[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9490-9492]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         BIPARTISAN SPORTSMEN'S ACT OF 2014--MOTION TO PROCEED

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I now move to proceed to Calendar No. 384, 
S. 2363, the Hagan sportsmen's legislation.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 384, S. 2363, a bill to 
     protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, 
     fishing, and shooting, and for other purposes.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.


                                Schedule

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, following my remarks and those of the 
Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business 
until 1:45 p.m., with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes and 
the Republicans controlling the next 30 minutes.
  At 1:45 p.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session for at 
least one rollcall vote. First, there will be a vote on the 
confirmation of Sylvia Burwell to be Secretary of Health and Human 
Services and then a vote on the confirmation of Carolyn Hessler Radelet 
to be Director of the Peace Corps. We hope to confirm the Radelet 
nomination by voice vote.


                Measure Placed on the Calendar--S. 2432

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand S. 2432 is at the desk and due 
for a second reading.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will read the bill by 
title for the second time.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2432) to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 
     to provide for the refinancing of certain Federal student 
     loans, and for other purposes.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I would object to any further proceedings 
with respect to the legislation at this time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard. The bill will 
be placed on the calendar.


                          Invasion of Normandy

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am aware of the remarks I am about to make 
in recognition of the Presiding Officer who has, prior to coming to 
this body, led hundreds of troops into Iraq during some of the most 
difficult combat that any soldiers faced during that conflict.
  When I first came to the Senate, we had many combat veterans, but 
that has changed over the years, quite remarkably.
  We all look to Senator McCain as someone who certainly understands 
what it means to be in a conflict in war, but things have changed since 
we lost Medal of Honor winners: Dan Inouye on his passing; Bob Kerrey 
as a result of his retiring; Fritz Hollings, a Silver Star winner, 
combat veteran of World War II; Ted Stevens flying airplanes into the 
Far East, a dedicated heroic pilot; and many other people, so there 
aren't many left anymore.
  That is why I focus attention on the Presiding Officer today, because 
he is representative of the best of people who fight for freedom.
  On June 6, 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt began his national 
radio address in a very unusual way, one not entirely common then or 
now, because the Commander in Chief, the President of the United 
States, asked the American people to join him in prayer. Why did he do 
that? His prayer was not for himself but for the 156,000 allied 
soldiers who, as he spoke, were fighting their way onto the beaches of 
Normandy.
  As he implored the American people on behalf of those soldiers, he 
said:

       They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest 
     until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise 
     and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violence of 
     war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. 
     They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end 
     conquest. They fight to liberate.

  That was part of his request, that the American people pray for these 
valiant soldiers. Of course, while this battle for Europe was going on 
throughout the South Pacific, people were dying as he spoke. Virtually 
all of the troops who stormed the beaches of France that day were not 
professional soldiers. They were schoolteachers, farmers, ranchers, 
mechanics, and clerks. These fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers were 
pulled away from their peaceful lives and instead were sent to liberate 
an entire continent. They fought courageously for liberty. They hurtled 
themselves into the line of fire to defeat tyranny.
  We can probably all look back at people who fought in World War II. 
They were our relatives, our neighbors, and I mentioned a few whom I 
served with in the Senate.
  From the little town I come from in Nevada, Searchlight, there was a 
man there named Junior Cree. His name was Junior Cree. That was his 
given name. I grew up there as a little boy.
  He had a service station, a little bar, and did a number of different 
things. He was an entrepreneur, as was his dad.
  Many years after I was no longer a little boy, he came to my home in 
Searchlight and wanted to see my new home. Junior and I sat and talked 
with

