 
it is to have freedom.
  You could always see the twinkle in our troops' eyes when you said 
that to them because you could sense that some of them were thinking, 
Well, when is this going to be over? Then you just refresh their memory 
on what they're fighting for. They're fighting for our freedom. They're 
fighting for the freedom of other human beings. It was truly an honor 
to go over there and witness that and experience that and really just 
say ``thanks'' to all of them.
  As my colleague said, I had somewhat of a rock star mentality over 
there. Everyone asked me, Can I get a picture? I can't give you enough 
time in the world for what you're doing for us and for what you're 
doing for other people around the world with the sacrifices you're 
making, and I say that on a day-in and day-out basis with every troop I 
ever meet with.
  You go off into the villages, and you see a group of guys who are 
living together in a camp out there. That's all they have. They're 
brothers. You could see them all, and they were having beard growing 
contests throughout the camp. Some of them participated and some of 
them didn't, but they were taking a lot of pride in that type of stuff, 
and were just keeping that morale going. It was great to see because 
you knew what type of desperate situation they were in.
  I think when we all got to that boot ceremony there at the end--and 
many of you have seen it before where there's the boots with the M16s 
stuck in the middle, with the dog tags wrapped around the weapon, and 
the helmet on top--it was a somber reminder of the cost of freedom and 
of the cost of democracy. I really want to, along with my colleagues, 
say ``thank you'' to everybody.
  The one gentleman I do want to recognize is Major David L. Brodeur, 
whose call sign was actually ``Klepto.'' Throughout the ceremony, they 
would call the guys by their call signs; and when they went through the 
roll call and they kept calling these guys' names, the silence was 
deafening because they kept calling his name, and there was no one 
answering as they went through the whole company. I know quite a few of 
us were really brought to tears in that moment.
  Major Brodeur was born on December 10, 1976. He was commissioned 
through the United States Air Force Academy in 1999 where he majored in 
political science.
  After graduating pilot training in 2001, he was qualified as an F-16 
pilot. He was then assigned to Shaw Air Force Base where he served as 
the Assistant Weapons Officer in his squadron. He next served at Luke 
Air Force Base as scheduler, flight commander and weapons instructor 
pilot. At his next assignment to Eielson Air Force Base, he was the 
Chief of Scheduling, an F-16 Aggressor Pilot, and the Chief of 
Aggressor Academics. Upon his deployment, he was assigned as Executive 
Officer to the 11th Air Force Commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base.
  Major Brodeur deployed and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was 
deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as an Air Adviser to 
the Afghan Air Corps Command Center.
  He is survived by his wife, Susan, by his son, David, Jr.--aged 3--
and by his daughter, Elizabeth.
  It is truly guys like him who make the difference, who are a big 
reason why people like myself, I really think, get involved in 
supporting these heroes and in making sure they're known. Yes, we've 
suffered a loss here, but the true people who have suffered the 
ultimate loss are his family. His children aren't going to have a 
father. Myself being a father of three, I realize that. I respect that. 
May God bless his soul, and may God bless his family. We thank him for 
his service.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Congressman Runyan.
  I will now yield to the CODEL leader, Congressman Bill Shuster.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for securing this 
hour for us to be able to talk about our experience in Afghanistan and, 
most importantly, for us to be able to talk about and honor the nine 
people who were killed in Afghanistan last week. As I mentioned 
earlier, it was the largest loss of life in the U.S. Air Force since 
the Khobar Towers.

                              {time}  1930

  As my colleague, Mr. Runyan, talked about the somber and powerful 
experience that we had there at this memorial service, at the ceremony, 
it was really something to be there. We got there at the last minute, 
and I think we all were very, very grateful to be able to participate 
in the ceremony.
  Again, nine people were slain. We have already talked about the one 
that was not a military person but a contractor. He served in the 
military, but then came back to serve in Afghanistan as a contractor 
and tried to help develop and train the Afghan Air Force.
  Another one of those members that gave the ultimate sacrifice is 
Lieutenant Colonel Frank D. Bryant, Jr. Lieutenant Bryant was born on 
August 13, 1973, from Knoxville, Tennessee.
  His military career began when he entered the U.S. Air Force Academy 
in the summer of 1991. After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy 
in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in general engineering, Lieutenant 
Bryant was assigned at the Columbus Air Force Base initially as a 
student pilot and then as a T-37 instructor pilot. Lieutenant Colonel 
Bryant's next aircraft was an F-16.
  In the F-16, he completed tours in Korea, Shaw Air Force Base, an 
exchange pilot with the UAE, and Luke Air Force Base. His last 
assignment was a CJCS Afghanistan-Pakistan Hand assigned to the 438th 
Air Expeditionary Wing in Kabul, Afghanistan.
  During his career, Lieutenant Bryant earned the Bronze Star, the 
Purple Heart, Air Force Combat Action Medal, Defense Meritorious 
Service Medal, Air Medal with one oakleaf cluster, Air Force 
Commendation Medal with one oakleaf cluster, Air Force Achievement 
Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Air Force Outstanding Unit with 
Valor Device and two oakleaf clusters, Combat Readiness Medal, National 
Defense Medal, Global War of Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War 
on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Afghan 
Campaign Medal, NATO Medal, Air Force Overseas Ribbon, Air Force 
Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border with one oakleaf cluster, 
and the Air Force Longevity Service with three oakleaf clusters, and, 
finally, the Air Force Training Ribbon. Somebody who served long and, 
obviously by all those medals, did a fabulous job serving the United 
States of America.
  Lieutenant Bryant is survived by his wife, Janice; his son, Sean; his 
father, Frank D. Bryant, Sr.; and his mother, Patricia Bryant. We owe a 
deep debt of gratitude to his family and also to

