Wendell Ford

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye), is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye), is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, how am I recorded?

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, may we have order?

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, today I join Senator Bond, my fellow co- chairman of the National Guard Caucus, in introducing legislation to allow the Secretary of Defense to increase the number of National Guard and reserve generals on active duty. Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre brought it to our attention that under current law, guard and reserve general officers brought on active duty for more than 180 days count against the service's active duty ceilings specified in 10 U.S.C. 526. Our proposed legislation would exempt full-time active duty guard and reserve general officers from the limit in title 10. But we only allow the exemption so it does not exceed 3 percent of the current limit of 877 general officers. This legislation will encourage the military services to assign guard/reserve general officers to a wider variety of non-traditional assignments allowing these general officers to gain a greater depth of experience. The legislation will greatly enhance the total force idea, by providing a more seamless integration of the reserve and active component senior leadership. Senator Bond and I also believe this legislation will foster a greater appreciation by the active duty service leadership of the expertise available from the guard and reserve community. This legislation would eliminate the disincentive to expand guard and reserve general officers assignments by easing the one-for-one reserve component versus active component offset. There are currently 22 Guard and Reserve general officers on full time active duty. All but three of those officers are serving in assignment directly related to Guard and Reserve matters. This legislation would exempt up to 25 Guard and Reserve general officers from counting against active duty general officer end strength. Senator Bond and I would encourage the Senate Armed Services Committee to include this legislation in the fiscal year 1999 defense authorization bill. I ask unanimous consent that the bill and section-by-section be printed in the Record.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. We are attempting to get an answer on a question I have. I don't want to hold the Senate here any longer, but there is a possibility. Could we have a quorum call, if the Senator would like to leave, with a motion that when I get my answer we will go out, or something like that? I will be more than pleased to do that.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I wanted to let my Senate colleagues know of the retirement of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Wilson, III, a truly outstanding soldier in the United States Army. Colonel Wilson is most deserving of our attention. His career accomplishments reflect the type of military leader this nation was depended upon for two hundred years during peace and war. Colonel Wilson has distinguished himself throughout his 23-year career as a soldier and officer in the United States Army. A native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Charles began his service as a Military Police enlisted soldier in October 1969. As a young soldier, Charles's Battalion Commander recognized his special skills in leading and working with fellow soldiers. He received responsibility for key positions in his company, earning promotion quickly. Within his first year he was already selected for leadership responsibility within his military police platoon. Colonel Wilson only served as a military policeman for two years before he was honorably discharged in September 1971, to pursue his college degree, which included studies as a Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet. During this short period of duty, Charles had earned the rank of sergeant. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and the ROTC program as a distinguished military graduate, and he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry in May 1977. After graduation as an Infantry Lieutenant, he was assigned to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Again, Charles' inherent leadership skills were soon recognized. As a junior Second Lieutenant, his Brigade Commander selected him to command Bravo Company, 5th Battalion, 3rd Basic Training Brigade. Because of his mature and talented leadership and his competence, the Commanding General later designated Charles' company as the first at Fort Leonard Wood to integrate women trainees into the basic training program. His hard work and enthusiasm as a company commander ensured that his unit successfully accomplished the challenging task. Subsequent assignments found Lieutenant Colonel Wilson with increasing amounts of responsibility to include duties as a Company Commander with 197th Separate Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, Georgia; G3 for Operations and Plans, Schweinfurt Military Community, 3d Infantry Division, Germany; and Deputy Division Comptroller for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In September 1990, Charles deployed with the ``Screaming Eagles'' to Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was one of only five Combat Comptrollers in the desert. His expertise in resource management and contracting was invaluable. The Division's units and soldiers had the items they needed to go to war and the items they needed to maintain quality of life at Camp Eagle, Saudi Arabia. The Army reassigned Colonel Wilson in 1993 to the Pentagon to work in the Inspections Division of the Office of the Inspector General and later with the Army Budget Office as the ``point man'' for developing and validating the Army's cost of conducting contingency operations. His current and final assignment has been as the Deputy Chief of the Congressional Budget Liaison Office, Army Budget Office. Through his tireless effort and positive ``can do'' personality, Wilson ensured that soldiers were well represented on Capitol Hill. Speaking for Kentucky and the nation, I wish to thank this distinguished soldier, his wife Melissa, sons Jason, Andy and daughter Kathryne, and to wish him continued success in future endeavors.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. We are in a major markup in the Commerce Committee, and if there is any way you could stack a vote or two to let us come over and spend a few minutes and make several votes and then go back to the committee, I think it might be helpful, rather than having us run back and forth. There is hope we might be able to finish that markup, if not late tonight, tomorrow. I am not asking to change your schedule or your votes, just group them together sometime, if you could.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, will the majority leader yield for a question?

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I thank the Senator.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski) is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I send a resolution to the desk and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. FORD. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I thank the clerk for reading it. I apologize for imposing upon him, but I wanted that to be a part of the Record. Not many people will read the Record back home. I would like for them to see and hear it. On behalf of the fans and the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, it is a great pleasure for me to come to the Senate floor today to brag on a group of young men that refused to give up, a team that showed us all the best about teamwork, selflessness, and dedication--the 1998 NCAA National Champion University of Kentucky Wildcats. The University of Kentucky has a storied tradition of outstanding basketball teams; the ``Fabulous Five,'' the ``Fiddlin Five,'' ``Rupp's Runts,'' and more recently, ``The Unforgettables,'' to name just a few. But today, we have a new team to add to that list: ``The Comeback Cats.'' Faced with a 10-point half-time deficit, the Cats overcame that deficit and rallied to beat Utah, a team of outstanding athletes playing under a fine coach. And by doing so, they broke the all-time record for the largest half-time deficit overcome in the NCAA Title game. But this was not the first time the Wildcats had to make a rally in this tournament. Down to Duke by 17 in the Elite Eight and down by 10 points to Stanford in the National Semifinal, the Wildcats did what we've become accustomed to in Kentucky. They turned up the defense, they hit the offensive boards and they hit the ``threes'' when they counted. And they did it on a team that can best be described as a celestial body--a team with no individual stars. As Washington Post sportswriter Michael Wilbon noted this morning, ``This is one of the few Kentucky basketball teams that is completely without a star player. But Coach Tubby Smith convinced the players many games ago they don't need one.'' This is a team with three seniors as tri-captains who have all sacrificed: Cameron Mills, a player who'll be long remembered for his clutch three-pointers, came to the team as a walk-on after passing up scholarships to play at other schools; Allen Edwards, a three-position player fighting on after the loss of his mother; and Jeff Sheppard, a red shirted player last year who became this year's Most Valuable Player in the Tournament. Of course all of this would not have been possible without the guidance and steady hand of Coach Tubby Smith, a man filling the shoes of a coach who became a legend in Kentucky over a few short years, Rick Pitino. Today in Kentucky they're talking about a man who led this team to the Championship and has shown, as a local paper noted, that ``skill, intelligence and a self-effacing gentlemanliness are enough to win games--and hearts.'' Tubby Smith has shown us that nice guys do, indeed, finish first. For all the players, the coaches, the managers--and anyone else associated with the team--let me say congratulations on a job well done, and please know there are thousands of Kentuckians who are very proud of you. Mr. President, I might say that of the three times the Tennessee women will have been at the White House to be honored, Kentucky will have been there two of those, and they had to go into overtime to lose the third one. I think we have an outstanding group of people. I ask for approval of the resolution.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Maine (Mr. Kerry) is necessarily absent.