[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18001-18002]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING VETERANS DAY AND PASSING LEGISLATION SUPPORTING OUR 
                          VETERANS AND TROOPS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, like many of my colleagues, I plan to 
commemorate Veterans Day with the people I am honored to represent here 
in the Senate. I will join Kentuckians at a ceremony in Shelbyville's 
Veterans Memorial Park. Hands will be put to heart as the ``Star 
Spangled Banner'' is played. Heads will bow in reverence as 106 names 
are read aloud, each a Kentuckian who made the ultimate sacrifice in 
the service of others, and each a reminder of our enduring debt to 
America's men and women in uniform.
  I am proud to represent the nearly 330,000 Kentuckians who have 
served in the Armed Forces. I am also proud to represent the many 
thousands of soldiers and their families who reside in or hail from our 
great Commonwealth, whether at Fort Knox, Fort Campbell, the Blue Grass 
Army Depot, or beyond.
  I recently had a chance to meet some of Kentucky's brave soldiers, 
sailors, airmen, and marines who currently serve in Afghanistan and 
Iraq. Sadly, a NATO helicopter had just crashed in Kabul, killing five 
people, including two American servicemembers. I was honored to take 
part in a prayer service led by a chaplain from Lexington, KY, and I 
note that the occupant of the Chair was with me at the time.
  What an incredibly humbling moment it was. The tragic crash is a 
stark reminder of the incredible danger our service men and women face 
every day, and a stark reminder of what all Americans owe them.
  Veterans should know that they have many champions fighting for them 
here in the Senate. One of them is Senator Isakson, the chair of the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee. Under his leadership, the committee has 
actively sought to do right by the men and women who never hesitate to 
do right by us. He has sent important legislation to the Senate floor 
that we have been able to pass on a bipartisan basis and that the 
President has signed into law.
  One law we passed would improve the Veterans Choice Program, for 
instance, while another, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American 
Veterans Act, would help reduce the tragedies that befall too many of 
our heroes and the heartbreak that befalls too many of their families.
  Important Veterans' Affairs Committee oversight has also been brought 
to bear on an agency that has lost the trust of many it serves; that 
is, the VA.
  Of course, there is much more to be done. Veterans deserve the very 
best, and the VA crisis will not be resolved easily or quickly, but 
working together, there is a lot we can do for the men and women who 
risk their all for their country.
  One way to do so is by passing the Veterans funding bill that is 
before us. It is a result of great work by another champion of 
veterans, Senator Kirk, chair of the Military Construction and Veterans 
Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee. Just like Senator Isakson's 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, the subcommittee led by the Senator from 
Illinois has done great work for veterans in sending important 
legislation such as this to the floor. We will pass one important 
measure today.
  Senator Kirk's bill would fund the health care and the benefits our 
veterans rely on. It would support military families by funding the 
housing, schools, and health facilities that sustain them. It would 
provide support for medical research, for women's health, and for 
veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury. And in Kentucky, it 
would provide funding for a special operations headquarters at Fort 
Campbell, for educational facilities at Fort Knox, and for design work 
for a new medical center in Louisville.
  Senator Kirk's bill would also fund reforms designed to help address 
the crisis we have seen at the VA. These reforms would allow for 
greater national and regional progress in reducing claims backlogs, and 
they would deploy important protections for whistleblowers as well.
  It is obvious why our veterans deserve this bill right now, so let's 
not wait a moment longer. Let's pass this important legislation later 
today. The men and women who have worn our uniform have had to wait 
long enough for it already.
  We will also turn to legislation today for the men and women who 
currently wear our uniform and have had to wait too long for it.
  When Senator McCain says that it is the first duty of the Federal 
Government to protect the Nation, he means it. He knows what it means 
to serve. He knows what it means to sacrifice. And in his role as chair 
of the Armed Services Committee, he worked hard to craft a bipartisan 
Defense authorization bill with input from both parties.

[[Page 18002]]

  It would transform bureaucratic waste into crucial investments for 
our troops and their families, like the raises they have earned and the 
quality of life programs they deserve.
  It would provide hope for wounded warriors and extend a hand of 
compassion to heroes who struggle with mental health challenges.
  It would also authorize a new medical facility at Fort Knox, an 
important project I have championed literally for years.
  And at a time when our country faces the most ``diverse and complex 
array of crises'' since the Second World War, as Henry Kissinger 
observed, Senator McCain's bill would help position our military to 
confront the challenges of tomorrow as it offers support to the men and 
women serving in harm's way today.
  The Defense authorization bill is legislation we typically consider 
every year. It is legislation that typically passes with broad 
bipartisan support. We expect that to finally happen again today. We 
expect the President to finally sign it this time.
  This should have been allowed to happen a whole lot sooner. We all 
know the unfortunate and unnecessary roadblocks the Defense 
authorization bill has faced this year. We all know the President 
decided to veto the version of the bill we passed last month. That veto 
is particularly unfortunate and puzzling, given the two chief concerns 
the President cited when he vetoed it. No. 1, he said he was concerned 
that the bill relied upon contingency funding to meet the Department's 
operational costs. No. 2, he said he was concerned that the bill again 
contained a clear, bipartisan prohibition on moving Guantanamo Bay 
terrorists into our local communities.
  But the bill really hasn't changed much since then, and the top line 
has now been settled by the bipartisan budget agreement. Either way, we 
look forward to the Senate passing this essentially unchanged 
legislation and the President's signing the bipartisan bill, along 
with--along with--its restrictions against bringing terrorists into the 
United States, into law.
  This bill will include restrictions on bringing terrorists into the 
United States, and he is going to sign it. That is the right thing for 
our men and women in uniform, and that is the right thing for our 
country.
  Before I leave the floor, I wish to underline a point I just 
referenced. This morning the Senate will pass two bills. It will pass a 
Veterans funding bill that supports Americans who have already served 
their country, and it will pass a Defense authorization bill that 
supports Americans who are currently serving. Each of these bills 
contains a clear, bipartisan prohibition on the President moving 
Guantanamo Bay terrorists into the backyards of the American people. 
Both of these bills include restrictions on moving terrorists into our 
country.
  The Senate has voted many times over the years to enact these 
bipartisan prohibitions. We have enacted them in Congresses with split 
party control. We have enacted them in Congresses with massive, 
overwhelming Democratic majorities. And, today, the Congress elected by 
the American people will express itself clearly one more time--not 
once, but twice--today.
  The President may not like this bipartisan action. It may conflict 
with a campaign slogan from 8 or 9 years ago. But here is how one 
Senator put it: ``Congress' job is to pass legislation. The President 
can veto it or he can sign it.'' That was then-Senator Obama as he was 
criticizing the idea of doing an ``end-run around Congress.''
  ``I believe in the Constitution,'' he said at the time--Senator 
Obama--``and I will obey the Constitution of the United States,'' said 
Senator Obama. Those were his words then. They should guide his actions 
now.

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