Dan Sullivan

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess subject to the call of the Chair.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is the end of the week here, a Thursday at least, on the Senate floor, and it is that time of the week that I usually come down and talk about somebody who is making my State such a great place to live in, somebody who is doing great things for their community, somebody I refer to as a group or individuals as our Alaskan of the Week. So this is kind of exciting. The pages usually see this as the most exciting speech of the week because they learn about Alaska. This is our first Alaskan of the Week of the year. I am sure the Presiding Officer is even excited about that. It is actually the first one of the whole decade, so stand by. Now, usually I give these speeches and talk a little bit and update about what is going on in Alaska. I just spent a glorious holiday, New Year's, Christmas in Anchorage and Fairbanks over the last couple weeks. We passed the winter solstice. That is the shortest day of the year. Now, it might not feel like that in Alaska, but actually the days are getting longer, getting more sunlight, but the cold has hit, winter has come. In Anchorage, our largest city, my hometown, temperatures just last weekend when I was home were dropping into the 15-below-zero range. In the interior of Alaska--that is a little more north--it hit 65 below zero in Manley Hot Springs on December 27. That rivals the winter temperature on Mars. OK? It is cold. I was in Fairbanks. That is part of the interior, beautiful Fairbanks, where it has been close to 40 below the last couple weeks. I went out and took a run. I am not sure I realized it was that cold. It was only about 20 below on my run. It was kind of cold, but it was still a nice run. We have a lot of folks who get out and enjoy the beautiful winter, beautiful temperatures. I mentioned in the interior--the elementary school in Nenana recently posted that they were going to cancel school if it hit 55 below zero. So these are tough people, especially having just witnessed Washington, DC, close the whole darn city because they had a half inch of snow, but I am digressing here. We live in extremes in Alaska, but, for many of us, that is exactly why we live in Alaska. Toughing out these extreme temperatures together certainly makes us closer, brings communities together, makes people rely on each other. We are a huge State geographically, but a small, tight-knit State in terms of population, and we get through things like these tough winters, really cold winters, by gathering together in small and large places all across the State, places of warmth, particularly when it is cold outside. So today I would like to recognize an Alaskan couple who has provided one of those places of warmth for the community of Talkeetna and the surrounding areas. Talkeetna is about 100 miles north of Anchorage. It is a must-visit stop when you come to Alaska. Why? Well, it is absolutely beautiful. It is the gateway to Denali National Park, and if you would like to take a flightseeing tour of Denali, it almost certainly is going to take off in Talkeetna. So I encourage everybody who is watching here in the Gallery or on TV, you have to come to Alaska. You have to visit--winter, summer, fall, spring, it doesn't matter. You will have the best trip of a lifetime. Go to Talkeetna. It is also a unique town in many ways--Alaska unique. It was the model for the TV show, many years ago, ``Northern Exposure.'' Its honorary member for 10 years was a cat named Stubbs. So you get the picture. It is a town filled with generous and warm people who love their State, their communities, their country. Our Alaskans of the Week today are Doug and April Moore. They are the owners of an iconic store in Talkeetna, Moores' Hardware and Building Supply. It is a hardware store with a heart and a place for the community to gather, particularly in the winter, and it is a place that the Moores run to reflect the value of families and communities that they hold so dear. So let me tell you a little bit about the Moores. Doug's parents and his brother moved from Anchorage to Talkeetna in 1981, when Doug was a preteen and his parents wanted to live in a smaller community, smaller than Anchorage, and they wanted to own their own business. So they chose a tool store housed in a Quonset hut. Like many small business owners all across Alaska, all across America, they got to work--hard work, long hours, but that is what they did. The younger Moores worked at the store when they were growing up, but Doug chose to be a surveyor when he was in college, and eventually he ran into April, his wife, at a restaurant in Talkeetna. Because it is a small town, they knew each other. They had grown up just a quarter mile apart, but things clicked at that restaurant. After they got married, Doug and April decided they wanted to run the family business, the hardware store, and they wanted it to stay in the family. Fast forward to now. If you live in Talkeetna, and you want to build a house, you want to make repairs, you need