[[Page 6524]]

Colonel Bryant, for their service to this country, and of course for 
the ultimate sacrifice that Colonel Bryant gave for his Nation. I would 
encourage all Americans to remember Colonel Bryant and his family in 
their thoughts and their prayers.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Congressman Shuster.
  I have the privilege to call upon another one of our colleagues who 
participated in the congressional delegation who has not had an 
opportunity to talk about one of our fallen soldiers, but I will tell 
you something about this Member of Congress. He, himself, has put his 
life on the line and served in our U.S. Air Force, and that is none 
other than Captain Adam Kinzinger.
  Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana, and 
I thank him for setting this up.
  One of the great things about when you talk about, just, in general, 
America and what we stand for, there is a lot of disagreement. But when 
it comes to supporting our troops, when it comes to what America stands 
for, there is no disagreement.
  The gentleman from Louisiana and I have become great friends, and on 
this mission we got to really see what America stands for. And even 
though there are differences sometimes in where we should see foreign 
policy, and that is understandable and that is fine, there is no 
difference right now in supporting troops and supporting those who put 
their lives on the line.
  As a military pilot, I never would expect to be in a situation where 
myself and scores of my brothers and sisters would be killed by a mad 
gunman walking into a room. That is something that I am sure these 
brave heroes that we are talking about never expected. But it happened. 
It was tragic. But they stood up and fought for their country, and in 
the process they lost their lives.
  One of those brave heroes who lost his life is a fellow Illinoisan, 
Captain Nathan Nylander. Captain Nathan Nylander was born outside of 
Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Illinois and Texas.
  His military career began in August of 1994, with his enlistment in 
the United States Air Force. After completing basic military training 
and follow-on technical training in Texas, Florida, and Mississippi, he 
served as an enlisted weather forecaster, rising to the rank of 
technical sergeant.
  His enlisted assignments include weather forecaster at Luke Air Force 
Base, Arizona, and Seoul, Republic of South Korea, and culminated as 
the Presidential Weather Forecaster at Camp David, Maryland.
  In 2006, Captain Nylander did what few do: He earned his commission 
through Officer Training School, and ended as a distinguished graduate.
  As a weather officer, Captain Nylander held positions as a weather 
flight commander at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, and 
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. Captain Nylander was most 
recently assigned as the lead weather adviser for the Afghan Air Force 
with the 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group.
  His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, 
Air Force Commendation Medal with three oakleaf clusters, Joint Service 
Achievement Medal, and Air Force Achievement Medal.
  He is survived by his wife, two sons, daughter, and his father and 
mother.
  These brave heroes are an example of what is best about our country. 
And while we mourn their loss, we celebrate the freedom that they 
passed defending.
  So I would say over the next couple of years as we go forward and we 
debate really big issues here in Washington and we have disagreement, 
never forget that we are all Americans. That is the most important 
thing.
  So to the nine heroes, and to those who gave their lives already, to 
those who continue to serve every day, let me just humbly say, on 
behalf of everybody in the United States Congress, on behalf of 
Americans, on behalf of a Republican and a Democrat standing here in 
the Chamber united on this: Thank you. Thank you for defending your 
country. Thank you for being an example for generations to come. We 
mourn for your loss, but now we celebrate the freedom that you 
defended.
  Mr. RICHMOND. We have one or two more fallen heroes that we want to 
honor, and I want to make sure that people understand that this is just 
a short ceremony, but from the heart, for the 10 people that we had a 
chance to participate in their ceremony, and for Private First Class 
Jonathan Villanueva who was killed at the same time as Staff Sergeant 
Matthew Hermanson.
  But I wanted to take a minute to talk about Master Sergeant Tara 
Brown.
  She was born July 21, 1977. She began her military career in 1997, at 
the Kadena Air Force Base in Japan as an administrative clerk, quickly 
mastering her skills in communications and embracing a love of travel 
and adventure.
  Master Sergeant Brown completed assignments to Germany, Turkey, 
Alaska, and Korea before taking charge in numerous high-level 
communications positions at Andrews Air Force Base right down the 
street.
  Master Sergeant Brown's awards include the Bronze Star posthumously, 
Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with 
three oakleaf clusters, and the Air Force Achievement Medal with three 
oakleaf clusters.
  She is survived by her husband, Ernest Brown; father, Jim Jacobs; 
mother, Gladys Verren; brother, Jim Jacobs, Jr.; and sister, Laguanda 
Jacobs.

