Doug Jones

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, as I mentioned in my farewell speech last week, I also wanted to spend a few final moments here on the Senate floor honoring my incredible staff. As the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Alabama in two decades, I had no idea how many brilliant young folks would want to come work in my offices, but we were absolutely overwhelmed with the talent my election attracted--and not just from Alabama--we had applicants from all over the country. We of course tried to give priority to folks from Alabama, but we did have a few from other States who brought special expertise and who, after just a short time with us, became honorary Alabamians. Some of my staff came from other Senate or House offices where they had been biding their time, hoping 1 day to work for an Alabama Democratic Senator. Their experience was critical. Some staff members brought no legislative experience at all, but they were quick and eager learners and got up to speed unbelievably fast. What they all had in common was a deep and sincere commitment to doing the right thing for the right reasons. There were very few shortcuts and very few easy decisions, but we all worked hard to understand the issues backwards and forwards and to do our best for the people of Alabama and for our country. Although each member of the staff was acutely aware that I would have to stand for reelection in just 3 short years, they were as committed as I was to not let political considerations enter into our deliberations. Instead we focused on the needs of our constituents, big and small, and doing all we could to make sure those needs were met. Over the past 3 years, we have become a family, and we have had some fun to boot. Equally important, we have gotten things done. We led or coled over 20 bipartisan bills that were signed into law. We mustered enough support to finally repeal the Widow's Tax. We secured permanent Federal funding for HBCUs and minority-serving institutions. We made things easier for folks applying for Federal student loans. We secured authorizations and appropriations for hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for defense-related projects in Alabama. We set up a process to collect and make available to the public the Federal records from unsolved civil rights crimes. We completed 2,094 requests for casework help and responded to hundreds of thousands of calls, letters, and emails from Alabama constituents. We submitted 624 letters in support of Alabamians' grant applications, resulting in $270,973,411 in awards for municipalities, nonprofits, colleges and universities, rural fire departments, health centers, and others. Out of the outstanding high school seniors who I nominated to our military service academies, 44 have received appointments, and that is in just our first 2 years alone; we won't know the results for 2020 until next spring. We did more than 1,000 interviews, speeches, townhalls, and events across the State of Alabama and in DC. None of these things, absolutely none of them, would have been possible without the hard work and unflagging dedication of my staff. My time in the U.S. Senate was enhanced immeasurably by the tangible and intangible contributions of my staff. As I said earlier, we knew we only had 3 years guaranteed, and we made the most of it. From our amazing record of legislative accomplishments, to our warm and welcoming office culture, to our emphasis on bipartisanship and collegiality, we made a positive difference, and I am immensely proud to have served with each of them. Although it is impossible to go through the contributions of each I do want to single out a few who really made the office click or were responsible in some way for a major accomplishment. First is my chief of staff Dana Gresham. Dana came to me by way of the House and then the Department of Transportation. He has always been a leader, and for me, I was so proud to have him as the first African- American chief of staff for a Democratic Senator. He was instrumental in building the staff and guiding the delicate nature of Beltway and Alabama politics. My legislative director Mark Libell brought a level of experience and direction to our legislative team that I think is unmatched in the Senate. He brought a level of skill to the legislative process that is largely responsible for the many successes we had. Katie Campbell doubled as the deputy legislative director and legislative assistant on our healthcare related matters. She brought a tremendous amount of knowledge and was thus a tremendous resource for our healthcare agenda, which was always one of my top priorities. On the Banking Committee, I was fortunate to have Mike Berman for a couple of years before he moved into the private sector. Mike began the painstaking process of revising the country's money laundering laws which his successor on the staff, Lauren Oppenheimer, picked up. Thanks to their combined efforts and working with colleagues and various stakeholders and regulators, Congress passed as part of the NDAA an update to our money laundering laws for the first time in decades. My friend of 20 years Cissy Jackson came to Washington after practicing law with me in Birmingham. She had no legislative experience but soon became a rockstar among the Senate staff on both sides of the aisle, first with the Homeland Security Committee and then as my MLA on the Armed Services Committee. So much of what we were able to secure for the people of Alabama in the NDAA is a direct result of Cissy's tireless and persistent efforts. Rebecca Howard handled education policy for me. Through her efforts, we secured additional and permanent funding for HBCUs, as well as the success in simplifying the FAFSA form, which will allow so many kids in Alabama to receive a college education. She also coordinated the annual HBCU symposiums that we conducted each year. The director of my State staff was Brantley Fry. Brantley made sure that I stayed incredibly busy when I was at home. We traveled from one end of the State to the other. We visited businesses, military installations, schools, and farms. She coordinated the townhalls and roundtables, all with an eye to the important issues facing the State. Heather Fluit was my communications director and she did tremendous work keeping the people of Alabama up to speed on all the good work that we were doing in Washington and around the State. This could be a difficult job at times on weedy issues like money laundering, but Heather excelled. I could not conclude these remarks, however, without once again noting what was one of my proudest moments in the Senate when we successfully eliminated the Military Widow's Tax. It took a tremendous amount of effort and persistence in making that legislation a reality, and so much of the credit goes to Sarah Kate Sullivan in my office. Like me and my colleague Senator Collins, Sarah Kate never gave up, and today, so many military families will benefit from her efforts. My wife Louise and I thank each of these individuals listed below from the bottom of our hearts. We love them all like family, and we wish them all the very best in their future careers: Katie Campbell, Deputy Legislative Director. Olivia Chartier, Deputy Scheduler. Sam Coleman, Press Secretary. Jordan Cozby, Staff Assistant. Gregory Early, Military Fellow. Elise Fink, Fellow. Mike Flint, Fellow. Heather Fluit, Communications Director. Jasmine Goodman, Staff Assistant. Dana Gresham, Chief of Staff. Rebecca Howard, Legislative Assistant. Cissy Jackson, Counsel and National Security Advisor. Roger Johnson, Staff Assistant. Darren Kinnaird, Systems Administrator. Smriti Krishnan, Heflin Fellow. Mark Libell, Deputy Chief of Staff / Legislative Director. Leila Mohaideen, Digital Director / Deputy Press Secretary. Becca Murdoch, Legislative Correspondent. Lacy Nelson, Digital Assistant / Deputy Press Secretary. Kobye Noel, Mailroom Director. Lauren Oppenheimer, Senior Economic Policy Advisor. Avery Phillip, Press Assistant. Judy Rainey, Administrative Director. Zoe Scott, Staff Assistant. Abby Selden, Counsel. Laura Sherrod, Legislative Aide. Jack Spalding, Research Director. Jessica Spence, Legislative Correspondent. Garrett Stephens, Legislative Correspondent. Caroline Stonecipher, Press Secretary. Brenda Strickland, Director of Scheduling. Sarah Kate Sullivan, Projects Director. Ted Trippi, Legislative Correspondent. Emma Turner, Scheduling Assistant. Calvin Wilborn, Special Assistant. Kern Williams, Legislative Correspondent. Michael Williams, Legislative Correspondent.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, it is with sadness and humility that I ask this body to pause for a moment to remember and honor a great American and a citizen of my home State, CSM Bennie G. Adkins, who died of complications related to the COVID-19 virus on April 17, 2020. He was laid to rest with full military honors this morning after a funeral service in the chapel at Arlington National Cemetery. Command Sergeant Major Adkins, known to friends and family as ``Bennie,'' received the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on September 15, 2014, for acts of heroism during the Vietnam war. Although Bennie was recommended for the Medal of Honor at the time, he was instead given the next highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross. In 2002, the Army began reviewing Distinguished Service Cross awards for possible upgrades, and finally, 48 years later, President Obama bestowed a well-deserved Medal of Honor upon Bennie Adkins. As we know, the Medal of Honor is the Nation's highest medal for valor in combat. According to a statute passed in 1918, the President is authorized to present this award to ``each person who, while an officer or enlisted man of the Army, shall hereafter, in action involving actual conflict with an enemy, distinguish himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.'' Other legislation authorizes the award within the other military departments as well. In the history of this country, the Medal of Honor has been awarded to 3,507 individuals. Fewer than 70 of those recipients are still alive today. I point this out because I believe that when these heroes leave Active Duty and come home to live among us in our communities, their very presence in our midst lifts us all up. They inspire and embolden countless other acts of courage and sacrifice, both great and small, many of which we have seen in the recent weeks and months our Nation and our world have been battling the very virus that took Bennie Adkins' life. So it is with gratitude and a deep sense of loss that we remember this extraordinary man. The facts of the events that led to Bennie Adkins' recognition bear mention. However, as President Obama said when presenting Bennie with the Medal, ``I have to be honest, in a battle and daring escape that lasted four days, Bennie performed so many acts of bravery we actually don't have time to talk about all of them.'' I will, therefore, attempt to summarize, combining information from the citation that accompanied the award, media accounts of the events, and quotes from Bennie's memoir. When Camp A Shau was attacked by a large Viet Cong force early on March 9, 1966, then-Sergeant First Class Adkins rushed through intense hostile fire to man a mortar position. Although wounded himself by incoming fire, Bennie briefly relinquished his mortar to a comrade and ran through exploding mortar rounds in order to drag several wounded Americans to safety. During the battle, Bennie later recalled, bullets hit and killed one man he was carrying on his back. At another point, Adkins, a former baseball catcher, caught a North Vietnamese hand grenade in midair and flung it back at the enemy. Over the course of 4 days, Bennie repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire while rescuing and helping evacuate his fellow soldiers, retrieving additional munitions, and repelling repeated waves of attacking enemy soldiers. Bennie suffered 18 wounds--including to an eye and his torso--but managed to kill an estimated 135 to 175 enemy troops. Because of his efforts to carry a wounded soldier to an extraction point rather than leave him behind, Bennie and his group were unable to reach the last evacuation helicopter. Running extremely low on ammunition, he returned to the mortar pit, gathered additional ammunition, and ran through intense fire back to the communications bunker. After being ordered to evacuate the camp, Adkins and the remaining small group destroyed all signal equipment and classified documents, then fought their way out of the camp and into the jungle, where they evaded the pursuing North Vietnamese Army for 2 days. Their escape was aided by the sawed-off shotgun Bennie carried as a sidearm and by the unexpected intervention of an Indonesian tiger. Trapped in the jungle, the group's radio damaged in the battle, Adkins managed to rig his shotgun as an antenna, enabling him to communicate their location to friendly forces. As the group endured a second night in the jungle waiting for help to arrive, the tiger, which had been hunting nearby, frightened off the enemy, giving Adkins and the others an opportunity to create a makeshift landing pad for a rescue helicopter the next morning. The Medal of Honor citation concludes, ``Sergeant First Class Adkins' extraordinary heroism in close combat against a numerically superior hostile force was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.'' Extraordinary indeed. Remarkable as those details are, the facts of Bennie's postservice life are equally worthy of note. Bennie and his wife Mary were married for more than 60 years--until she passed away in 2019. They don't give medals for that, but I know from observing my own parents' 60-plus years together that, no matter who the couple are, that kind of dedication, loyalty, and commitment are special. After 20 years of service in the Army, Bennie retired and went back to school. He earned three degrees from Troy University--a bachelor's in finance and two master's degrees--and opened his own accounting firm in Auburn. Then, Bennie began deploying his charisma, his wit, his way with people, and his resources to help others pursue their goals through education. For several years, Bennie taught night classes at Alabama's Southern Union Junior College and Auburn University, as well as GED classes at the local jail. Later, he established The Bennie Adkins Foundation, which to date has provided about 50 educational scholarships to noncommissioned Special Forces officers. Bennie's dedication to the service of his country and to his fellow Americans never waned. For many years he traveled extensively, in what he described as his fourth career, ``trying to instill patriotism in our young people.'' And according to President Obama in 2014, ``the first thing you need to know is when Bennie and I met in the Oval Office, he asked if he could sign back up. His lovely wife was not amused.'' I know that for Bennie's family and his community, this is a loss impossible to describe or to measure. My wife Louise joins me in sending our sincerest condolences to Bennie's daughter Mary Ann Adkins Blake (David), to his sons Michael Adkins (Christine), and Keith Adkins (Jaime), and to his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. To paraphrase his Medal of Honor citation, Bennie Adkins' extraordinary life reflects great credit upon himself, his family, and his country. May he rest in peace, and may God bless the United States of America.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I thank the minority leader for those remarks. I am humbled. You know, everyone knows the old saying ``My, how time flies when you are having fun.'' My time here has drawn to a close, but despite the difficulties, the challenges, despite the rancor that we often see in this body, as well as Washington, DC, I can honestly say I have had a lot of fun. The last 3 years have been amazing, and I have loved being a Member of this body. I actually was able to accomplish a few things, thanks to you. But you have been fun; you have not just been kind. It has really been good. By the way, your staffs have been awesome. I know you hear that a lot from constituents. Maybe you don't hear it enough from other Senators. Your staffs have been amazing to us, and I really very much appreciate it. You know, as the minority leader said, everybody knows I am a baseball fan. If you go into that office, you will see in my reception area all 100 baseballs that I had signed. And it was fun getting them-- either here on the floor or in a committee room, at the retreat that the Democrats had. There were so many who had never signed a baseball, and you figured out that it wasn't easy to sign a baseball. (Laughter.) And even those who signed in their office, when we sent them to their office, they always came up and talked about it. It was a time to put politics aside and just talk a little bit--something we really don't do enough of around here, leaving the weighty politics and responsibilities that we have just to sign a baseball and talk about how much fun it was. I remember, right after I was elected, I was talking to a friend of mine, dreaming big about the things that we could accomplish that would make a difference in the lives of the people of Alabama and the people of America. We talked about the possibility that we could work on a bill as important as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But I knew--I knew, though--that such opportunities were not likely, especially in what I knew to be a 3-year window and not knowing what the future would hold--although, I have got to be honest, I had a pretty doggone good idea when I got here. If there was one thing my momma always taught me, it was to be realistic about things. I knew it was going to be tough, but to even have an opportunity to talk and work on things that bring such transformational changes--those kind of things come along once in a generation, if we are lucky. They are that legislative equivalent of a perfect game in baseball. You are lucky if you get to be part of that in your career, but you always have to hope and you have to strive for the possible, not just the likely. For those of you who really don't know about baseball--there may be a few--a perfect game is just that: nine innings, three outs, three up, three down. Everything has to work together in synchrony. It is not just the pitcher who throws balls and strikes; it is the outfielder who catches the fly; it is the second baseman who has to get the out and throw the runner out at first. Everyone has to fall in line and work together as a team--as a team. And it is not just that; it is the people on the field. They are all working and they are all striving for the same goal. As it turned out, I didn't get a chance to be part of a perfect game. I didn't think I would, but I didn't get that chance. Sometimes I worry, as many of you do--especially if you listened to the farewell speeches of Lamar Alexander and Tom Udall and Mike Enzi and others--you worry if those perfect games can ever be had in this Senate again. I worry about that. But we always come close, and I came close. Right after I got here, I got invited to be part of the Common Sense Caucus, which I had to explain to people in Alabama that that is really not an oxymoron, that there is common sense up here. But within 6 weeks of being up here, I was at Susan Collins' office with so many here--some 20 Senators, Republican, Democratic--talking about immigration, working on immigration reform. It was the hottest topic of the day, an important topic that is still important today. I just marveled at the fact that here I was, 6 weeks into this, and I was in that room being a part of those discussions. What was even more astonishing to me is that people actually wanted to hear what I had to say. That didn't happen, having raised three children, been married. I don't always get that, when people want to know what you have got to say. But they did, and I was so gratified, and I was so honored. We would meet in Senator Collins' office. We would meet in hideaways. It was exciting. And we came so close. You all remember that? We came so close, within about three votes of doing what they said couldn't be done, of doing something that was possible but not probable. That sense, what I saw of my colleagues, is why we ran for the Senate. I could see it. I could feel it in those rooms, in those discussions. I could see it on the floor that day as people were voting. It is why we wanted to be in this body. I remember sitting in the cloakroom, and I was as disappointed as ever when we failed. And for a long time, probably still to this day, when I am asked ``What is your most disappointing day in the Senate?'' I will always talk about that vote that failed so close, which was so important. But what it did demonstrate is, through that effort-- effort--that anything is possible. You have got to come close sometimes before you get across the finish line. You have got to play in the red