[[Page 9491]]

his daughter Sandy. I had asked him: Junior, what did you do in the 
invasion of Normandy? He proceeded to tell me. Yet at this time he was 
an 80-year-old man.
  He told me he had fought in the North African conflict first. He was 
in the infantry. He was not in the first wave to go onto the beaches, 
but he was in one of the first, in one of the amphibious vehicles. 
There were about 35 or 40 people on one of those.
  His job--he had his rifle of course but his job was to carry signs--
he was a big man--into the water onto the beaches, and he had 
instructions on what to do with the signs, to designate who they were 
and what they were supposed to do. The water was much deeper than 
anyone said. Well, this man, who was well over 6 foot, went right to 
the bottom and nearly drowned because these signs were so heavy. He 
made it onto the beach and found security under a damaged half-track, I 
think he called it. He was shot in the rear end, and that ended his 
military adventures during World War II.
  These people were everyplace. Junior Cree was one of 156,000 people 
on those beaches. They were all heroes. They were all people just like 
Junior Cree. They fought courageously for liberty. As I have indicated, 
they hurtled themselves into the line of fire. Can you imagine going 
onto the beach with the machine gun fire coming down on top of you.
  Tomorrow is the 70th anniversary of D-day. On that day 156,000 heroic 
soldiers turned the tide against Adolf Hitler's savagery and unshackled 
the nations of Europe. This afternoon there are about 10 or 11 Senators 
who are going to go to that 70th anniversary which is being held on the 
beaches of Normandy. President Obama will be there, world leaders will 
be there, and I appreciate very much those Senators going and 
representing the Senate, as well as the Presiding Officer.
  Proof of these soldiers' bravery can be seen in faraway France today, 
every day, not just for the celebration that is going to take place 
recognizing the 70th anniversary of this conflict--every day--because 
there are massive graves there, all over Europe. These seemingly 
endless rows of white headstones testify to their valor. Crosses and 
Stars of David are reminders of the debt we owe to those who refused to 
balk in the face of the evil, and that was Hitler. Adolf Hitler's Nazis 
were evil.
  May we always honor their sacrifice and never forget the price they 
paid to protect, not only this Nation but the entire world.


                           Honoring Veterans

  One of the ways in which we honor soldiers in our democracy is to 
care for our veterans. As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of D-day, 
it is fitting that Members of this body are working on a bipartisan 
basis to ensure that American veterans get the help they need and 
deserve. In light of the disturbing reports of the practices of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and other facilities, chairman 
Bernie Sanders, of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, is leading 
the effort to craft a bill to improve care at VA hospitals.
  I applaud his efforts. I applaud the efforts of Senator McCain. As we 
speak, they are meeting to try to come up with some bipartisan solution 
to the problems of wait times at VA facilities. I am hopeful an 
agreement will be reached that guarantees American veterans are 
receiving the care we as a grateful nation have promised. It is the 
least we can do for these gallant men and women who have fought to 
protect our great country.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.


                           Normandy Invasion

  Mr. McCONNELL. Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the invasion of 
Normandy, a day known across the world as D-day.
  On this fateful day, which proved to be such a decisive turning point 
for the allied victory in Europe, thousands of allied forces were 
killed or wounded in the invasion. While we are sadly losing more and 
more members of the ``greatest generation'' with each passing year--
including the last of the original Navajo code talkers whom we lost 
just yesterday--the heroism of these brave Americans can never be 
forgotten.
  I have one constituent, Bob Williams from Boone County, KY, who 
jumped on D-day, jumped again 50 years later, and was on the front 
cover of Time magazine. I saw him earlier this year, and he says he is 
not going to jump again because his wife will not let him, but Bob 
Williams is still in good shape 70 years after the day he jumped into 
the night of D-day.
  Tomorrow I will be honored to commemorate the most important 
anniversary by meeting with a number of Kentucky heroes--veterans from 
World War II and the Korean war--who will be visiting the national 
monuments built here in the Nation's Capital to honor their service and 
sacrifice. They will be making a trip with the help of the Bluegrass 
Chapter of the Honor Flight Program, which has already brought more 
than 1,000 veterans--mostly from Kentucky--to Washington for this very 
purpose. The program provides transportation, lodging, and food for the 
veterans.
  Without Honor Flight, many would not be able to visit the World War 
II Memorial--a memorial erected to honor the sacrifice of the men and 
women who served on D-day and throughout that era.
  I have met with groups of Honor Flight veterans before, and it is 
always a moving experience. It is gratifying to see these heroes 
receive the recognition they deserve. Many of them never thought they 
would be able to make the trip, and for every veteran who does, I am 
sure they hold cherished memories of their fellow soldiers in arms who 
did not.
  I look forward to greeting them tomorrow and thanking them for their 
extraordinary service to our country. I am proud and honored that 
Kentucky is home to so many of these brave heroes.