a hammer, a nail, or just for a cup of coffee, their store is more than 10,000 square feet, with a staff of about 20, with more in the summer. The staff loves the place. They love the Moores because they are great people, great owners, dedicated owners. Here is how one employee describes working for them: You will never find anyone like them anywhere. Another said: They are amazing people, what they do to us personally-- they take care of us. They make sure we are taken care of. If we have family issues, they understand and do everything they can to help. Doug recently said: We're a family-oriented business. The families of the people who work for us are very important. The kids of our employees have grown up in the business. Both of their parents have been together for 50 years, and Doug and April have been together 25. These are really important milestones, really important examples. As Doug said, ``We really believe that's one of the big problems with America right now--families not staying together. We live our values.'' The Moores are also heavily involved in the community. April was a Girl Scout leader and a PTA member. Doug was the president of the community council, a volunteer emergency medical technician, a volunteer firefighter. They help on Thanksgiving with the food bank, as well as the local gun club and firing range. They give where they can. They give back to the community. They are integrated in the community. Last summer, a series of wildfires ravaged through Southcentral Alaska. The most destructive of these fires was the 3,700-acre McKinley fire. It destroyed 51 homes, 3 businesses, and 84 outbuildings. Thank God, nobody in Alaska was killed. As one of the largest hardware stores servicing that region where that fire was, Moores' Hardware and Building Supply stepped up, donating time, equipment, and giving to people who needed help, people who needed to rebuild. We often talk about how small businesses are the backbone of our country's economy, but here is the thing. They are also the backbone of our communities. In small towns throughout America or throughout Alaska, businesses are not just places for people to go and shop for things. They can also be places where people get together, where people give to one another. In fact, they are often the glue that holds communities together. This is what Moores' Hardware and Building Supply is. I have had the honor of going there, shopping there, seeing this great store and community in action. Now, one of the Moores' sons, Justin, is in training to take over the store when Doug and April finally retire. It will then be an official third-generation small business in the great State of Alaska. What a great accomplishment that will be. Justin is committed, just like Doug and April, to their employees and their communities. So I want to thank the Moores. In fact, I want to thank all small business owners across Alaska and across the country for your hard work. Doug and April, thank you not just for that hard work but for all you are doing for the community of Talkeetna and the surrounding areas and for the great State of Alaska. Congratulations on being our first Alaskan of the Week of 2020. I yield the floor.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is that time of week in which I get to come down to the floor of the U.S. Senate--a great privilege--and talk about a special person in Alaska, somebody who helps to make my State the greatest State in the country, in my opinion. We call this person our Alaskan of the Week. It is one of the best things I get to do all week. I know that the pages really enjoy it as well because they get to hear about Alaska and all of the things that are happening. Before I recognize our special Alaskan, let me tell you a little bit about what is going on in Alaska right now. We have had some strange weather in Southcentral Alaska--warm by our standards--that being wet and windy, with gusts over 100 miles per hour in some places. In Fairbanks, which is in the interior--I was just up there last week and am going to talk about that, for it is where our special Alaskan of the Week is from--it feels a lot more like winter. It got down to 27 below zero last week, and now it is in the single digits. When it comes to Alaska's interior weather, there is some debate as to what the lowest recordbreaking temperature was in Fairbanks. Some say it was 66 below zero in 1934, and others say it was in the negative 70 and 70-below-zero territory. The numbers do matter. Take it from Dr. Hugh ``Bud'' Fate, who is our Alaskan of the Week--we call him Bud--who, during the time he was working construction on the North Slope in the early 1950s, once had to walk a mile for shelter after a tractor he was operating froze up. ``When I got to the station, they told me the official temperature was 70 degrees below zero,'' he said. ``I was dressed for it''--Bud is a tough guy--``but my fingers and my toes were getting cold. I don't think I could have made another mile,'' Bud said. Bud, we know you could have. We know you could have. That is just one of many stories that Bud tells