zone a little bit before you get the touchdown. You have got to hit that line. But whatever we did, it is possible. The Senate is capable of great things, if we do them, of bridging divides that society may view as too wide to cross. We can do that. It is not that wide between here and there. It is not that wide, and people need to know it and respect it. I am not the first and I certainly will not be the last to talk about the importance of bringing people together who hold opposing views and working toward what is both possible and palatable. But all too often the desire to do that kind of gets lost among other actions that don't quite match the words that we say. I noticed the other day how many heads were nodding in the farewell speech of Senator Alexander, Senator Enzi, and Senator Udall. And then what happens? I have looked at a lot of farewell speeches in the last month. They all say a lot of the same things, and everybody, I am sure, nods. We have got to do better. You have to do better. I don't think I fully appreciated it. And I listened to the minority leader talk about where I come from in Fairfield, but I don't think I fully appreciated it until fairly recently. It seems like I just kind of love a lost cause. It seems like every time that there is something that needs me there, I am there--fighting for justice for others, for others who feel like hope is lost, from the church bombing case to a Senate election in Alabama. I fought for those causes because I believe in hope. I believe in redemption. I believe in the possibility. Some may call that naive, and many have, but I have not been afraid to touch on the so-called ``third rail'' issues of our political system because I believe that, right now especially, there is no time for caution. My first speech on the Senate floor was about gun violence. No one could believe a Senator from Alabama actually talked about how we can stop gun violence in a way that made some sense--not from an extreme view on the right or an extreme view on the left but right there in ways that made sense. It was a topic that I knew could have easily been twisted into a negative campaign ad--which, by the way, it was. (Laughter.) We saw it coming. But I also knew action was so important. We took some small steps on that issue over the last 3 years, despite a lot of political pressure to the contrary, and I hope you will do more in the years ahead because lives will depend on it. Everything doesn't have to be a perfect game. There is great satisfaction in the day-to-day triumphs. You can and we did hit a home run or two and more than our share of singles and doubles. I am really proud of the 20-plus bills that I led or co-led, bipartisan bills, that have been signed into law over the last 3 years. None would have been possible without bipartisan work. One of my first original bills, the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act would never have become law without the commitment of Senator Cruz to help bring long-overdue closure to the victims of those terrible crimes. I see Ted in the back. I appreciate Senator Cruz's involvement in that. I will have to say, it was so much fun, after we got that done, to go back home and tell that to all my Democratic friends. What is your proudest? I said: Well, the proudest moment right now is with my partner, Ted Cruz. They said: Aha. But it shows what is possible, folks. And it was an important bill. None of those bills have meant more to me, though, than the bipartisan effort that I led with Senator Collins to eliminate the military widow's tax that for almost two decades had deprived widows of full survivors' benefits that they deserved. So many of you went to bat for that bill: Senator Reed, Senator Inhofe, and others. You were getting a lot of pressure, not from me or Susan Collins. You were getting pressure from a lot of those military widows. They had been up here for 20 years, and for 20 years the dollars and cents had prevented that from becoming a reality. We fought on that because we knew what we were doing was right. We knew it was right that you could not put a price on the duty we owe to the men and women of our armed services and their families. I will never forget that day in December when we passed the NDAA that included the elimination of the widow's tax. In the Gallery, there was a large group of Gold Star widows who had been up here for 20-plus years to try to get that done, never being able to reach the goal. And on that day, we did it. You did it. Susan and I got a lot of credit, but it was this body, with the help of some folks in the House, that made it happen. That was just one of the memorable days on the floor. Swearing-in day was unbelievable--simply an explosion of emotions. To walk on the floor as a U.S. Senator, some 37 years after I left the floor with my old boss as a young staffer to my mentor Howell Heflin, and to take the oath of office for his seat was just really a remarkable circle of life. There are two especially significant things about that day too. One is that I hope that you all recognize by now that the freshman class of 2018 will likely go down in history as one of the greatest freshman classes ever. The team of Smith and Jones can't be beat. It is as American as apple pie. I was really proud and honored to be there with Tina Smith that day. I was also honored, if you recall, that there were three Vice Presidents on the floor of the Senate that day. Now President-Elect Joe Biden escorted me in. Former Vice President Walter Mondale escorted Senator Smith. Mike Pence, the current Vice President, swore us in. And, actually, if you now think about it, we had a fourth--soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris. That is a pretty remarkable time--pretty remarkable. It was also a remarkable day when what I hope is going to be a new tradition in the Senate took place: When we had on two different occasions, once each year, six Senators--three Democrats and three Republicans--reading Dr. King's ``Letter from a Birmingham Jail.'' That document remains one of the most significant in American history, and it is as important today as it was when it was written in 1963--and, in some ways, maybe more important for the moment we find ourselves in. I have asked--and I know he will do this--my colleague Senator Brown to carry on that tradition in my absence. And then there was the day of the swearing-in in January of 2019. I was here to observe, to pay my respects to all those who were returning and for those who were joining. And as I was standing in the back by the cloakroom, Senator Tester walks up and says: Jones, what are you doing? You can't get anything past Tester. There were probably a few profanities ladened in there as well, if you know Senator Tester. I said: Well, Jon, what do you think I am doing--with probably a couple of other kind of milder profanities. He said: Look, Daines is caught in a snowstorm back home and can't make it here, and I would like for you to escort me down when I take the oath. As it turns out, it is likely to be the only time I get to do that-- and it was a true honor, my friend. Simply sitting at this desk is perhaps the greatest thing, taking this place in and watching each of you, noting the bipartisanship, especially as we close the Congress--especially as we close this Congress--and how Senators move freely from one side of the aisle to the other. Occasionally, I will tell you, I confess, that I just come back here by myself, and I will open this drawer and will read the names of the Senators who sat here: John Kennedy, Ed Muskie, Hubert Humphrey, my colleague Senator Shelby, and so many others. And it is just overwhelming. You know, growing up, it was always the Presidents or Presidential candidates who captured my attention. I knew the names of some Senators, but that began to change for me watching the Senate Select Committee on Watergate when I was in college. It was a remarkable time and a remarkable committee. And then everything changed again in 1979 while I was studying for the bar and got a phone call from Senator Heflin's chief of staff, Mike House. I had campaigned for the judge. Mike offered me a 1-year position on Heflin's Judiciary subcommittee, which I eagerly took. That year not only changed my life but brought about a respect for this body, for the Senate--as an institution, as individuals, and for so many of its Members--that I had never had before. From that point on, folks, I was hooked. I was hooked on this body--before being elected to the Senate. And now I have come to love the Senate a lot and, importantly, all of the possibilities that go with it, which is why I don't really want to spend my last moments on the floor talking about what I have done. I want to talk about what needs to be done, what can be done, what is possible. You know, even back in 2017, people said it was just not possible to elect a Democrat from Alabama to the U.S. Senate--and here I have been. It is possible to make affordable quality healthcare a reality for all Americans. The ACA right now is the best hope and only plan that is out there. As President Obama said--and everybody should do this--if there is a better plan you can come up with, put it out there. Let's do it. I will publicly support it. The goal is healthcare for everyone in some way. There are so many in this country and in my State of Alabama who desperately need it-- before, during, and after this COVID crisis. It is possible to give people in remote and rural areas access to healthcare, but it is going to take a lot of work, and it is going to take getting out of partisan corners. It is possible to provide a quality education to every American child. I know education is often funded locally, but it is possible to do it. You just have to roll up your shirt sleeves and get it done. It is possible to extend broadband--access to broadband--to all Americans and bring every man, woman, and child into the modern era, just like we did--the Congress did--with Franklin Roosevelt in the Rural Electrification Act in the 1930s. Broadband is the new power. It is possible to do that. High speed and affordable, that is key-- affordable broadband. It is possible to ease the burdens on working-class Americans by setting a minimum wage that is not going to hamstring businesses but will raise the quality of living for so many in this country. So many in my State are in poverty, but yet they work. They work. They work hard, but yet they are still below that poverty level. We need to do what we can to lift them out of that poverty. It takes a lot of work. It takes hard work. It is possible for law enforcement to serve and protect all Americans--not just some--to root out the systemic racism that exists within law enforcement by enlisting the support of both law enforcement and the communities. It is possible. I will candidly tell you another great disappointment was when we let that moment pass this summer--hoping that with a new President, maybe a new Senate, maybe a new Congress, we could get something accomplished. I hope that that still happens, but I was disappointed we let that moment pass this summer when all of the country and all of the world was behind us to say: Please do something. Please do something that we have known about for decades, for centuries. Please do something. Law enforcement said: Let's do something. We let it pass. But it is never too late to do the right thing. It is never too late for justice. It is possible to ensure that every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot and have it counted. Now is the most important opportunity we have seen in 2020--concerns about our election process; that it might have been stolen; that there might have been fraud. Use that opportunity to say: Let's don't let these allegations have any credence going forward. Let's get together. The technology is there. Figure out a way that together we can make our election safe and secure and that all people will have access to the ballot box--all people who are eligible to vote in this country. It is possible for our system of justice to treat all Americans equally--not just talk about it, but to do it. It is what I have tried to do throughout my career. It is possible. And this is going to be a challenge. It is possible to restore the American people's faith in government. And we all know right now that that faith has been shaken for many, many reasons. The faith has been shaken, but it is possible to restore it. It is possible for each of us to learn--as Atticus Finch taught us--to see things from another person's point of view, to walk around in their skin or in their shoes, to see things from other's point of view, to find that common ground. It is possible for us to realize that deep down that progress is not a zero-sum game, that a rising tide lifts all boats. These things are not easy. They take dedication and hard choices, but they are worthy goals. I know many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are dedicated to the same goals, and though I won't be able to cosponsor anything with you from this point on or debate the amendments in committee--if you get amendments in committee--I am going to support you in whatever efforts I can, no matter what side of the aisle your desk is on. And I will keep working toward the same goals too, even after I leave this place. Remember, though, as we get into the vitriol, as we get into political rhetoric--just remember the Jones law of politics, adapted from Newton's third law. Just remember that for every action, even in politics, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you go too far on one side or the other, you are going to get a reaction on the other side, just as hard. And that makes it harder and harder to reach that common ground. You know, in Senator Brown's book about his desk and the people in his desk, he quotes the political philosopher Hannah Arendt who observed: ``The good things in history are usually of very short duration, but afterwards have a decisive but a short time of influence''--a long influence--``over what happens over long periods of time.'' A short time--and I know you may be thinking, well, Doug was only here 3 years; so that is what he is talking about. But I am not. In history, I am looking at something bigger--whether it was Martha McSally's 2 years or my 3; Senator Gardner's 6; Senator Udall's 12; Senator Alexander's 18; or Enzi's and Roberts' 24; or, if you are like Pat Leahy, since Moses was in the bulrushes. Our time here is short. There is not anybody on this floor right now who is not thinking about their time since they were sworn in and said that it was just like yesterday, because it was. Our time is short. It is of a limited duration, and we have to act like that. We have to make sure that every day we are moving. It has been a realization of a long-held dream. I have so many to thank: Doug Turner, who is here; Joe Trippi, on my campaigns; and my late friend, Giles Perkins; and an amazing family: my bride Louise, my rock; my two boys, Carson and Christopher, who have wanted to kill both me and Louise since they have been living at home during the pandemic. They have been incredibly supportive. And then my daughter Courtney and her husband Rip and her two beautiful girls, my granddaughters, who are still the brightest stars in my sky, Ever and Ollie. I am grateful to each of you, my colleagues, and all that you helped me with. I am grateful to an amazing staff. I am not going to go all the way through it. They have been true rock stars. I am going to enter something into the Record about my staff. I am grateful for the advice and counsel of Alabama's senior Senator and an old friend, Senator Shelby. While Richard and I may disagree on many policies, we share a commitment to the people of Alabama to make sure that we do all we can to get the people in Alabama the quality of life that they deserve, and I so much appreciate Richard's service to the people of the State of Alabama, his long and distinguished service--which started out as a Democrat, by the way, just saying. That is where the seed was planted, folks. I also want to mention briefly the chairmen of the committees I worked on: Senator Crapo, Senator Inhofe, Senator Alexander--who was one of the first people who helped me come over--and the work that we did together. You pulled me and helped me. Senator Collins, who chaired the Aging Committee. But I am especially grateful for the ranking members of those committees: Senators Brown, Casey, Murray, and Reed. Their friendship and counsel have been invaluable. Of course, I want to thank the minority leader for all of his work for me and on behalf of me. And as I think you guys know--not always the people of Alabama--Senator Schumer never tried to put puppet strings on me. I know I got accused of that, but he never ever tried and, for that, I am very grateful. To the people of Alabama, I promised to do my best to represent each of you, whether or not you voted for me, and I am proud of the work that we did on your behalf and that I have accomplished on your behalf. Thank you to the people for giving me the honor of serving you as your Senator. Finally, I am going to resist the urge to tell you what is wrong with the Senate, how it operates today. You hear it virtually every time a Senator gives a farewell address, and, instinctively, you know it deep down. But I will offer you this. There is a book I finished reading recently that Ira Shapiro, a former staffer, wrote. Many of you may remember or know Ira. He wrote a book called ``The Last Great Senate.'' It ought to be required reading for every Senator coming in. It was published 8 years ago, about the two Congresses during the Carter administration and how they operated--Bob Byrd as majority leader, Howard Baker as the minority leader, how they got things done for the American people. The author laments that the Senate doesn't operate today in that fashion. I was here for one of those years. Senator Leahy was here during that time. His closing is even more important today as it was when the book was published. He said: America is adrift in turbulent and dangerous waters. Facing enormous challenges at home and abroad, we urgently need our once-vaunted political system to function at its best, instead of at its worst. To be sure, it is more difficult being a senator today than it was in the 1960's and 1970's. The increasingly vitriolic political culture, fueled by a twenty-four-hour news cycle, the endless pressure to raise money, the proliferation of lobbyists and demanding, organized interests are all well known, and they take a toll. But all of those factors make it more essential that our country has a Senate of men and women who bring wisdom, judgment, experience, and independence to their work, along with an understanding that the Senate must be able to take a collective action in the national interest. Please remember that as you go about the country's business; remember that as you go about the Senate's business; remember that as you go about your business as a Senator. And as you do, keep and preserve the reverence that the Founders envisioned for this body. As former Majority Leader Mike Mansfield once said, ``The constitutional authority . . . does not lie with the leadership. It lies with all of us, individually, collectively, and equally. . . . In the end, it is not the Senators as individuals who are of fundamental importance. . . . In the end, it is the institution of the Senate. It is the Senate itself as one of the foundations of the Constitution. It is the Senate as one of the rocks of the Republic.'' Something we should all remember. One more little bit of advice. Take out the word ``negotiation'' when you are talking about legislation. Don't talk about negotiating this bill or that bill, whether it is COVID relief or even appropriations. It works, but let me tell you what is happening out there, what is happening out there with the people. They hear those words, and they think this is some side or the other trying to get an advantage. It is like labor and unions. It is like a civil or criminal lawsuit. Somebody is trying to get an advantage to try to do things for their own interests. We can talk about it from the Democratic side of how we are working for the people; we are negotiating for the people. We can talk about it from the Republican side; that we are negotiating for patriotism and businesses to make sure they are protected. But what is being heard by the American people is this is all about Democrats; this is all about Republicans and getting that political power. Talk about common ground. Talk about sitting down with the administration or whomever and finding common ground. Talk about the goals that you agree on and how to get there. ``Negotiation'' is just a bad word, and I hate that, but it is. As I prepare for the next chapter of my life's journey, there is a sadness of what I am going to leave behind, but there is also optimism--optimism, the glass half full, the men and women who serve in this body and their successors and the staff who support them. And I emphasize that, again, the staff who support them. Leading together will continue to bring a better future for the American people, for your constituents, for each of us together, not as a caucus but together as a Senate. You are just a damn, unbeatable team. You are an unbeatable team. May God bless you all. May God continue to bless the United States of America. Mr. President, with a deep sense of humility and gratitude, I say for the last time, I yield the floor. (Applause, Senators rising.