                           BURWELL NOMINATION

  Today the Senate will vote on President Obama's newest choice to head 
the Department of Health and Human Services--in other words, the person 
he will be sticking with the impossible task of trying to make 
ObamaCare work.
  By most accounts Sylvia Burwell is a smart and skilled public 
servant, but her embrace of ObamaCare calls her policy judgment into 
question. When it comes to the task of implementing this ill-conceived 
and disastrous law, the President may as well have nominated Sisyphus 
because, as I indicated, Ms. Burwell is being asked to do the 
impossible.
  ObamaCare has already inflicted tremendous pain on the lives of 
countless middle-class Americans, including many thousands in my own 
State. It is increasing costs for families all across the country--
despite endless promises to the contrary. It has reduced access to the 
doctors and hospitals my constituents relied on--despite endless 
promises to the contrary. It has caused Kentuckians to lose the plans 
they liked and wanted to keep--despite endless promises to the 
contrary.
  A constituent of mine from Pulaksi County wrote to tell me that as a 
result of ObamaCare he lost his insurance and that he was ``floored'' 
when he saw the cost of the ObamaCare-approved plan to replace it. With 
a spike in his premium and a $6,300 deductible, he wrote to ask me how 
``[he] or any working man [could] afford the Affordable . . . Care 
Act.'' He makes an important point.
  Nearly every major ObamaCare promise from several years ago is a 
broken ObamaCare promise today. Even more recent promises from the 
administration can't be relied on either. In January the Secretary 
certified to Congress that she would verify that people were actually 
eligible for ObamaCare subsidies before they were sent out. In recent 
weeks we learned from media accounts and testimony that many of the 
systems needed to protect taxpayers against inaccurate or fraudulent 
payments still have not been built, tested, or used. Yesterday we 
learned that nearly one in four applications may have an inconsistency 
that could affect the accuracy of these payments from American 
taxpayers.

[[Page 9492]]

Any wasted tax dollar is a problem, but when you consider that many of 
these are dollars raised from tax increases or raided from Medicare to 
make payouts by mistake or through fraud, it is enough to make your 
head spin.
  This is just the kind of thing everyone warned about as Washington 
Democrats tried to ram this law through, and it will only get worse if 
we give up now and just accept the giant mess they have made of our 
health care. I mean, if they can't even get a Web site fixed after 
spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, how can they 
possibly regulate such a huge sector of our economy in any effective 
way?
  How can any administration official possibly repair all the broken 
ObamaCare promises? The question answers itself: They can't. The 
nominee before us can't. No one can. The problem is the law itself. 
ObamaCare is what prevents the successful implementation of ObamaCare. 
And Americans don't want it. They want real health reforms--reforms 
that can actually lower costs, increase choice, and help the middle 
class. So, in my view, the Senate shouldn't be focusing on a new 
captain for the Titanic; it should focus on steering away from the 
iceberg.
  As HHS Secretary, the nominee would oversee many important programs 
aimed at protecting public health, promoting medical research, and 
providing a safety net for seniors and working families, but she would 
also be the chief operating officer of ObamaCare implementation--a law 
that is doing incredible damage to middle-class families in our 
country. Her embrace of this disastrous law is reason enough to oppose 
her confirmation.
  I will be voting against this nominee because I think we need to 
focus on repealing and replacing this law, not trying to do the 
impossible by pretending we can make it work.