                              {time}  1940

  Mr. Speaker, I will tell you that during this service, and when they 
talked about Master Sergeant Brown, they talked about her smile, they 
talked about her status as a newlywed, but, more than anything, they 
just talked about her love of service and the fact that she was willing 
to give it all.
  So I wanted to make sure that as we continued we included Master 
Sergeant Tara Brown in our ceremony today, just to make sure that we 
don't forget any of our troops, that we had the privilege and the 
opportunity to participate in their service and on their day.
  Mr. Speaker, I think that all of my colleagues, and I don't see them 
now, but I think all of my colleagues have exhausted their time in 
making sure that they honor all of our fallen soldiers. This was just 
one thing that we thought we wanted to do to show the country that 
although we disagree on 20 or 30 percent of things in this body, and 
those 20 or 30 percent may be very gut-wrenching and they may be very 
divisive and we may differ on how we cut programs, but every difference 
in principle is not necessarily a difference in purpose and a 
difference in our ultimate goal, and that is to make sure that this 
country continues to be the best country on Earth.
  So we as just a small part of this august body, and one that we are 
honored to be a part of, we are honored to serve with so many senior 
Members who have taken us under their wing to make sure they nurture 
us. Mr. Speaker, we can't thank you enough for that and we can't thank 
Congress and the American people enough for giving us the opportunity 
to go over to the conflict, to watch Afghans as they start to patrol 
their own area.
  I will tell you, I am not sure if Congressman Shuster touched on it, 
but we had an opportunity to patrol with a group of Afghans and their 
elders. One of the elders that was over there was a very elderly man 
who was the commander of this police unit, and they were protecting the 
entrance into this city and they had their checkpoint.
  While walking to the checkpoint, we saw a young man holding arms and 
protecting us as we walked, and we stopped to talk to him. Then they 
pointed out to us he lost his father and brother in a firefight just a 
week and a half ago while they were out patrolling. Then as we talked 
to him just for a few minutes longer, he talked to us about the vision 
of freedom, and he was all excited and his eyes were open very wide as 
he talked about why he was still patrolling after his father and his 
brother's funeral, which was the fact that he had a love for his 
country, for Afghanistan, but also because he felt

[[Page 6525]]

an obligation because we had so many troops out there fighting and 
dying that we were joined at the hip, because this was a very important 
goal. And it is not just to bring freedom to us; it is to bring freedom 
to people all across this world.
  Then as he was telling us that, he told us that just a couple of days 
before we got there that his daughter drowned in a creek in their 
little village. So we are talking about a very young man who had 
tragedy three times in his life who was still out there with his 
machine gun in the desert, in the heat, patrolling to make sure that 
this congressional delegation was safe, but also taking the time, and 
we watched him talk to school kids and other things.
  But that is what makes this country great. And the thing that united 
us all was the fact that what makes this country great, we are 
inspiring other people so that they want to make their country and 
their town and their village great, just like America.
  So you have people all across this world, and we can talk 
particularly about Afghanistan, because that is where we saw it, that 
were going above and beyond, because they appreciated our effort to 
help them, and they were committed to helping themselves, and they said 
we are in it with you, and we are going to sacrifice our life and our 
limbs, just as those brave men and women in the United States are 
doing.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for allowing us to have this time to 
talk about the people we lost, and I will just end with reading their 
names, because I think that we can't give them enough, because they 
made and paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can have the freedom 
that we enjoy and others could have it. And they are: Lieutenant 
Colonel Frank D. Bryant, Jr.; Major David L. Brodeur; Major Philip D. 
Ambard; Major Raymond Estelle; Major Jeffrey O. Ausborn, ``Oz,'' as 
they called him; Captain Charles A. Ransom; Captain Nathan J. Nylander; 
retired Lieutenant Colonel James A. McLaughlin; Technical Sergeant Tara 
R. Brown; Private First Class Jonathan Villanueva; and Staff Sergeant 
Matthew D. Hermanson.
  Mr. Speaker, thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Graves of Georgia). The Chair wants to 
thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Richmond) for this much-needed 
tribute. Thank you for recognizing those individuals, the defenders of 
liberty of this great Nation.

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