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, 1 year ago yesterday, on December 6, 2019, a terrorist attack on the Naval Air Station Pensacola killed three American servicemen. While it is appropriate and it has been done to honor each of these men, I rise today with a solemn purpose of honoring and commemorating the life, service, and patriotism of one in particular: Navy ENS Joshua Kaleb Watson of Enterprise, AL, whose promising life and career were tragically cut short in the terrorist attack a year and 1 day ago yesterday. Kaleb was posthumously honored last Friday, receiving the Purple Heart in a ceremony in Pensacola. I really regret that I could not go and that I was unable to join his family, but there was also a wreath- laying ceremony at Building 633 where Kaleb was shot and a candlelight vigil there last night. I know that all were solemn occasions for the Navy, for the family, and for America. Kaleb was a rising star. A recent graduate of the Naval Academy, Kaleb had dreamed of becoming a Navy pilot and had reported to Pensacola for flight training the week of Veterans Day. Kaleb was described as a natural leader, a person who put others first and strived to bring out the best in them. At the Naval Academy, Kaleb was a small arms instructor, wrestling coach, and captain of the rifle team. In fact, under his leadership, much to the chagrin of a couple folks in this body, like Senator Reed, the Academy's rifle team beat Army for the first time in a decade. Ben Watson, Kaleb's father, said to me once that Kaleb's mission was to confront evil, to bring the fight to them wherever it took him. He was willing to risk his life for his country. Kaleb did confront evil that day, and he made the ultimate sacrifice. Unfortunately, that was not how Kaleb intended to serve his country. It was not what Kaleb's parents expected when he joined the Navy. Kaleb's father put it rather bluntly: We never thought he would die in Florida. Kaleb Watson was the officer on deck at the Naval Air Station Pensacola on the morning of December 6, 2019. Consequently, he was one of the first people the shooter encountered. Kaleb was shot at least five times that day. Heavily wounded, he made his way out to flag down first responders, gave them an accurate description of the shooter that ultimately led to the shooter being killed. Unfortunately, later that day, Kaleb died of his wounds while in the hospital. The Navy conducted an investigation into the incident and concluded the primary cause of the attack was the Saudi shooter's self- radicalization. However, the report also goes on to note numerous deficiencies in many areas, some of which contributed to the attack and others which could have deterred the attack or mitigated the consequences. In other words, things could have been different that day. Things should have been different that day. We lost two other young men, Airman Mo Haitham from Florida and Airman Apprentice Cameron Walters of Georgia, and 11 more individuals were wounded. That has happened far too many times. Too many Americans have lost their lives to shooters on U.S. bases on U.S. soil. The Pensacola attack was the second shooting at a military base in 3 days. On December 3, 2019, a shooting at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii left two people dead and a third wounded. There have been several other shootings at U.S. military installations, including a mass shooting in 2009 at Fort Hood in Killeen, TX. That shooting claimed 13 lives and left another 30 injured. Five years later, another shooting happened at Fort Hood when a gunman went on a shooting spree, killing 3 people and injuring 14 before killing himself. In 2013, 12 workers at the Washington Navy Yard right here in our Nation's Capital were killed by a military contractor, who was later killed by security officials. In 2015, two military installations in Chattanooga, TN, were attacked by a gunman who killed four people before he was shot by police. There have been investigative reports about all of those shootings, and there have been recommendations in each one of the reports. Everybody shook their head and said: We have got to do better. We can't continue to allow this to happen. What we see from the Pensacola report we received just recently is that many of those recommendations were never followed, especially with regard to planning, training, and assessment of response plans for situations just like the one that occurred in Pensacola, FL. That is simply inexcusable. We have young men and women every year, every day, every week, every month that volunteer to put their lives on the line for this country, never dreaming that their life may be put on the line within the security of the confines of a U.S. military base on U.S. soil--not overseas, not as part of some overseas terrorist attack, but right here where they should be most secure. Ben Watson and his wife Sheila have made it their mission to do everything they can to prevent losing more of our sons and daughters in this way. I think this body ought to do the same. Every year, we have nominations. We make nominations, and we get the appointments back, sending those young men and women to the academies who will then go to those bases. We have a responsibility for that, as well as our overall responsibility to the men and women in uniform. This year, I asked for--and the conference committee included in the final version of the NDAA--language requiring the Secretary of Defense to implement, within 90 days, all applicable security and emergency response recommendations to protect our military installations and language requiring the Secretary of Defense to ensure that each installation conducts or develops a plan to conduct live emergency response training with first responders. At a couple of hearings, including one just last week, I asked Navy leadership at an Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee hearing for their commitment. It is not the first time I had brought it up, but I knew it was going to be the last hearing, and I knew that this NDAA was hopefully going to include this language, but sometimes, the language is just not enough. I asked for their commitment to ensure that these long overdue steps are taken and accomplished. They, of course, gave me those assurances and that commitment. There are thousands of important provisions in the NDAA that hopefully will come to the floor very soon, but none--none--of those provisions are more important than those that ensure we do everything we can to keep our servicemembers and their families, who live and work on our bases, safe from attacks like these. As the Navy itself said in the Pensacola report, talking about security manning--and I quote from the report, The ``[Department of the Navy] must abandon minimum manning thresholds designed to protect physical assets and to meet ineffective response times. Instead, installations must be manned to rapidly respond with a preponderance of force at any time to preserve our most precious asset, our personnel. Increased security force manning enables presence, deterrence, assurance, and enhanced response''--our most precious asset, our personnel. Well, as a father of three and grandfather of two, I understand how precious our children are to our families. As a member of the Armed Services Committee for the past 2 years, I have seen firsthand how precious our men and women in uniform are to this country, and I have seen this body rise to the occasion to understand our fiduciary responsibilities that we have to those men and women who protect and defend us every day. I had the privilege of visiting with some of the folks in Afghanistan and Iraq and working with many more here in the United States. Wherever they are serving, we owe them our best because we owe them our freedom. I want to thank the Watson family--Ben, Sheila, their son Adam--for their patriotism in supporting Kaleb in his dream to become a Navy pilot, and I want to extend again my sincerest condolences for his untimely death. With the Watsons, however, I want to encourage this body to hold the Navy to the commitments that they made to me last week and to insist that the entire Department of Defense follow its recommendations for protecting our military installations from within--protect them from future attacks from within. Although I will be leaving this body in a few weeks, I urge all of my colleagues to take up the baton to do our congressional oversight duty like our lives depend on it because there are lives which depend on it, and if their lives depend on it, our lives depend upon on it. Everyone should take up that mantle. Everyone should do all that they can to preserve and protect the American service men and women who protect us. They are our most precious asset, our personnel. For their sakes and for their families, let's do this thing. Let's get this NDAA passed and then hold them to it in this next Congress. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Madam President, I rise today to remember Col. Duane A. Kuhlmann, a longtime resident of Spanish Fort, AL, who died on September 23, 2020. It is with humility and sadness that we pause to mark the passing of yet another member of the ``greatest generation,'' a brave and dedicated patriot, a leader, and a beloved husband and father. Born to first-generation Americans in Iowa and raised in Byron, MN, Duane volunteered for the Army Air Corps at age 19, soon after the Pearl Harbor bombing. After a medical issue delayed his training, Duane joined the fight in the Pacific in 1944 flying the P-40, before closing out the war in the P-51. After the Japanese surrender, he spent the next year as part of the U.S. occupation of Japan. Soon after returning stateside, Duane married Dorothy Guenther, and together they had seven children, two of whom served their country as officers in the U.S. Navy. After the war, Duane continued to fly the P-51 and was a demonstration pilot for his squadron. Later he and his squadron transitioned to jets, flying the F-84. His squadron was ordered to join the Korean conflict, but after prepositioning in Japan they were ordered back to Turner Air Force Base in Georgia. Duane's Air Force career took the family to Albany, GA; Ephrata, WA; Wiesbaden, Germany; Montgomery, AL; Sumter, SC; San Antonio, TX; and finally Dayton, OH. During the Vietnam conflict, Duane led his squadron of RB-66 aircraft across the Pacific to provide electronic and reconnaissance support for our troops. Two years later, he led the same squadron to Vietnam for a second tour of duty, this time providing `recce' support flying the RF- 4 phantom over Hanoi and Haiphong harbor. Colonel Kuhlmann retired from the Air Force in 1974 in Dayton, OH, as vice commander of Defense Electronics Systems Command. He was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1974 and accumulated numerous air medals throughout his distinguished career. My wife Louise and I extend our gratitude for Colonel Kulhmann's service, as well as our condolences for his loss to his children John Kuhlmann and his wife Rosie, Jenny Kuhlmann Zinn and her husband Bob, Tom Kuhlmann, Karen Sher and her husband Andy, Fritzie Kuhlmann Bassel and her husband Steve, Greg Kuhlmann and his wife Stephanie, Chris Kuhlmann and his wife Dani, and to his 19 grandchildren an 24 great grandchildren. Though not a native son, Duane chose to spend the last years of his life in Alabama, joining the roughly 400,000 other veterans living there whose service and sacrifices have brought honor to our great State. Colonel Kuhlmann, after a life well-lived, may you rest in peace.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Thank you, Senator Durbin for this bill. Thank you for the colleagues who are on here. I was struck when Senator Kaine rose in honor of those who died in Virginia. The list goes on and on. You can go to Emmett Till. You can go to the four girls, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Denise McNair, and Cynthia Wesley. You can go to those who lost their lives in a church in Charleston, SC. The thing that connects them all is not just that they died because of the color of their skin, not just because of the White supremacists who were trying to change the political dynamic in this country. It is an unbroken stream that goes back decades and generations. It goes back to the time of the great original sin of slavery, when White supremacy tried to dominate this country, and it goes back to a string of unbroken deaths that are occurring even as we speak. Hate crimes across this country have proliferated, whether it is not just White on Black or it is the Tree of Life synagogue. It is so many things that we have to stop. The interesting thing to me of what happened this week is that the day after the Presidential debates when the President of the United States refused to condemn White supremacy, the Governor of the State of Alabama, my friend Kay Ivey--Republican Governor of the State of Alabama--apologized to the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that occurred 57 years ago. It was an implicit acknowledgement that words matter, that statements of public officials have an effect on people. They give a green light to violence, often even unintended. This bill Senator Durbin has proposed that passed, as Senator Blumenthal and others said, unanimously is a statement that we cannot allow this to continue. It is a statement that we will--as law enforcement, as citizens, as people in a free country--we will put an end to this kind of rhetoric and this kind of hate. Folks, we cannot let this moment pass in this body. The House passed this bill unanimously and so should the U.S. Senate. We should make a stand with our colleagues in the House--Republican and Democrat--that this is an important statement right now because what is unsaid so much right now is that we see this playing out in this country. We see it playing out in the streets. And we can talk about it from the right or the left, and we can talk about it from Republicans or Democrats, but the fact is, we need to be talking about it in terms of people and victims--innocent victims. That is what this bill is about--protecting the lives of all Americans, regardless of the color of their skin, regardless of their religion, regardless of their political persuasion. This bill will do that. Give the FBI the tools necessary. Give the statement from the U.S. Senate that we will not stand for this. Support this bill. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES. Madam President, I am compelled to talk about this process that I just heard about. There is no process, folks. Let's just be candid. This Senate is not the deliberative process body that the Senator from Wisconsin talked about. We don't have that. This bill has been pending for 9 months. But we don't have that. This is not the Senate in which I worked in 1979, where there was a deliberative attempt. There were debates on the floor, and there were debates in committee. This is not a process. Whether it is on the floor of this Senate or whether it is in the media or wherever else, when someone says that this should go through the normal process, those processes were killed a long time ago. I have been in this body for almost 3 years, and we have had only a relatively handful of amendments on any bill that has come here. We have had virtually no markups and debates in committees. Those don't exist. This bill has been pending for 9 months, which is more than adequate time for the Homeland Security Committee to have taken a look at it, more than enough time for the Committee on the Judiciary to have taken a look at it, and more than enough time to have had a hearing on it. Apparently, our colleagues in the House felt it was OK, but this body has gotten to be so dysfunctional that, to send a statement, we will not allow a unanimously passed bill that has been pending in the Senate of the United States for 9 months to be passed. There is one thing with which I might disagree a little bit with Senator Durbin. For me, this is not a political statement. This is a statement about law enforcement and increasing the ability of law enforcement. It is a statement to protect victims of crime. That is what this bill is about for me. I have seen it all too often in my State and throughout the South. Again, that unbroken string--that is what I see this bill as. So I don't need lectures about process when I see a Senate that does not function but that leapfrogs substantive legislation simply to ram a Supreme Court nominee through--one that hasn't been pending for very long, either. This is the kind of thing the Senate needs to be doing and passing, and we should be ashamed of ourselves for not doing it. Hopefully, that will change. I yield the floor. Recognition of the Minority Leader

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Madam President, one of the great privileges that I have enjoyed as a U.S. Senator and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee has been the opportunity to get to know and support our men and women in uniform. I have been proud to represent the people of the great State of Alabama, a State where patriotism runs deep and for whom service is a way of life. Col. Scott Grant, U.S. Air Force, is a perfect example. Colonel Grant retired this summer, and since I was not able to attend his retirement ceremony this past Saturday, I decided I would say here what I wanted to say there, in the hangar in Birmingham, AL, where he had spent the last few years of his career. Colonel Grant retired as the commander of the 117th Air Refueling Wing, Alabama Air National Guard, Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, AL. The 117th was the first military installation that I visited after my election in 2017 and swearing-in, in January of 2018. I can tell you, at that first visit, Colonel Grant set a pretty high bar for the future visits I would have to the many other military installations in Alabama, and we have quite a few. He set a high bar for those I would meet later because of his dedication to his unit, to his mission, and to the men and women he commanded. It was immediately apparent--his dedication and professionalism--and it has guided his every decision in all our interactions over the next 2\1/2\ years. Scott's unwavering commitment to excellence earned him the respect of all those who served with him, but his genuine love for the men and women who served under his command earned him their affection. In other words, Col. Scott Grant had and has his priorities in order, and everyone who knew him and met him could see that immediately. In 2019, the 117th won STRATCOM's Omaha Trophy. The Omaha Trophy is one of the most prestigious awards in the military. It was the first time that an Air National Guard unit had received this prestigious award. Then STRATCOM Commander Gen. John Hyten said: ``The Omaha Trophy represents the best of the best in units executing strategic deterrence.'' The 117th won in the area of strategic aircraft for their many missions around the world protecting America. It was an award that the unit and Colonel Grant richly deserved. I was really honored to be present at that awards ceremony, and I can remember, as Brigadier General Stevenson said: ``To put it simply, the 117th Air Refueling Wing was the most outstanding in their Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection and their dedication to the mission itself. As a traditional guard unit, but with a total force, they have accomplished unique tasks and in an innovative way that we absolutely need to meet future challenges that STRATCOM faces.'' True to form, in his acceptance speech, Scott gave the credit to the men and women in his command. With 7,000 military flight hours, Scott's deployments have spanned the globe, and his awards and decorations are almost too numerous to list. Here are just a few: the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oakleaf clusters, Air Medal with seven oakleaf clusters, Aerial Achievement Medal with two oakleaf clusters, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and two oakleaf clusters, Combat Readiness Medal with 10 oakleaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star, the Southwest Asia Service Medal with three Bronze Stars, the Kosovo Campaign Medal with one Bronze Star, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one Bronze Star, the Iraq Campaign Medal with one Bronze Star, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Alabama National Emergency Service Medal and Service Medal with one device, the Alabama Special Service Medal--and the list just goes on and on. We could be here all night, but I will stop there and just say that, rated as a command pilot and an instructor, Colonel Grant has been described as a pilot's pilot, one from whom you learn something every time you fly with him. So it is good news for the Air Force. The good-news-bad-news story: The bad news is the retirement from the 117th, but the good news is, in his retirement, Colonel Grant is going to continue training airmen on the KC-135 simulators in Oklahoma. Scott, you have served your country with honor and distinction, and you are a credit to the State of Alabama and the United States of America. It is my great honor to call you a friend. Thank you. Congratulations on an outstanding career. Best wishes for clear skies in retirement, and although I did not serve in the military, I salute you, sir.