                       Honoring Our Armed Forces

                  Staff Sergeant Christopher T. Stout

  Mr. President, I rise to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of one 
brave soldier from Kentucky who died while serving this country. SSG 
Christopher T. Stout of Worthville, a chaplain's assistant, was killed 
on July 13, 2010, in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered 
when the enemy attacked his unit with rifles, rocket-propelled 
grenades, and small-arms fire. He was 34 years old.
  For his service in uniform, Sergeant Stout received several medals, 
awards, and decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple 
Heart, two Army Commendation Medals, the Army Achievement Medal, three 
Army Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, two 
Afghanistan Campaign Medals with Bronze Service Stars, the Global War 
on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas 
Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, and the Combat Action Badge.
  Staff Sergeant Stout's commanding officer, chaplain CPT Ludovic O. 
Foyou, said this of his fallen comrade:

       Staff Sergeant Christopher Stout was not just a chaplain 
     assistant; he was my friend, brother and shield of armor. His 
     immensely pure love for his fellow paratroopers epitomizes 
     the spirit of the Army Chaplain Corps. His love for his wife 
     Misty and three princesses, Jacqueline, Audreanna, and 
     Kristen, always kept a radiant smile on his face.

  Christopher's hometown pastor, the Reverend Raymond Sharon of 
Worthville United Pentecostal Church, added:

       [Chris] was just a fantastic good boy all the way around. 
     Faithful to church, faithful to his family, his wife.

  Chris was born on New Year's Day in 1976 in Louisville and graduated 
from Carroll County High School.
  His mother, Sharon Neuner, remembers Chris's childhood fondly:

       We had some hard times because I was a single parent . . . 
     but those things just brought us closer together. Our song 
     name was ``You and Me Against the World.'' I remember you 
     used to want name-brand things that we couldn't afford, so 
     you went to work in an elderly woman's flower garden. You 
     weeded, painted, and mowed lawns to get money for those name-
     brand things. In doing so, you learned that it isn't the 
     clothes or the shoes that make the man, but who you are as a 
     person that makes you a great man.

  Chris was an accomplished singer and often preached the gospel at 
Worthville United Pentecostal Church. He joined the Army in 1997 and 
originally served as a parachute rigger with the 782nd Main Support 
Battalion at Fort Bragg, NC. In September of 2006, at his request, he 
was reclassified as a chaplain's assistant. From 2007 to 2008, he 
deployed with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 82nd Airborne 
Division, until in 2009 he was reassigned to 1st Battalion, 508th 
Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne 
Division, based out of Fort Bragg. It was with this unit that Chris 
deployed to Afghanistan for what would be his final deployment.
  In late July 2010, shortly after he was killed, his family, friends, 
and those who wished to pay their respects gathered at the veterans 
memorial in General Butler State Park in Carrollton, KY, to remember 
Christopher Stout.
  Daughter Jacqueline Stout sang ``Amazing Grace'' in his honor to a 
crowd of nearly 500.
  Chaplain LTC David Graetz told the crowd that Chris lived by the 
chaplain's motto ``Pro Deo et Patria''--Latin for the phrase ``For God 
and Country.''
  The Reverend Raymond Sharon of Chris's hometown church also spoke. 
``He is a hero,'' Reverend Sharon said of Chris. ``He has set an 
example for all the young people here today. Nothing can stop you from 
accomplishing in life a great place in society, as Chris has done. 
Chris stood for the truth. He lived it. He talked it.''
  With that, the crowd stood at respectful attention for the firing of 
a three-volley salute by the American Legion Post No. 41, followed by a 
bugler playing ``Taps.'' Then the Carroll County judge-executive 
unveiled for Chris's family a brick to be placed in the veterans 
memorial to honor his sacrifice.
  His mother said:

       Thank you, Chris. You gave your all. I hope my mind stays 
     healthy so that I always have my memories of your smiling 
     blue eyes, your warm smile, those dimples and freckles, and 
     our time of you and me against the world. Those will have to 
     do me until we meet again at Heaven's gates.

  We are thinking of Chris's family today as I share his story with my 
colleagues, including his wife Misty, his daughters Jacqueline, 
Audreanna, and Kristen, his parents Sharon and Billy Neuner, and many 
other beloved family members and friends. I wish for them to know that 
this Senate is privileged to pay tribute to SSG Christopher T. Stout 
for his life of service in honor of the ideals of ``Pro Deo et 
Patria''--``For God and Country.'' We recognize his service, and we 
honor his ultimate sacrifice. He truly was a man of God who died 
defending our country. Kentucky is proud to call this good and faithful 
servant one of our own, and we mourn his loss.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.


                       Reservation of Leader Time

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
leadership time is reserved.

                          ____________________