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I rise in support of my distinguished colleague Senator Duckworth and her resolution to honor our veterans, military servicemembers, and their families. Senator Duckworth knows more than anyone in this Chamber about what it means to serve and to sacrifice, and I am honored to serve alongside someone who has given so much to our country--and I might add, she got her training in Alabama, down in Fort Rucker, where we have the training for all Army helicopter pilots. So thank you for that, and I hope you enjoyed your time, and we are going to get you back. Senator Duckworth is but just one representative here with her many brothers and sisters in uniform who have worn the uniform throughout. Many in this body have served, and we heard a lot today about Senator McCain. I think few stand out as a military veteran more than our late colleague John McCain, the Vietnam veteran war hero, someone whom I served with but never, unfortunately, had the chance to meet. He was still a Member of the Senate by the time I got back here in January of 2018. His illness prevented him from coming to the floor. It will always be one of my great regrets that I could not have had at least 1 day on the floor of the U.S. Senate with John McCain. He was a Vietnam veteran and a war hero, but he dared to speak out against a President. And this President, to this day, almost 2 years after John McCain's death, John McCain is the target of the President's wrath. Two years later, and he still has comments about a war hero. I will tell you, to stand on the same floor at a moment like this, the same Senate floor where a hero like Senator McCain of Arizona spoke so passionately on behalf of our military and on which Senator Duckworth speaks so passionately about our military and our veterans, it is truly an honor. Today, the loss of John McCain's voice in this Chamber is magnified by the silence of too many who will not say what needs to be said. Our military families and veterans deserve our full support. They don't deserve insults. They deserve our support every day, not just when it is politically convenient. It is the duty of this body and every Member of this body to defend those who have sacrificed so much to defend and protect our Nation. It is the obligation of all patriots in this country to do the same. In fact, true patriots would never think to do otherwise. It would never cross our minds as true patriots--it would never cross their mind to launch an insult to our military and our veterans, much less those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It is what I do today and every day, as a Senator from Alabama, to honor our military--to honor them because I come from a State of heroes: Alabama. I worked for one of those heroes. He was a military hero who later became a distinguished Member of this body from 1979 to 1997. Howell Heflin distinguished himself as a Marine officer in the brutal fighting of the Pacific theater of World War II, where he was wounded twice, awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for Valor, and retired at the rank of major. I am so honored to be in his seat today where I worked for him as a young staffer so many years ago. He, too, would rise in this Chamber in support and defense of our military. I know. I was here. I watched him. I saw him over the years. I was with him in every campaign. He was a tireless proponent of a strong military and understood Alabama's tremendous contributions to our Nation's defense, something I try to carry on in his stead. As Alabama's Senator, Howell Heflin may have been called many things in the heat of politics, but none would have ever called him a sucker or a loser. None would have ever questioned his patriotism. Even though Alabama has a strong private sector supporting our Nation's military, no one would have ever accused him of simply promoting the business of defense contractors with his strong and unwavering support of defense spending to make America safe and secure. You know, they are the less than 1 percent of Americans who have volunteered to risk their lives, to be away from their families, their loved ones, for weeks and months at a time, to uproot their families every few years and move, to put themselves in dangerous training, in physical and mental strain, and put themselves in harm's way when they are deployed in combat. Yet they ask for so little in return. That, folks, is the definition of selflessness. While at one time I worked directly for a military hero in this body, today, as a U.S. Senator, I work for thousands of them--tens of thousands across America but, importantly, in the State of Alabama. I say Alabama is a State of heroes because it is true. Our sons and our daughters enlist and serve our Nation in numbers that far exceed our State's population, and I am so proud of that. In Alabama alone, there are 27,000 men and women who serve either on Active Duty or in the Guard or Reserve. Alabama is home to 377,000 veterans. That is a lot of folks in a State of my size. Not quite 10 percent of the population are veterans. The point here is that families in Alabama know what it means to see a loved one raise their hand and stand ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country. I have stood witness and nominated our best and our brightest to military academies in the 2 years that I have been here. We have been able to get over 40 of Alabama's best and brightest high school students into our military academies--40. And I watched with pride in how they became members of the military and how their families were so proud of them, not ever dreaming that one day, if they lost their life, the Commander in Chief of the United States might refer to them as a loser. I can assure every American that among the folks I know of, there are no suckers, and there are no losers. What every volunteer from Alabama, enlisted or officer, has in common is a deep and abiding love for our country. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I have had the honor to meet some of these folks overseas. I have traveled with my friend and colleague Senator Reed. I have met with folks from Alabama. I have felt their pride in the job that they were doing in Afghanistan and Iraq. They feel it deep down because that is the core of a patriot; that is the core of American values. We owe each of them not just our gratitude but our commitment to serve them as they are serving or have served us. We have a duty to uphold our promises to care for them and their families, to provide good healthcare, to help them get an education and transition to good jobs after service. We have a duty to honor them with action and with humble appreciation. We should have the decency and sense of patriotism not to denigrate their service, especially if you have avoided making such a sacrifice yourself. Over the past 2 years, I was fortunate to know a little bit better what it really means to serve and to sacrifice while I was working on the elimination of the military widow's tax. I got to know people like Cathy Milford from Mobile, AL, and so many others whose late spouses had served honorably. I was shocked to learn that for decades they had been denied full survivor benefits that their spouses had earned because the Federal Government wanted to save a few extra bucks. That our country could allow such an injustice to occur for nearly four decades is unconscionable, and we set out to change it. Cathy used to talk about how she came up here every year, and she would say that every time she would argue for the elimination of the tax, it was like digging up her husband from the grave. Sadie McCormack's husband passed away in a training accident in South Korea some 3 years ago. She has two kids at Auburn University, including a daughter who is the recent Miss Peanut for the Dothan area, where Fort Rucker is located. Sadie is a Gold Star wife who became a strong advocate of the military widow's tax issue. She had to go back to work teaching school to pay the bills because of that widow's tax. Lois Thompson of Dothan is the widow of Army CW4 Richard Thompson, who retired after 35 years and 1 day of service. He retired in 1991 and died on March 18, 2013, having suffered from ALS for more than 6 years. He served two tours of duty where he waded into streams contaminated with Agent Orange. Senator Tester spoke about the denial of benefits to those who have suffered because of their contamination with Agent Orange. Mrs. Thompson is 85 years old, and she was his caretaker during his extended illness. She said: My husband served two tours in Vietnam, wading in streams of Agent Orange. The war was so unpopular he couldn't wear his uniform home and was spit on upon arrival back to the States. Our soldiers were often not treated right, even these days. I agree with Mrs. Thompson, and that is coming down from the Commander in Chief. So, let me make this clear. The sacrifice made by these women and men and their families is incalculable, and for far too many years we have failed to do our duty and keep our promise to those heroes. So I am so glad that with a bipartisan effort in this body and in the House--bipartisan, bicameral--we were able to correct that in last year's defense budget. Unfortunately, I cannot say that I am surprised by reports that the President called Americans who died in the war losers and suckers. It seems to be just the latest in a series of comments he has made that demonstrate a lack of respect for those who serve. That respect goes far beyond simply putting money into our defense and our military. It goes to your patriotism. It goes to your heart. It is easy to put money into something. It is easy to do those kinds of things, especially when you have an Armed Services like we have here in the Senate that works in such a bipartisan fashion. It is a whole different thing to really talk in the privacy of only a few people about what you really believe. I can't say I am surprised that combat-wounded veterans make him so uncomfortable that he would ban them from military events and parades. They are reminders of his own failure to serve when called upon. I am not surprised, but I am deeply disappointed--deeply disappointed. Our troops deserve a Commander in Chief who understands or, at the very least, appreciates their service. As of yesterday, 52,143 Americans have been wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and 6,784 Americans have given their lives for those two missions. Many more have been deployed, often repeatedly, bringing home experiences and memories that are going to impact them for the rest of their lives. Their dedicated families have served alongside them through every step of the way. Few among us--few among us--can truly understand this kind of sacrifice for a cause greater than ourselves. But what we should all be able to understand is that they deserve our respect, our gratitude, and our unwavering efforts to uphold our promises to them and their families. So, as I conclude, I stand here today and think about those sacrifices, the pain that John McCain lived with, the pain that Tammy Duckworth lived with, the honor with which he and she and Howell Heflin served and all of those who have served and sacrificed over the years-- all those families and all those who serve today--and it is stunning to me that the only sacrifice that we in this Chamber may suffer for our vote today is to suffer the wrath of a President because we stood in support of them and not him. After all they have done--say what needs to be said--we have to support them and not fear a baseless tweet from the President. A baseless tweet is simply not too high a price to pay for doing what is right by our military and our military families. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I rise today amid what we all know to be a global health and economic crisis that we are in. I rise to propose a solution that has been in front of us all along from the very beginning. It is a solution that has existed for 55 years tomorrow--55 years. Medicaid has brought millions of people to better healthcare. It has brought billions of dollars into States. That is important when we have both a healthcare crisis and an economic crisis, but for 55 years, Medicaid has lifted the health outcomes of people all across this country and especially in so many States that need it--States like Alabama that are poor States, that are unhealthy States. But we can do better. A solution of Medicaid would bring billions of dollars into my home State of Alabama along with about a dozen other States. It would create thousands of new jobs. It would help shore up rural hospitals that are facing financial struggles, a condition made worse by this pandemic. It would provide healthcare coverage in Alabama alone to between 300,000 to 400,000 Alabamians who do not have it right now. Some didn't have it before this pandemic. Others don't have it now because they have lost their jobs. They have lost their employer- sponsored healthcare. Expanding Medicaid would generate $935 billion, with a ``b,'' in new tax revenue for the State of Alabama. It would help local economies across the State by creating good jobs and ensuring workers and their families have good healthcare. In our rural areas, especially, healthcare is dependent on Federal dollars. Folks, expanding Medicaid was the right thing to do before this pandemic and some 37 States or so did just that. In fact, two States did that fairly recently. Conservative States of Oklahoma and Nebraska are both in the process of expanding Medicaid. It was important before the pandemic, but it is vital that we do it now. It is absolutely vital, especially, as so many people have lost their jobs, lost their employer-sponsored healthcare through no fault of their own. Alabama didn't take that step back in 2011 when it should have. Alabama held back. There is little doubt that the main reason--not the sole reason--but the main reason that they held back was purely political. The Alabama Legislature and the Alabama Governor refused to legitimize the Affordable Care Act and put their name on anything having to do with it. The people of Alabama--hundreds of thousands--have suffered because of it. That excuse is waning thin today, especially when so much is needed to provide healthcare to the people of my State. Just this morning, a new poll came out from Auburn University that showed that a majority of the people of Alabama, including a majority of Republicans and a majority of Democrats, favor expanding Medicaid. Our hospitals and healthcare professionals have long advocated for this all across Alabama. We did a program just recently. The American Hospital Association has been begging for this for years to keep our hospitals open. They advocated for an understanding that without this, more and more of our hospitals will have to close their doors. They are working on either thin margins or they are underwater already, and the pandemic has made it worse. More than a dozen of our hospitals, rural and urban, have shuttered while Alabama has refused to expand Medicaid. Today, we have a chance to save the ones we still have and perhaps even revive some outpatient services that have lost their provider. Every pregnant mother who has to drive hours for a round trip for prenatal appointments or a rural Alabamian who lives 45 miles from the nearest emergency room or the workers who are employed would benefit from this. Those who still do not have good healthcare and have to take their children to an emergency room for routine healthcare, it is for those people that I am committed to finding a way to expand Medicaid. Today, I stand with my colleague Senator Warner from Virginia to once again call for the passage of our proposal to incentivize States to expand Medicaid. Our bill, the SAME Act, States Achieving Medicaid Expansion Act, would restore the financial incentives for States that expanded late and would give them the same fair shot at Federal support as the early expanding States. The legislation would have the Federal Government cover 100 percent of the costs for the first 3 years, then would scale back to eventually cover 90 percent in perpetuity. I want to make sure folks understand this bill does not mandate an expansion of Medicaid; it still gives States the choice. If the 13 or 14 States, including Alabama, choose not to expand Medicaid, even with a second bite of the apple, then they don't have to. Shame on them for not doing so, but they don't have to do it. More importantly, if they were to do that, thousands of people would get this healthcare coverage, including a very important point for the State of Alabama, which is expanded mental health coverage. So many places that I have been to in the State of Alabama are begging for mental health coverage that they cannot afford in their communities. Expanding Medicaid would do just that. Let me be clear. Even without this bill, I still believe Alabama should take this step. We literally can't afford not to. We need to be investing in our citizens' health the same way we invest in trying to bring businesses into Alabama. We need to try to invest in our people's health because it will lift all boats. If this incentive is what is needed to get us over the finish line, let's just do it. Again, it is not mandated. States don't have to do it. But for those States that do, they will see better health outcomes for their citizens and better economic advantages in areas that need it. Millions of Americans in these remaining States are struggling, and we can no longer allow politics to get in the way of their access to quality healthcare. I urge my colleagues to please let my State have the chance. Let us have the opportunity to right the wrong that we did in 2011 by refusing to expand. Give me that opportunity to go back and try to convince the folks in Montgomery, AL, that this is the right thing to do. It is a commonsense solution. Let's not stand in the way of more Americans getting healthcare amid a global health crisis. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, today marks the third day after a pretty emotional weekend for the folks of Alabama, for the folks of America. Earlier this afternoon, we had a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to pay our respects to the late John Robert Lewis, a true American hero. A native of Alabama, John grew up in the cotton fields of Pike County, AL, in Troy, to become one of the most influential Members of Congress and, perhaps, one of the most influential Americans this country has ever seen. He was a remarkable human being whose life and work are examples to us all. It is now up to us to carry on, to make ``good trouble,'' to fulfill the dream, the promise of a more equal and just nation. As a son of Troy, AL, John Lewis loved our country with all his heart, and he set out to make it a stronger, more democratic, more equal, more just nation for every person. To persevere toward that end in the face of the hate and violence he so often faced is a testament to the strength of both the character and the heart of John Lewis. John was a dear friend to my wife Louise and me, and we are both profoundly grateful to have had him in our lives. John's long life represented an unbroken thread from a very painful past to a more hopeful future. He gave us all reason to hope. More importantly, he gave us the courage to pursue the bright future we all want for ourselves and for our children and for our grandchildren. You know, it struck me earlier today, as we had one of the most emotional things that I have been a part of with John in the Capitol Rotunda: I was in Selma, AL, on Saturday evening--my last trip with John; I have had many--at Brown AME Chapel, historic Brown Chapel, for a service. Martin Luther King III was there. Congresswoman Terri Sewell, a daughter of Selma, was there. So many of the foot soldiers who marched with John were there. I was struck by his passion, by his courage, and I thought to myself: What can I say that has not already been said about John Lewis? The words just escaped me. The following day, we were in Montgomery. John took one last journey across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL. This time, on the other side of that bridge, he was met again by State troopers from the State of Alabama, but instead of tear gas and billy clubs, he was met with salutes as people lined the streets, shouting: We have got this John. We will carry on. Then he went to Montgomery along the same path that they marched in 1965 to make sure that Americans could vote, and vote easily, without paying a poll tax, without having to count jelly beans or guess at the number of jelly beans in a jar or take another kind of test. John marched, and he walked all the way from Selma to Montgomery. In Montgomery yesterday afternoon, his body was placed in the capital of the State of Alabama, Montgomery, which was the birthplace of the Confederacy, the capital of the Confederacy. He had to ride past all of those monuments that are along the way--and the names. But on that sunny afternoon, John Lewis was brought into the Capitol Rotunda for the State of Alabama--the first African American to lie in state in the State of Alabama at the capitol. Ironically, the last person to lie in state at the Alabama capitol was George Wallace. What an interesting bookend for John's life--that unbroken thread--from a Governor who declared ``segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever,'' who instilled lawlessness, all the way to John Lewis, who instilled hope and love. John Lewis was 25 years old when he led a peaceful march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL. It was in 1965. As he got to the other side and was met by Alabama State troopers, he had his skull fractured. He was called lawless. They all were. That day is now forever known as Bloody Sunday. You know, change doesn't wait for us to become settled and comfortable, and even if we are both of those things, it just doesn't allow us to look the other way when justice is on the line. If there is one lesson from John Lewis's exemplary life--one from so many--that we should heed today, it is that we should look to the youngest Americans to make good on America's promise and show the rest of us how to fight to eradicate injustice. When George Floyd took his last breath, it was young men and women-- White, Black, and Brown--who rose up and said enough is enough, just like 1965, following the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, when John Lewis and others rose up and said enough is enough; just as John did as a 21- year-old Freedom Rider, risking his life, traveling by bus throughout the South. The ride or march--that journey for freedom--never ended for him, and it can't end for any of us until we make it right. Although John truly believed that the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice, he knew that it does not bend on its own. John certainly did his part to bend that moral arc, but as significant as his individual efforts were, it was his enlistment of others to join him that is going to leave his lasting legacy. We are all here today in some measure, in some way, because we joined his fight for justice. No matter what side of the political aisle you are on, no matter where you come from, no matter what your background, we are all here today, in part, because of John Lewis, to join a fight for justice. We join because it is the right thing to do, but also because John showed us the way. He showed us the way by his courage, by his determination, and, more importantly, by his love. John Lewis lived to see the generation that I believe will lead this Nation to our ideals and to fulfill a promise to all. Like him, this younger generation is protesting peacefully, nonviolently. They love this Nation. They love this Nation as much as John, and they want this Nation to fulfill its obligation of equality and justice. Some have painted them as lawless thugs. They would be wrong. They, too, like John, are patriots who want America to move forward to a nation of equals--that long dream of a nation of equals--and move forward together as a nation, together as one. In Alabama we saw firsthand the divisions that John sought to heal and the violence that rose up in opposition to his peaceful efforts to make right so many wrongs. He loved this country so, so much. May his love and his moral courage ripple from this place in Washington, DC, the floor of the Senate, the floor of the House of Representatives, from Selma and Birmingham and Montgomery, Portland and Seattle, Minneapolis, Washington--everywhere. Let the love and moral courage rip through the hearts of young Americans--White, Black, and Brown--to reach beyond the current chaos and division, just as John did, and lead us to come together as a community to end injustice and inequality. It is the young among us in Alabama and across this Nation who can heal what we have failed to heal in our lifetimes, no matter how hard John Lewis tried. I truly believe that with the events of the last few weeks, as John saw the thousands of new recruits for his quest to bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice, he confidently looked around and said: All is well. It is time for the torch to be passed. It is time for me to go. But it is not just the young in this country. As Members of Congress, we also have an obligation to act, to bend that moral arc toward justice, just as John did his entire life. As we begin to grapple with a world without him, we must face the challenges of the moment with the same grit and perseverance he embodied. We are charged--we in this body are charged with continuing the fight for justice and equality that in his life's work meant so much. John was called ``the conscience of Congress.'' May the conscience of all in Congress--all of us, each of us, the Senate, the House--be awakened by his passing to finish John's efforts to restore integrity to the Voting Rights Act. Later, after the reception today, the memorial service, the House of Representatives voted unanimously, by unanimous consent, to change the name of H.R. 4 to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2020. We can talk about naming roads, and we can talk about renaming bridges, but if there is one thing that John Lewis would ask us to do, it is to pass the Voting Rights Act of 2020; restore the Voting Rights Act to where it is supposed to have been. It is a good bill that passed the House of Representatives, but it has languished over here in the bowels of an office somewhere. As we approach the election in 2020, we need to send that message that every vote in this country can count. Every person who is eligible should be able to vote and not only cast the ballot but cast it with ease, cast it at a time when it is convenient with them, cast it by mail in the privacy of their home if possible, but cast a ballot to raise the level of participation. That is what John Lewis stood for. That is what John Lewis meant. That is what we need to do for John Lewis. In the program here, I was so pleased that this program reprinted a painting of John Lewis that is housed in the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Below it is a quote from John: ``When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to [stand up], speak up.'' Speak out and find a way to ``get in good trouble, necessary trouble.'' I have to tell you, folks--I have been here for 2\1/2\ years now, and there are just not enough people who will stand up and speak out when they see things that they know are unfair and unjust. It is our job, our duty. We owe it not just to our constituents but to the people of America to stand up, to speak out, and to get in the way, to make good trouble. It is time that we do that with regard to the Voting Rights Act. It is time that we do that with regard to the police reforms and law enforcement reforms that are out there as well that we know need to exist. So let's do it, folks. Let's remember John for who he was and know more because he was that kind of icon. He was that American hero who will last--his legacy will last for generations. Let's remember the charge that John gave us in the final passage of his autobiography, where he quoted the old African proverb ``When you pray, move your feet.'' John gave us the charge: As a nation, if we care for the Beloved Community, we must move our feet, our hands, our resources to build and not tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate, to heal and not to kill. In the final analysis, we are one people, one family, one house--the American house, the American family. We must carry John with us every step of the way every day and finish his life's work--patriots for equality and an America that lives a reality closer to its ideals. Rest in peace, our old friend John Robert Lewis. We have many bridges to cross, but we got this. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Madam President, one of the greatest indictments I believe ever written was written on scraps of paper in a lonely jail cell in Birmingham, AL, in 1963. The letter from a Birmingham jail written by Dr. Martin Luther King is a call to action. Last year, for the first time in the history of this body, the entire letter was read on the Senate floor by three Republicans, three Democrats--a bipartisan effort, a bipartisan reading of a letter that is so important, the words of which still resonate today. Today, we do it again. I am pleased that we have once again three Republicans and three Democrats to take part in this historic reading. At this point, as we get to that letter, I would like to yield the floor to my friend from South Carolina, Senator Scott, for a special introduction for this important reading

Mr. JONES. Madam President, continuing reading the letter from Birmingham jail: You may well ask: ``Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?'' You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word ``tension.'' I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Such as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in a monologue rather than dialogue. One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: ``Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?'' The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to the maintenance of the status quo. I have hoped that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals. We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was ``well timed'' in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word ``Wait!'' It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This ``Wait'' has almost always meant ``Never.'' We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that ``justice too long delayed is just denied.'' We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, ``Wait.'' But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policeman curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society . . . when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep, night after night, in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ``white'' and ``colored''; when your first name becomes [an expletive], your middle named becomes ``boy'' (however old you are) and your last name becomes ``John,'' and your wife and mother are never given the respected title ``Mrs.''; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ``nobodiness''--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. I yield the floor

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I want to first thank my colleagues who joined me today. As Senator Scott said, we had hoped to do this in April on the anniversary of the writing of this letter. Unfortunately, the pandemic overtook us. But, as Senator Scott said, I don't think the timing could be any better than today. Just as last year when we did this, I am sure that each of my colleagues today will leave the floor with an even greater appreciation of Dr. King's legacy and I hope a better understanding of where America finds itself today. When we think of Dr. King, we usually see him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial eloquently and passionately describing his dream for America or behind a pulpit in Memphis urging his audience to press forward, to not be discouraged in their quest for civil and equal rights because he had been to the mountaintop and he had seen the Promise Land. It is, frankly, somewhat astounding to read his thoughts that were read on the floor today and picture him in a small, dirty jail cell, writing in longhand on napkins and scraps of paper and newspaper to a group of ministers who were not hateful as much as they were questioning the need for action at that particular moment in 1963. There are some who would say that, to share my thoughts on our situation today, I need to move beyond a letter written in 1963, beyond a call of action so long ago. Certainly, it is true that there are more contemporary voices and writings that explain how we should see our times and what actions are needed today, now and in the present. After all, although it was uncertain in the spring of 1963, Dr. King, in a movement, would go on to achieve historic changes with the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and so many other legislative victories. But I believe we are at a similar moment today, in this time, in this place, and that Dr. King's words are as contemporary as they are powerful. You see, in 1963, Alabama had become the focal point of the racism and division and hatred that existed throughout our Nation. Bombings and fires in Black neighborhoods were commonplace; suspects never apprehended; a Governor promising segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever; Bull Connor shocking the Nation when he unleashed vicious police dogs and firehoses on innocent children engaged in a peaceful protest; and later in that year, a church bombing that killed four young girls simply because of the color of their skin. The question on the day Dr. King was arrested was, Why now? Why the risk of jail and perhaps death to protest conditions in a city that Dr. King had described as the most segregated in America--a city, though, that had just elected a new city government that had promised change? It is a question Dr. King and all Black Americans had heard for too long, and it was time for an answer I believe the wisdom of this letter is perhaps the best frame to view how we move forward during this moment, the movement of this time, the movement of this generation. In passage after passage, Dr. King warns us how easily people can fall back to accepting the status quo, how easily people can hear the word ``wait'' when, in fact, the word means ``never.'' From a jail cell in Birmingham in 1963, Dr. King told us that action in that moment was critical so that issues of racism and inequality throughout the land would no longer be ignored. And here we are, 57 years later--57 years later--and his words are still just as timely. The action in this moment, our moment, is likewise critical so that issues of systemic racism and inequality can finally be erased. While so many seem to be heeding Dr. King's call for action--across the country, we see it time and again: hundreds, if not thousands, of people heeding Dr. King's call for action today--my greatest fear at this moment, quite frankly, is that so many people who have felt powerless or unaffected who are willing to march and speak out, ready to change the fairness of our laws and society--my greatest concern is that these good people will get distracted. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem. It is understandable to not know where to begin. But it is not enough to simply agree any longer, to simply have a conversation. Remember, Dr. King confesses to the ministers to whom he is responding that he has been gravely disappointed with what he terms, in 1963, the ``White model.'' If a conversation is all that comes from the moment we are in, then our society will have lost the greatest chance of our lifetime to remedy wrongs that have compounded for centuries. It is time for both our institutions and our society to meaningfully reverse the degenerating sense of nobodiness. In this moment, we have a critical mass of society that understands the legitimate and unavoidable patience of which Dr. King spoke. The last few months have made the truths of being Black in America clear to all. We have watched somewhat helplessly as a pandemic killed Black people at the rate of almost 2\1/2\ times that of other Americans, not from a mutation of the virus but from an underfunded health system that too often deprives Black Americans care for diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues that are now described as preexisting conditions. We have watched an economic toll as Black-owned businesses failed at twice the rate of others, and unemployment for Black Americans grows faster and will stay higher than those of the rest of America. Of course, through this pandemic, we have also seen the heroes: Black workers delivering packages, stocking grocery stores, and serving on frontlines in hospitals and as first responders. But the economic reality of being Black in America remains a sin of our Nation There have certainly been many Black Americans who have pushed through a system weighted against them to prosper, to find the American dream. We celebrate those folks but must face the fact that discrimination and institutional racism push much too hard against the health, education, job opportunities, and financial security of those whom this Government of the United States of America once counted as only three-fifths of a person. Then, while in the course of this pandemic, as we were seeing the truths of this system and society that have been easy to pretend did not really exist, on our screens came a video of a Black man being killed with the knee of a police officer on the back of his neck. The image of George Floyd on the ground--as low as one could possibly, physically get in life--with the knee of a police officer--an agent of the State--on his neck, keeping him on the ground, was far more than just an image of the legalities of a violation of George Floyd's civil rights and the color of law; it was an image of a society and a culture that keep the knee on the necks of Black Americans through systemic racism and discrimination. George Floyd's cries of ``I can't breathe'' were not just the cries of an innocent man pleading for his life but the cries of so many of our fellow Americans who are choked by healthcare systems that deny them access to quality and affordable healthcare; who are, in Dr. King's words, ``smothering in an airtight cage of poverty,''; who can't breathe the fresh air of affordable housing, education, and economic opportunities; or who simply have to hold their own breath when they or their sons or their daughters venture away from their home, fearing a police encounter that will take their life. Perhaps even more than the dogs and the firehoses in Birmingham or the State trooper beatings on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, the video of George Floyd's last moments on Earth was a confluence of events that gave our Nation an image of itself that it could no longer bear. I truly--I truly and fully believe that the soul of America has come to the streets of America looking for a way for all of her people to live in a more just society; that we are at a time when what I have called a crisis trifecta of health, economic, and inequality has resulted in a careful examination and introspection of our beliefs and our priorities about race and about poverty; that we have come to understand more than at any time in the history of our country that whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Standing on the floor of the U.S. Senate, though, I know that this moment requires more than introspection on our part. We in this body and in government as a whole have the power to effect actual change. To not do so with speed would be forever unpardonable. As a person, as an individual, as a citizen of the United States, I know that I must, like everyone in this country, open my heart and my mind to listen with concern and empathy and to act as an individual. But I also know that as a U.S. Senator, I am ready to act, freely admitting that I might not have the ideal solution or all of the answers but not letting the theoretical perfect be the enemy of tangible change that we must see, not asking our citizens to wait any longer than they already have. As a body, we have acted before, and we should act again. To that end, we are seeing proposals for law enforcement reform from the administration, from congressional leaders on both sides of the political aisle, and in both Houses of the U.S. Congress. I am hopeful--even optimistic--that we can find the common ground necessary to achieve meaningful reform, but we will need to do more for this country. As Dr. King reminds us, sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. I would add to that that a law that seemed to hold such promise at one time can be eroded to the point where it becomes unjust. To that end, I respectfully submit that we should review the Voting Rights Act to make sure that easy success at the ballot box is a reality, especially in the midst of a healthcare crisis. We should examine existing laws and practices in education to make sure everyone has equal access to a quality education. We should examine existing laws to ensure that everyone has equal economic opportunities, including protections from employment discrimination. To that extent, I should add that, with the historic Supreme Court decision yesterday--one which I applaud, even though some in this body may not--we should immediately bring the Equality Act to the floor of the Senate and affirm our commitment to ending discrimination in the workplace in any form, against any individual. We should examine again existing laws that continue to deny quality, affordable healthcare to poor and low-income households, including giving States like Alabama the incentives necessary to expand Medicaid to get those Federal dollars to help lift those individuals who not only struggled before this pandemic but have lost their healthcare during this pandemic. We need to examine laws like the Fair Housing Act, signed only a week after Dr. King's assassination, in order to ensure that that act fulfills the promise upon which it was enacted. We spend billions of dollars each year to perpetuate housing that keeps people without means, especially Black families, trapped in places where it is difficult to access education, healthy food, and economic opportunities. Unfortunately, all signs are pointing to a worsening housing crisis because of the pandemic. As a people and as a Congress, we cannot let this moment pass. By saying that, I mean more than just passing reforms. Surely reforms are needed, but the greater need is not just to reform but to transform, to make a dramatic change in the nature and character of our institutions and our culture toward a more just government and society. To that end, as we focus on heeding Dr. King's call to action written in 1963, we should also remember his words written just 3 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and 2 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act. In his 1967 final book ``Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community?'' Dr. King wrote: [America] has been sincere and even ardent in welcoming some change. But too quickly apathy and disinterest rise to the surface when the next logical steps are to be taken. Laws are passed in a crisis mood after a Birmingham or a Selma, but no substantial fervor survives the formal signing of legislation. The recording of the law in itself is treated as the reality of the reform. The point is simply, but significantly, to those of you who have suffered long for equality and for opportunity: Keep this moment alive. Keep it alive beyond the crisis mood we find ourselves in today by continuing to engage those who have more recently seen your plight through new eyes. Demand that we not just meet this moment with more division, intolerance, and anger at one another that pulls us farther apart and deeper into chaos where we have failed to heal. That cannot be America's future. Demand that it not be, as Dr. King's letter warned, simply a moment for another conversation that makes it sound like something is changing but it never does. The path from the first slave ship to land on these shores, to the lone, barren jail cell in Birmingham, AL, where Dr. King wrote his letter that we read today, to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks--that path is a long one--too long. It is a path of a multigenerational failure to be the America of our ideals, where the Civil War is actually over and we are truly one Nation, with liberty and justice for all. I will tell you, as a son of the South--the Deep South--that we should not lose this moment. We in the South have been at the center of this divide for too long, and we can be at the center of healing it and leading the Nation to a more just society. Since our country's inception, we have said the words: ``All are created equal.'' We have pledged that we are a nation with justice for all--all, not some--all. But we know that we have never lived up to that ideal. We all know it. In response to many of the protests that are taking place across this country today, where voices and T-shirts and face masks proclaim that ``Black lives matter,'' some insist on saying that ``all lives matter.'' Of course they do, but we will not be a country where we are all truly equal and where justice is for all until we can all say the words ``Black lives matter'' and mean it. We have to mean it now. All of us must reject the voices of hatred and intolerance and division. All of us must embrace taking action to root out injustice and to seek justice and opportunity for all. The road to racial justice in America has taken far too long, but it is a path we must walk together if we are to reach the mountaintop. To my colleagues, I say: Join me and others. To the people of Alabama and our Nation I say: Join together. It is time, America. It is time. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to speak today in the wake of what is going on. I appreciate my colleague from Tennessee talking about supply chains. I completely agree with her. It is something that we are going to have to seriously look at as we get through this process. We have become too dependent. I appreciate her efforts in that regard. I want to talk today--I know we have a lot going on up here. For those who are watching and the American people, you need to understand that while this Gallery may be empty and this floor may be empty, there is a lot going on in the Senate right now. There is a lot happening to try to make sure that we save this economy, that we do those things necessary to try to make sure our businesses, our workers, and our economy from all sectors are saved. Again, I want to go back to the thing you can do as Americans, and that is to stop the spread of this virus. Do social distancing. Do those things we have talked about now for several weeks to try to get folks to do their part because we are trying to do our part. We are doing this in an incredibly bipartisan effort. I think you will see a lot of things coming out of the Senate and out of the House, along with the administration, to try to make sure we do those things for Americans. Over the past few weeks, I have talked with countless business owners and local and State officials. I have heard from a lot of folks who are scared to death, working folks who are now at home. They are not telecommuting because their jobs are not like that. They are alarmed about where we are today and where we are going to be tomorrow and next week and over the coming weeks and even potentially months. Businesses are having to lay off folks. They are having to furlough workers, sending a surge of folks to the unemployment line. We have seen that in just the last few days, which is something that, as we were moving, we thought we would not see. Small businesses, like restaurants and Main Street retailers, will go bankrupt if we are not careful. They are going to go bankrupt without customers, as folks stay home and practice the social distancing that we know we have to do and as States start enacting forced closures of schools and events. Those businesses will shutter. Hopefully, it will only be a temporary shutting. First and foremost, there are steps we can all take to stop the spread of the virus and begin to get the economy on the right track. It is up to us individually. In the meantime, we, as Members of Congress and public officials across this country--from local county officials and city officials to the Governors and State legislators and Members of Congress--we have to do all we can to make sure our businesses, particularly the small businesses, which make up an overwhelming amount of business in the State of Alabama in particular, can continue to meet payroll and keep workers paid so that they can then continue to meet their obligations. That is where my proposal comes in that I talked to a number of colleagues about. In addition to providing the same kind of direct assistance payments that are being kicked around now--whether it is through checks or in some form or another that people are widely talking about right now--I would also like to see a new fund that is created to quickly get cash into the hands of small businesses so they can make their payroll and not have to lay off workers. I am calling this the small business lifeline fund. It would provide a no-interest bridge loan for up to 3 months, to be paid back over 5 years with no interest. This is a work- in-progress, so there are even proposals to make sure that this loan can be forgiven in certain circumstances. It could be administered through the Small Business Administration. It would offer loans up to 75 percent of a business's last 3 months of payroll, with no one employee receiving more than $5,000. I want to repeat that because it would affect so many people in this country. It would offer loans up to 75 percent of a business's last 3 months of payroll, with no one employee receiving more than $5,000 per month. The key to this fund is, it would pass directly through the payroll companies. Payroll companies around this country are used by about 40 percent of American businesses. They mostly cater to the small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Payroll companies are in the best position to do this because they already have the infrastructure in place. They are a smart choice because they have payroll history. They have the employee data that makes this quick. It makes it efficient. It uses the infrastructure and the pipelines that already exist without having to go back and reinvent or create a new whole set of dynamics that may or may not work. We know the payroll company system in this country works. Again, 40 percent of folks use it. This process would help to alleviate the strain on our unemployment program. It would be a seamless way to continue to pay workers, while also ensuring that payroll taxes can continue to fund important programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. I want you to think about this. What we are talking about doing is not just a one-time $1,000 check or two-time $1,000 check; it is literally funding payroll the way it exists--maybe only 75 percent of it. But people who are used to getting those payroll checks through a payroll processor have their taxes deducted, they have their Social Security deducted, and they have their Medicaid and Medicare expenses deducted. Those things would still come in. It is just that we have created a fund from the Federal Government to do that. Part of what we are fronting comes right back to the Federal Government. As part of this, we would also like to offer assistance to folks who are self-employed or run microbusinesses. According to IRS data, in 2017, there were some 26 million sole proprietorships in the United States. That is a lot of folks out there working hard, hustling every day to make their businesses--their little piece of the American dream--successful, but they don't have the cash reserves to fall back on in times like these. We could carve this out and make sure they are taken care of in the short run. This is not the time, in my view, to shortchange the economy. This is not the time to send out just a check here and a check there-- especially for those who are the most vulnerable to the cataclysmic shocks we have seen in recent weeks. We have to be bold. We have to be big. We need to act fast. We need to cut the bureaucracy. That is why using these payroll companies makes so much sense. Again, I want to emphasize that this is only one piece of this overall puzzle. It doesn't cover everyone. It will not cover folks in the gig economy. We have to do other things to make sure unemployment insurance and other things are available to them in a similar fashion. But this is a big piece of the puzzle that can get money directly to folks. Their wages can get to folks--their wages can get to them right now so that if we also have to do things like forbearance on mortgages and rents, we don't have to do it across the board because these folks will have the money to pay those mortgages and pay those rents and help those businesses stay afloat as well. The ripple effect of doing something like this, I believe, would be enormous. With this small business lifeline fund, we can send a message to folks on Main Street, who are the lifeblood of our communities. We can take this idea up and keep them afloat so they can get right back on track as soon as we get things back to normal. Right now, they need us. They need us in Congress. They need us at the local level, and they need us at the State level. I urge my colleagues to look at this very seriously--at this package that we are putting together and that we will, hopefully, get done in the next day or, hopefully, in hours--so we can all get back to our States and our families and do those things that are necessary. Keep in mind: I think folks will understand that whatever we do in the next day or so will only be the next step. I mean, I don't want anybody who is listening to anything any of us has to say to think that this is the end of it and that we are just going to finish our work and go home. We are going to have to monitor this constantly. We don't know what the future holds in some aspects. So we will be back, if necessary, and, if necessary, we will do things differently. There are two other things I want to mention before I yield the floor, one of which I have talked about with regard to my State for a long time, and that is the need for Medicaid expansion. Alabama is one of those few States--I think out of 14 or 15 States-- that did not expand Medicaid. As part of the package we are talking about now, we increase the Federal Government's portion of that and add additional Medicaid funds. For those States like Alabama, we will get the extra benefits for sure, but we will not get as much as we should because we will not have expanded Medicaid. Senator Warner and I have a bill. It is called the SAME Act, or the States Achieve Medicaid Expansion Act. It is not mandatory. It does not make the States that haven't achieved Medicaid expansion do that, but it gives them the same incentives they had a number of years ago. In a State like Alabama, some 300,000 people could get access to Medicaid who do not have insurance right now and cannot get it but who are wondering in our rural communities and everywhere in the State of Alabama: What in the world am I going to do if I catch this virus? Where am I going to go? Ultimately, with our hospitals, our doctors, and our safety nets that we are putting in as part of this package, we are going to have to cover it anyway. We all know that, sooner or later, we are going to have to cover it. So I would love to see the SAME Act, or the States Achieve Medicaid Expansion Act, get out there and be a part of this package. Let States have the opportunity. It is a States' rights issue. Not a single State would have to expand Medicaid if we pass this bill, but we would at least let those local leaders decide for themselves whether it would be time to give this opportunity to so many of the people in our States who are caught between Medicaid and jobs in which they are eligible for health insurance benefits. It would be a quick, easy way to make sure we are doing our part, and I urge that this be put in there. Finally, I have heard from so many people today who are in our underserved communities in Alabama--the African-American community, the poor communities in Alabama. The preachers are calling, and the mayors are calling. I have been on the phone all day because they are concerned. It is not just that they are concerned because they don't believe the State has them in mind, for I have talked to State officials in Alabama, and there are plans. The fact of the matter is that in this country, across the 50 States, we still don't have enough tests, and we don't have enough personal protection equipment for my hospitals, for my testing labs, and for everybody in Alabama. It is just like in every other State. We are hurting, and we need those supplies. We are giving them money, and the States are doing a good job. Yet I want to make sure that, in Alabama and across this country, we don't leave out the poorest of the poor; that we don't leave out the underserved communities; and that we just don't put testing facilities in the big, urban areas--at the mega churches or the big hospitals, like I have in Birmingham, which are awesome. We have to make sure that we have these clinics set up around the State, such as in the Black Belt of Alabama--the poorest of Alabama's counties--wherein people can't drive an hour and a half or 2 hours to get tests. We have to make sure that we spread this out, because this disease is going to spread out. This disease is not just going to be concentrated in our urban areas. It is going to continue to spread. In these underserved areas in particular, families live together. Grandmothers take care of their grandchildren. Aunts and uncles take care of their nieces and nephews. They are all there together, and we have to figure out a way to protect them. We have to figure out a way to get those tests to them and to make sure that they are treated just as if they were part of our urban areas that have easier and ready access. I end with what I talked about the other day and with which I have ended so many of my talks, and that is back to the people of Alabama and the American people. I can assure you we are doing a lot up here. I see my friend from Alaska, who is presiding today. I know she has been working. I have watched her back here as she has worked the phones and talked to different people. Everywhere I go, I do see that Senators--most of us-- are doing things by phone and are doing things remotely. Everybody is working the phones back in their States to make sure we do the right thing. Yet, at the end of the day, this is about you. This is about the people of America. Everyone in this country--to use a phrase from the old civil rights days in Birmingham, AL--is a foot soldier in this movement. Everyone can do his part. We can appropriate money, and we can designate, and we can give tax breaks. We can do those things that are necessary that we as the Federal Government can do, but we can't stop the spread of this virus. A U.S. Senator cannot stop the spread of this virus. We can only stop it among ourselves. We can't stop it across this country. Only you can do that. Only the foot soldiers in America--the hundreds of millions of people we have in this country--can stop the spread of the virus by heeding the warnings and by doing the things that are necessary with social distancing and washing their hands. I think my hands are just about raw since I have washed them so much. We are the foot soldiers. You are the foot soldiers. You can stop the spread. The other day, when I was here on the floor, I pulled out a picture of my old friend from my childhood, Smokey Bear, who said that only you can prevent forest fires. I talked about the fact that the coronavirus, the COVID- 19 virus, is a forest fire across the country, and you can help to stop the spread. I want to be a little bit more patriotic about it today. I invoke one of my heroes who used this desk at one point, John F. Kennedy. It was 59 years ago when John F. Kennedy was sworn in as President of the United States and uttered the famous words that sent such an emotion throughout America and that really got so many in this country to be patriotic and stand up for what we do. He said: ``Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.'' That is what all Americans have to ask themselves today: What can I do for my country? It is not like a day when we have a tornado that has ripped through, and you can go out and get a chain saw and help your neighbor. It is not like a day when a hurricane has come through, and you can go get bottles of water and diapers to send to folks. What you can do for your country today is to stop the spread of this virus. What you can do for your country is to try to stay home as much as you can--social distancing. Work those things. That is what you can do for your country. If you do that, yes, businesses are going to have problems. We know it. That is what we are trying to work on--making sure we provide that safety net and making sure we provide the necessary tools so that, if we can blunt that curve--if we can get past this--then we will come back even stronger. To get there, we have to have you. We have to have you stand up and speak out to everyone--to do your part, to do those things that are necessary to make sure you do for your country what you should be doing. Help everyone in this country, and help everyone around you. When we do that, we will blunt this curve. We will make this the least severe as possible, and we will move forward and be stronger and better because, at the end of the day, we are the United States of America. I yield the floor. (Ms. MURKOWSKI assumed the Chair.)

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Madam President, today I want to talk just briefly about all that we can do. I know we are facing an emergency in this country. We are facing a healthcare crisis. Instead of talking about all that is going on here in Congress--and there is a lot going on that the people of America need to understand. You see empty Chambers right now, but the fact is, we are trying to do those things necessary to stop the spread of this virus as well. I want to talk a little bit about what we can do as Americans to protect ourselves and our country. In doing so, I am thinking back to an old friend of mine from my younger days. Back when I was a kid, the National Park Service and others were concerned about the forest fires around the country, and they came up with what is now an old friend of mine: Smokey Bear. Everybody remembers Smokey Bear. You still see Smokey on occasion because only you can prevent forest fires. Well, folks, we have forest fires raging around this country right now in the form of COVID-19, and only you can prevent the spread of that forest fire, the COVID-19 virus--only you. We have healthcare responders out there. We have emergency responders, people who are doing amazing work right now responding to this virus. But it is up to us. It is up to you. Only you can prevent the spread by doing those things necessary to try to protect your communities. The social distancing that people are talking about, the hand washing--all of those things are so important that we have to do as individuals to make sure we flatten that curve. You don't need to be going on spring break or vacation right now-- none of this. With shutting down these businesses and things and people being at home, this is not vacation time. You can use it, but it is not a time to go out on vacation, to do those kinds of things. It is a time to try to protect yourself and your communities. Don't go out and try to get tested unless you have symptoms and have talked to your healthcare provider. In Alabama right now, we are seeing long lines of folks who are lined up at a private testing facility to try to get tested. I don't know all the protocols that they have, but I know my friends at the University of Alabama in Birmingham--in the infectious disease center--with whom I have met and talked on a regular basis, say that the odds are that a number of those people in those lines don't need to test right now. They are concerned. Everybody is worried. Everybody wants to know. But the fact is, there are not enough tests out there for everyone just yet. We are getting there. More and more tests are coming online. We also have to be concerned about the equipment--the swabs that are used, the test tubes that have to be used. Those are the things we are running in short supply of as well. So unless you have those symptoms, unless you see that you are getting sick, stay home. Stay with your families. We are going to be inconvenienced for some time, but I think we need to do all we can to make those inconveniences as short-lived as possible. The short-term pain will mean long-term gain for all of us, but only if we follow the best practices that the CDC and all our departments of public health are talking about right now. We have legislative packages that are coming over from the House. We have more. I can tell you, for my folks in Alabama and the folks across the United States, your U.S. Senators on both sides of the aisle are working very hard to try to minimize this impact. There are things we can do now, and we are trying to get those done. There are things we can do to take care of small businesses and families, and we are working very hard to make sure those things get done now. Also, keep this in mind: This is going to be a work in progress. This is not something we know the long-term implications of just yet. Our goal is to blunt that curve, as you have seen Dr. Fauci and others talking about, to try to stem the tide of this virus, to make it to where it is going to be manageable in our healthcare systems. If we can do that, we can better assess how we can protect small businesses and how we can protect working families and make sure they have the income they need to get by on a daily basis, knowing that when this crisis does subside, they can get back to work and we can get this economy popping, as the President said earlier today. That is our goal. That is what we are trying to do. We also have to take a deep look at ourselves, I believe. Folks across the country need to take a deep look and see what we can do as States, as Members of Congress, and as American people to do better on our healthcare system, which right now is under increasing strain and stresses with this pandemic virus. We need to see, structurally, those kinds of things that can help stem the tide of this virus but also put in place things that are going to help our healthcare delivery system that we have in this country. Those are the kinds of things I hope we will take a look at as we go forward and we better understand the problems we are facing in the United States. For me, ever since I started running for this office, I have talked about the need to expand Medicaid in Alabama. Right now, I am concerned about all Alabamans, but there are some 326,000 people below the poverty line who do not qualify for Medicaid and are wondering right now: What is going to happen to me? What is going to happen because I don't have health insurance? I can't go get in that line in Birmingham that requires a Medicaid or a Medicare card or an insurance card. I don't know what to do. We are working on things to try to help to do that, but I think expanding Medicaid is an important part of this. Those Alabamans who are at most risk from the COVID-19 virus are those in rural areas where hospitals are closing and who cannot get to a doctor--the community health centers are sparsely situated throughout the State--our seniors and people of all ages who have preexisting conditions. I want folks in Alabama to really think about this. We have now heard for a month or so that it is not just the elderly but it is people with certain preexisting conditions who are at most risk for the COVID-19 virus and significant complications from the virus. Those are people who are diabetic; people with cardiovascular disease; people with kidney disease; people who are, in fact, so much of the demographics of the State of Alabama. I have said it so many times: We are a relatively poor State. We are an unhealthy State. We have more people at risk for this virus than probably most because of the preexisting conditions that exist among the populace in the State of Alabama. Those are the ones about whom we are concerned. There are consequences to Alabama's not expanding Medicaid, and there are going to be consequences if we don't do things in the future to try to make sure we get relief to all people. There are going to be consequences if the administration continues to fight in court to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and all of its protections for those with preexisting conditions. Why in the world, in this time of healthcare crisis, would the administration continue to do this just now? Now is the time that we need to be putting lawsuits aside, taking those lawsuits and putting them away and working together to try to do those things within the ACA to get coverage for so many more people. We can do that. We are seeing people rallying now here on the Hill and with the administration. That is what we need to be doing, not trying to work through lawsuits to get rid of the ACA. Now is the time that we need to be working together to make sure everyone in this country gets the healthcare they need. We need to expand Medicaid, work together to keep rural hospitals open, and not dismantle the ACA but improve the flaws in the existing ACA, making sure that everyone with a preexisting condition is protected. So I am once again calling on this administration, calling on the 20 attorneys general from around the country--including my own in the State of Alabama--let's get rid of this, and let's work together to try to figure out how we can get healthcare into all ZIP Codes in America, including all the ZIP Codes in the State of Alabama. Folks, we have amazing opportunities here. It is a challenging time, but challenges also give us opportunities. We need to take those opportunities. We have that opportunity here in the Senate and the Congress and the Government of the United States, but we have these opportunities as a country. We have these opportunities for individuals. We have to act quickly and without regard to politics or party. The American people are looking to us--they are looking to this Congress, they are looking to the administration--to do those things necessary, to take the steps necessary to protect their families, their communities, their livelihoods, and our economy. We can do this, but we need to rise to the occasion. We need to work quickly. We need to put the American people first. It is the American people's interests who have to come first. As individuals, we have to review the responses to the COVID crisis as an act of citizenship. Every response has to be seen, in my view, as an act of citizenship, not only for this country but for citizens of the world, to do the things that need to be done for yourself, for your family, but also for each other in the greater beloved community. We have to recognize that we all must make sacrifices. We are in this together. Our doctors, our nurses, and our healthcare professionals are already doing that. They are fighting with everything they have to minimize the suffering and to save as many as they can, often putting themselves in jeopardy. One of the things we have to do is give them more tools to do their jobs. We are working on that. But these folks are those frontline folks. It is just like the first responders of 9/11, who were running toward the danger to try to help others flee from it. That is what our healthcare professionals and our first responders are doing today. They are running toward the danger to try to minimize the suffering and to save lives. Folks, everybody in America needs to hear all of this. We need to be thanking those people. We need to be thanking the folks who are still putting food on the shelves at the grocery stores, the people who are still stocking the sanitizer at the drug stores, the people who are still doing those routine things to help all Americans. We need to hear this as well: Staying at home for the next few weeks may be a hardship, but it is the right thing to do. It is the right thing to do not just for the obvious reasons of protecting yourself. You do it for your neighbors. You do it for your fellow citizens in your community. You do it for your grandparents. You do it for all of those close to you. That is how we stop this virus. That is how Smokey puts out the forest fires. It is each one of us. Only you can do this, and none of it will be easy. Financial hardships will be faced by far too many Americans already living on the edge. It is in our local communities that we have to respond to the heroic efforts to bridge these hardships for as many as possible and to make this period of disruption as short as possible. The truth is, it is you, Mr. and Mrs. America. It is you, the American people, who are the best defense now. You are the frontline. You are the foot soldiers of trying to stem this crisis. Don't shake hands as some sign of strength. Stopping that simple contact is not only going to keep you safer but it is going to strengthen the fight to stop these fires. Do those little things. The American people have to rally to this challenge not just for themselves but for each other, for the sick and the elderly and the most vulnerable in our society, for the doctors and the nurses who are on the frontlines, for the children who will need those school lunch programs they can't get because schools are out all across this country. We do it for those who can't afford 1 day--let alone 1 week or 2 weeks or a couple of months--of lost wages. That is who we have to do this for. Let me mention something. I want to talk a little bit directly to the younger folks in Alabama and the younger folks in our country. You are perhaps the most powerful voices and examples in this fight. You know that it is not likely that you are going to personally suffer the hardest of these hardships in the sense of getting this virus. It is not going to cause the incredible complications of so many others, but that makes you the most powerful weapon that we have in this fight. You can lead this country's war against this disease. You can lead the State of Alabama and all of your States and your communities, and you do so by example, just like young people have done in the history of this country. Whether it was with the Vietnam war, whether it was through civil rights, whether it was through little things like buckling seatbelts, it is the younger folks in this country who have led the way and shown the examples. You are the most connected generation or couple of generations in the history of the world. By having those connections to each other, you have connections to your communities and to your grandparents and to your parents and your aunts and your uncles and those living down the street who might be shut in at this point--sick and shut in--whom you can help and get the word out to. This is the moment in time where we can come together as a people. We can come together, and you as young people, who get so maligned in so many different ways--and I see that--you are the prime examples, and you can lead this country at a time when we desperately need all people in this country to lead by example and by information. I know you will step up to do it. I know you will make sure that your kids are protected, but I know you will also make sure that you do those things and do what Smokey the Bear says, because it is only you that can prevent the forest fire of this virus from spreading. So that is our challenge today. That is the challenge for America and the individuals. As a body, I can assure folks that the Senate and the Congress are going to do everything we can to do our part to minimize the damage that this is inflicting, to help repair the damage, to make sure that we get back on our feet at the right time when this fire is stemmed. What we know and what is demanded of us as a U.S. Senate, what is demanded of us as a government, is nothing short of the same kind of government response--overwhelming response--the same kind of commitment and response worthy of the sacrifices we are asking all American citizens to make in this fight. I believe that this Senate, I believe that the House, and I believe that the administration are up to that challenge, but we have to remember whom we are fighting for, and that is each of you--the American people. We will do our part. We will make sure what we do as a response to this is worthy of the sacrifices that we are asking each one of you to make every day for an unknown foreseeable time. I yield the floor. (Ms. McSALLY assumed the Chair.) (Mr. SASSE assumed the Chair.)

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of the inaugural Tuskegee Airmen Day to be held annually on March 7 in the State of Alabama, marking the anniversary of the first graduating class of Tuskegee Airmen in Tuskegee, AL. After decades of being barred from flying for the U.S. military, on March 19, 1941, the U.S. Department of War created the all African-American 99th Pursuit Squadron in Tuskegee, AL. Upon completing 1,600 missions, destroying over 250 aircraft, and laying the foundation for President Harry S. Truman to desegregate the U.S. military in 1948, this courageous, boundary-breaking group of 13 African-American men would go on to be known simply as the Tuskegee Airmen. Recently, the President signed H.R. 2500, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which approves the honorary promotion of Documented Original Tuskegee Airman, U.S. Air Force Colonel (retired) Charles E. McGee, to brigadier general. I believe it is a well-deserved promotion for a hero the likes of General McGee. It is my honor to commend and recognize General McGee, who is one of the last surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen. Less than a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, General McGee enlisted in the Army Air Forces on October 26, 1942. He went on to become one of the first pilots to graduate from the experimental Tuskegee Institute in June 1943. General McGee also has the distinction of flying more combat missions in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam than any other Air Force pilot. Brigadier General Charles McGee will be in attendance at the inaugural Tuskegee Airmen Day ceremony in Alabama this year. For over half century, the courage, tenacity, and grit of General McGee and all of his fellow Tuskegee Airmen have been a source of hope and inspiration for generations of Americans. I congratulate the city of Tuskegee and the State of Alabama for recognizing such a distinguished group of servicemembers who helped change the course of our Nation's history.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, on the day I was sworn in as a United States Senator, I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Just last month, at the beginning of the impeachment trial, I took a second oath to do fair and impartial justice, according to the same Constitution I swore to protect. As I took the oath and throughout the impeachment trial, I couldn't help but think of my father. As many of you know, I lost my dad over the holiday recess. While so many were arguing over whether or not the Speaker of the House should send Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, I was struggling with watching him slip away, while only occasionally trying to weigh in with my voice to be heard about the need for witnesses in the upcoming impeachment trial. My dad was a great man, a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who did his best to instill in me the values of right and wrong as I grew up in Fairfield, AL. He was also a fierce patriot who loved this country. Although, fortunately, he was never called on to do so, I firmly believe he would have placed his country even above his family because he knew and understood fully what America and the freedoms and liberties that come with her mean to everyone in this great country and, significantly, to people around the world. I know he would have put his country before any allegiance to any political party or even to any President. He was on the younger side of that ``greatest generation'' who joined the Navy at age 17 to serve our great military. That service and love of country shaped him into the man of principle that he was, instilling in me those same principles. In thinking of him, his patriotism, his principles, and how he raised me, I am reminded of Robert Kennedy's words that were mentioned in this trial: Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. Candidly, to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I fear that moral courage, country before party is a rare commodity these days. We can write about it and talk about it in speeches and in the media, but it is harder to put into action when political careers may be on the line. Nowhere is the dilemma more difficult than in an impeachment of the President of the United States. Very early on in this process, I implored my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in both Houses of Congress, to stay out of their political and partisan corners. Many did, but so many did not. Even the media continually view this entire process through partisan, political eyes and how it may or may not affect an election. That is unfortunate. The country deserves better, and we must find a way to move beyond such partisan divides. The solemn oaths that I have taken have been my guides during what has been a difficult time for the country, my State, and for me personally. I did not run for the Senate hoping to participate in the impeachment trial of a duly elected President, but I cannot and will not shrink from my duty to defend the Constitution and to do impartial justice. In keeping with my oath as Senator and my oath to do impartial justice, I resolved that throughout this process, I would keep an open mind, to consider the evidence without regard to political affiliation, and to hear all of the evidence before making a final decision on either charge against the President. I believe that my votes later today will reflect that commitment. With the eyes of history upon us, I am acutely aware of the precedents that this impeachment trial will set for future Presidencies and Congresses. Unfortunately, I do not believe that those precedents are good ones. I am particularly concerned that we have now set a precedent that the Senate does not have to go forward with witnesses or review documents, even when those witnesses have firsthand information and the documents would allow us to test not just the credibility of witnesses but also test the words of counsel of both parties. It is my firm belief that the American people deserve more. In short, witnesses and documents would provide the Senate and the American people with a more complete picture of the truth. I believe the American people deserve nothing less. That is not to say, however, that there is not sufficient evidence in which to render a judgment. There is. As a trial lawyer, I once explained this process to a jury as like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. When you open the box and spread all the pieces on the table, it is just an incoherent jumble. But one by one, you hold those pieces up, and you hold them next to each other and see what fits and what doesn't. Even if, as was often the case in my house growing up, you are missing a few pieces--even important ones--you more often than not see the picture. As I have said many times, I believe the American people deserve to see a completed puzzle, a picture with all of the pieces--pieces in the form of documents and witnesses with relevant, firsthand information, which would have provided valuable context, corroboration, or contradiction to that which we have heard. But even with missing pieces, our common sense and life's experiences allow us to see the picture as it comes into full view. Throughout the trial, one piece of evidence continued to stand out for me. It was the President's statement that under the Constitution, ``we have Article II, and I can do anything I want.'' That seems to capture this President's belief about the Presidency; that he has unbridled power, unchecked by Congress or the Judiciary or anyone else. That view, dangerous as it is, explains the President's actions toward Ukraine and Congress. The sum of what we have seen and heard is, unfortunately, a picture of a President who has abused the great power of his office for personal gain--a picture of a President who has placed his personal interest well above the interests of the Nation and, in so doing, threatened our national security, the security of our European allies, and the security of Ukraine. The evidence clearly proves that the President used the weight of his office and the weight of the U.S. Government to seek to coerce a foreign government to interfere in our election for his personal political benefit. His actions were more than simply inappropriate; they were an abuse of power. When I was a lawyer for the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission, there was a saying that the chairman of the inquiry commission and one of Alabama's great judges, Randall Cole, used to say about judges who strayed from the canons of ethics. He would say that the judge ``left his post.'' Sadly, President Trump left his post with regard to the withholding of military aid to Ukraine and a White House visit for the new Ukrainian President, and in so doing, he took the great powers of the Office of the President of the United States with him. Impeachment is the only check on such Presidential wrongdoing. The second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress, gave me more pause. I have struggled to understand the House's strategy in their failure to fully pursue documents and witnesses and wished that they had done more. However, after careful consideration of the evidence developed in the hearings, the public disclosures, the legal precedents, and the trial, I believe that the President deliberately and unconstitutionally obstructed Congress by refusing to cooperate with the investigation in any way. While I am sensitive to protecting the privileges and immunities afforded to the President and his advisers, I believe it is critical to our constitutional structure that we also protect the authorities of the Congress of the United States. Here it was clear from the outset that the President had no intention whatsoever of accommodating Congress when he blocked both witnesses and documents from being produced. In addition, he engaged in a course of conduct to threaten potential witnesses and smear the reputations of the civil servants who did come forward and provide testimony. The President's actions demonstrate a belief that he is above the law, that Congress has no power whatsoever in questioning or examining his actions, and that all who do so, do so at their peril. That belief, unprecedented in the history of this country, simply must not be permitted to stand. To do otherwise risks guaranteeing that no future whistleblower or witness will ever come forward, and no future President, Republican or Democrat, will be subject to congressional oversight as mandated by the Constitution even when the President has so clearly abused his office and violated the public trust. Accordingly, I will vote to convict the President on both Articles of Impeachment. In doing so, I am mindful that in a democracy there is nothing more sacred than the right to vote and respecting the will of the people. But I am also mindful that when our Founders wrote the Constitution, they envisioned a time or at least a possibility that our democracy would be more damaged if we fail to impeach and remove a President. Such is the moment in history that we face today. The gravity of this moment, the seriousness of the charges, and the implication for future Presidencies and Congress have all contributed to the difficulty at which I arrived at my decision. I am mindful that I am standing at a desk that once was used by John F. Kennedy, who famously wrote ``Profiles in Courage,'' and there will be so many who simply look at what I am doing today and say that it is a profile in courage. It is not. It is simply a matter of right and wrong, where doing right is not a courageous act; it is simply following your oath. This has been a divisive time for our country, but I think it has nonetheless been an important constitutional process for us to follow. As this chapter of history draws to a close, one thing is clear to me. As I have said before, our country deserves better than this. They deserve better from the President, and they deserve better from the Congress. We must find a way to come together, to set aside partisan differences, and to focus on what we have in common as Americans. While so much is going in our favor these days, we still face great challenges, both domestically and internationally. But it remains my firm belief that united we can conquer them and remain the greatest hope for the people around the world. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice. I send a question to the desk.

Mr. JONES. Mr. Chief Justice.

Mr. JONES. Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice. I send a question to the desk on behalf of myself, Senator Manchin, and Senator Sinema.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I want to first thank Senator Inhofe and Senator Reed and their staff for their amazing work on this National Defense Authorization Act. What we are about to accomplish is truly remarkable, not only for America but for individuals and families. I am rising today as grateful and as humbled as I could ever imagine being in this Senate Chamber, but I am also just the opposite--I am excited like a kid at Christmas waiting to have the final passage of this because it means so much. We are at the finish line, about to run through the tape in a race, a marathon that so many folks thought we could never finish. I am talking about this momentous and historic National Defense Authorization Act upon which we are about to vote and pass in just a few moments. The NDAA includes so many of our collective priorities to bolster the defense of our Nation, to modernize our military, and to take care of our servicemembers and their families. But included very deep within this incredibly thick piece of legislation is a provision that has been repeatedly introduced over the past 18 years, but it has never gotten across that finish line. I am speaking about the Military Widow's Tax Elimination Act. For the past four decades, the military widow's tax has prevented surviving military spouses from receiving the full benefits they are owed by the U.S. Government. Legislation to repeal this unfair law has been repeatedly introduced in Congress for the last 18 years, but money and budgets and points of order have always won out over the commitment we have made to these families. When I introduced it with my friend and colleague Senator Collins earlier this year, we knew it was going to be an uphill battle. We knew that the fight had been going on for so long and that we faced a steep climb, but we took a great deal of strength and motivation from the impacted widows themselves who have fought and advocated for this bill for nearly two decades. They have been a regular presence on Capitol Hill, asking year after year for Members of Congress to lend an ear to their cause. I was heartbroken when one of them told me they felt like they were easy to brush off because they were ``just a bunch of little old ladies.'' I was heartbroken when Cathy Milford said every time she came up here it was like digging up her husband and burying him all over again. After 18 years without success, yet all the while being told how supportive Members of Congress are for their service and sacrifice, time and time again, you could see how disheartening that might be when they would go home emptyhanded. So when I told them this was the year--Senator Collins and I had made it our mission that this was going to be the year we were finally going to get this done--there were more than a few of them who were skeptical, but they were, of course, always optimistic. We knew we had to fight harder than ever before if we were going to be successful. We had to make our case that this injustice could no longer stand. As we did, one by one, Senators and Members of the House joined this cause with us. By summertime, in this body, we had earned an unprecedented number of Senators' support for this bill. Today, as we are about to vote, there are over three-fourths of the U.S. Senate who have cosponsored this legislation. Think of that. In such a partisan time as we live in right now, in this moment, three- fourths of the U.S. Senate has voiced their support. Because of the momentum we built, this is the year, this is the day, we will finally honor the commitment we made to these families who have given everything to our country. This is the year, this is the day, we will let our actions speak louder than words, the year we finally put our money where our mouth is when it comes to honoring our servicemembers and their families. This is the year, this is the day, we finally repeal the widow's tax once and for all. It is, to be candid, difficult to articulate what it means to me to be able to help bring this legislation across the finish line for these surviving spouses. Their strength, their devotion, and their grit have made this all possible. Their loved ones gave what Abraham Lincoln called ``the last full measure of devotion'' to our country, and the continued commitment to that devotion by their surviving spouses is a daily reminder of why I am here, why we are all here. In their own way, these widows have also fought to advance the ideals and values of the Nation we all love so much. Instead of becoming bitter or jaded when learning of this injustice, these incredible women worked to make things right. Year after year, they would gather in Washington to meet with Members of the House and the Senate to beg Congress to right this wrong, only to be told that as unfair as this may be, eliminating the widow's tax would just cost us too much. For 18 years, they were told it could never get done, but they never ever gave up. It kind of reminds me of a movie that was one of my favorite movies years ago called ``Network,'' in which the late actor Peter Finch starred as a somewhat crazed newscaster who was so fed up with the state of affairs in this country that he implored all those watching to go to their windows and throw open the windows and just yell: ``I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore,'' and they did. That is essentially what these widows did as well. Year after year, they screamed that they were not going to take it anymore, and they built momentum that led to this historic vote today. I am so glad this fight is finally coming to an end. I am going to miss their regular visits and their friendship. I truly hope they know how much it has meant to me and my staff as well. My staff has been all in. Everybody has been so dedicated and so passionate about getting this across the finish line. I am deeply grateful to Senators Inhofe and Reed, who have been critical to this effort to get this done. Without them, it would not have been possible. For their support, I am truly appreciative. More important, I am especially grateful to my partner in all of this, Senator Collins, whose deeply held commitment was vital to our success. Today we will celebrate the end to our four-decades-old fight. We will take stock in this great achievement together, but tomorrow we must turn our attention to the next big issue because there are so many others who need our help, our attention, and our courage to do the right thing. For now--for now we can celebrate because today those military spouses who had once proclaimed they were mad as hell and not going to take it are watching this proceeding with a more joyous feeling. These widows are watching in the quiet of their homes, perhaps in the Gallery, many of them grasping a photograph of their loved ones, their late husbands, but they all have tears in their eyes, saying to each other and to us in this body: Thank you because now I am happy as hell that I don't have to take it anymore. I assure my colleagues that right now their spouses, those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this country, are watching from that heavenly perch above, standing at full attention, and saluting the Members of this Congress and saying: Thank you. Thank you for recognizing the ultimate sacrifice I made for this country. Thank you because you have demonstrated a commitment to me and my service, and with that final commitment from you, the commitment I made to my loved ones, the commitment to care for them even after I am gone, has finally been fulfilled, and I can truly rest in peace. To my colleagues in the Senate, by your vote today, you are doing so much more than modernizing our military providing for the Nation's defense. By your vote today, you are returning their salute--the salute to those brave servicemembers who gave their all in service to this country. Folks, this is a really, really big deal, and I salute all the Members of this body for their efforts. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Mr. President, I know I am not in the right order, but since we have a gap here, I thought I would just jump in. I am honored to be here today for the Johnny Isakson memorial tribute part two. Being the lower person in the Senate on the totem pole here, I didn't get a chance to talk last week, but I did sit through the Senators' remarks, which I found very compelling. I have found Johnny Isakson to be very compelling. You know, there are times when you watch a movie or a TV show, and there are these special moments when two people meet, and there is one person who has that spark, who has that magic, and when they touch, when they embrace with a hug or a shake of the hands, all of a sudden, the other person realizes they are talking to somebody very special. That is Johnny Isakson. That moment is built around Johnny Isakson. From the first time I had the chance to meet him on January 3, 2018, I knew all of those things that are being said about his bipartisanship, about his friendliness, and about how he wants to work with people and how he cares about people were absolutely true. I could tell by the first handshake and the ``Welcome to the Senate, Doug.'' I will say that I think meeting me and having that spark was a real test of Senator Isakson more than anybody in this body because you have to understand that when we first met, it was about 5 days before his beloved Georgia Bulldogs were going to face the University of Alabama in the national championship game. For those who don't know this, I am telling you, you can think of ``partisanship'' and ``tribalism'' as political terms here in Washington, DC, but if you ain't experienced football partisanship and football tribalism as far as SEC rivals, you ain't experienced nothing. So the fact that Johnny Isakson embraced me, a Democrat from his neighboring State of Alabama, was very, very special and something I will always cherish. I truly mean that, Johnny. I have watched you as a member of the HELP Committee with me. I have watched you in so many hearings and listened to you and your wisdom. That wisdom often came from personal experiences. Whether it was business or education or whether it was the tragedy with your grandson, everything about what you have done in the U.S. Senate has been personal. I think that is something we should all strive to do. Everything we do in this body needs to be personal because for all of our constituents, it is personal to us. It is personal to our States and personal to everyone, but we don't always seem to act that way. A lot of times, we act in a way that it seems to be more political than personal. I have never seen that in Senator Isakson. I have seen that time and again, where everything he has spoken about--whether or not I agreed with him was not the issue. I could tell that what he was speaking of was personal, that it meant something to him, and that he knew how it was going to affect those in the State of Georgia and across the United States. I can remember last year when we were moving toward trying to find a way to help farmers in south Georgia and south Alabama who had been so devastated by Hurricane Michael. This was crossing party lines. He and Senator Perdue and I talked a lot about how this was affecting people and people's lives and how frustrating it was for all of us to see the politics kind of take over for a period of--I don't know--4 or 5 months while these farmers suffered. That is the Johnny Isakson who reaches across the aisle. That is the Johnny Isakson who cares about people. That is the Johnny Isakson who goes to funerals and sits in the back of the room and then works to make sure he does the right thing for all those who could be affected. Johnny, I am going to miss you a lot. I enjoy our talks about football. I enjoy kidding you. I enjoy your ribbing me. But more importantly, I just enjoy the camaraderie. I enjoy the warmth, the feeling that I belong here. I, a Democrat from Alabama, belong in this body--maybe not after 2020. I ain't going to push you that far, Johnny, OK? I get that. But for me, there has always been a sense that you belong in this body and you have a voice, and it is an important voice. We need more of that. We need to make sure everything Johnny Isakson said is remembered in this body. We are about to go through some rough seas. The ship of state, as I have said before, is about to chart some rough seas. We need to remember the words of Senator Isakson as he leaves this body to make sure we continue to do the work. I think what we have done these last couple of weeks is reflective of the legacy of Johnny Isakson. Whereas what was going on in the House and what was dominating in the media--we still got an NDAA done, we still got the FUTURE Act done, and we are still, over in the House, negotiating USMCA. Things in this body can work if we work together and we make sure that whatever happens after the first of the year does not interfere with our ability to relate to each other and to our constituents and for the people of America. Johnny, I have been honored and privileged to serve with you. It will always be one of the greatest honors in my life to have been able to have served in this body with you. I wish you and your family nothing but the best in the future. I hope that you will continue to contact me during the football games and throughout so that we can commiserate the good, the bad, and the ugly about Georgia and Alabama football. I love you, and I appreciate you. Thank God you have been here. I yield the floor.

Mr. JONES

Mr. JONES. Madam President, I am rising today with just, for lack of a better term, an incredible amount of hope and excitement--something we don't always see on the Senate floor these days. We go through so many routine measures. We go through so many political speeches. But today is truly a day of hope and excitement and optimism because we are on the verge of a significant moment for our Nation's historically Black colleges and universities and all minority-serving institutions. I frankly hope that in our partisan world we are living in and in our partisan America, people across this country are tuning in right now or at least will follow what is happening on the floor of the Senate today, where a bipartisan coalition has come together for a significant and important segment of our population that deserves the same economic and educational opportunities as everyone else. Fourteen months ago, I came to this Chamber to introduce a permanent extension, an increase of funding for these important institutions of education. Nearly half of all the funding they receive was set to run out on September 30, 2019. We secured a quarter of the Senate as cosponsors of the bill, and we laid out an ambitious proposal. In the new Congress, with the clock ticking down toward the deadline, we offered a more modest but bipartisan and paid-for plan to avert the looming fiscal cliff. But our goal and the goal of everyone here and the goal of all of those, including my friend Senator Alexander, was to always reach the ultimate goal of permanent funding, a permanent solution for these important institutions. All told, these schools serve 6 million students across the country. They are often the foundation upon which families begin to build generational wealth--not just one person who goes to college but generational wealth in communities that have long faced systematic barriers to doing so. They create good, sustainable jobs. They are part of the very foundation of our higher education system in this country and in my State in particular. With all the due respect to my friend Senator Murray from Washington, there is a little controversy about who has the most HBCUs. I would claim that Alabama does with 14, but that is for debate on another day. But we can all agree that supporting these schools and the students they serve is not a partisan issue. I think we can all agree on that. I think we have shown that we can agree that funding should never become a political football. We have all been working toward the same goal. To say the least, I am so deeply relieved that today we forged this bipartisan compromise that will allow these schools the funding and the certainty they need to go forward and continue fulfilling their important mission. I sincerely especially want to thank my colleagues on the HELP Committee and Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray in particular for their leadership and willingness to reach across the aisle and find the common ground for the better good of this community. I also want to thank my friend Senator Scott from South Carolina for joining me on what we have done over the last couple of years to introduce the FUTURE Act and to push it forward. I believe--and I have said this for so long--that we have so much more in common than we have that divides us. This is just one example. It is why I hope folks across the country are looking and see that we can come together and we can be unified. I am grateful today because in addition to the permanent funding of HBCUs and minority-serving institutions, this agreement, as the Senator from Tennessee said, includes a long overdue, first big step toward simplifying the FAFSA application. Even with a law degree, I can tell you that with my kids, trying to do that made me pull out what little bit of hair I have left. I didn't need to do that. It is not just a frustrating process; it can be so intimidating that students or their parents just walk away. In Alabama alone, kids walked away from millions of dollars of Federal financial aid and grants, not just loans. The FAFSA as it is today can be a huge barrier for students who want to go to college. The proposal we have on the table now will help save taxpayers and make the FAFSA process less painful by cutting up to 22 questions from the form. It lays the groundwork for a broader FAFSA reform that Senator Alexander and I have been working on to cut even further to between 17 to 30 questions. But getting across the finish line today is not just about renewing funding or cutting redtape. At their core, these issues are about opening doors of opportunity for young people who have talent and motivation to succeed in college and in life, but they have not necessarily had the financial means or the family connections to do so. This is about making sure we empower every young person in this country to reach their full potential and then pay it forward for future generations. That is what gives me hope standing here today. It is what makes me excited today. Again, I want to thank my colleagues for the incredible effort-- Senators Alexander and Murray in particular. Our hearts have always been in the right place. We have always moved the ball forward knowing that the long-term goal was to help these families for generations to come. Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.