about his 70 years of living in the great State of Alaska. So let me talk about Bud Fate--a legend across our State. He just turned 90 years old last week. He has been a rodeo cowboy, a college football player, a roughneck, a soldier, a gold miner, a carpenter, a hunter, a commercial and subsistence fisherman, a dog musher, a bush pilot, a dentist, a businessman, a State representative, an author, an artist, an all-around rabble-rouser, and an Alaskan renaissance man through and through. But most importantly, he is a dedicated father, grandfather, husband to his wife, Mary Jane, for 65 years, and a man who has lived his life in service to his country, his State, and his community--very worthy of being our Alaskan of the Week. So Bud Fate was born on December 4, 1929--90 years ago last week--and raised in Eastern Oregon--Cowtown, he called it. He began riding a horse when he was just 6 years old, eventually riding on the rodeo circuit, getting bucked off horses all across the American West. He went to college at the University of Washington, where he initially played football. After he got hurt, he enrolled in a drama class and had dreams, when he made his way to California, to Hollywood, to work as an actor or as a stuntman in cowboy movies and films. As it turned out, it wasn't California that called him; it was Alaska that called him--specifically, a good job in the far north of Alaska, a place called Umiat, working on oil rigs not too far away from what would become the biggest oil find ever in North America, the mammoth field at Prudhoe Bay. Bud was 20 years old, working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even though it was a barren and cold, cold place--this was in the winter--he fell in love with it. Alaska grabbed him, as it does to certain types of adventuresome, intelligent, and fiercely independent individuals. It grabbed Bud, and it didn't let go--never let go. He was one of the drillers working on the shift which brought the first oil to the surface that came out of this rig in Umiat. Bud likes to describe it as this almost beautiful orange color, some of the first oil in Alaska in the fifties, early fifties--pretty exciting. He was working on the slope when, in 1950, a radio message came in where they were working that the United States was at war in Korea. Bud said: I remember thinking it wouldn't affect me way up here on the North Slope of Alaska. Nobody is going to find me, a 20- year-old, but 2 weeks later, I got my first draft notice. That is what Bud said. I guess it goes to show you Uncle Sam can find you anywhere if he wants you. As a U.S. Army corporal, Bud was attached to the 11th Airborne Division when he got deployed not to Korea but actually back to Alaska. He was charged with riding the lead Jeep to conduct the combat survey on all the twists and turns of the newly constructed, 1,700-mile-long Alcan Highway, advising the mission commanders about the Arctic, cold weather, and Alaska. A couple of years later, he was out of the Army, back in Alaska, and he was having a drink one night at the famous Rendezvous Club in Fairbanks, a tongue-tied veteran, he was, and in walks a Miss Alaska contestant--or should I say, from Bud's perspective, in walks destiny. Whom am I talking about? Who was the destiny? Well, it is Mary Jane Evans, a young, smart--according to Bud-- ``Hollywood beautiful'' Athabaskan woman from the small Yukon River village of Rampart. She took his breath away. As a matter of fact, she took everybody's breath away. Now, Bud, at this event, was wearing moccasins. Mary Jane was wearing stilettos, and she promptly stepped on his toes, but it was still love at first sight for both of them, and according to Bud, it still is, 65 years later. For 65 years, they forged a life together, Bud and Mary Jane, the theme of which centered around public service. Always working together, they raised three beautiful, kind and keenly intelligent daughters--keenly intelligent--and they worked to fundamentally change Alaska for the better, both through institutions and volunteering at organizations and through individual actions that profoundly impacted so many Alaskans over the years. Eventually Bud, using the GI bill, went back to college, and then he went to get his degree in dentistry. He was a beloved dentist not only in Fairbanks but all across the region. Now, he was a bush pilot, and he had a plane, so he and Mary Jane, who was a trained dental assistant, traveled all around the small villages in the interior. Trust me, these villages do not and certainly back then did not have any dental care, so they provided dental care throughout the interior to tiny, little communities for free, for anybody who needed it. As their three daughters were growing up--Janine, Jennifer, and Julie--it was a big time, a momentous time, in Alaska. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was being debated. One of the biggest land settlements in American or all history took place right here on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Bud and Mary Jane were both highly involved in this monumentally important bill for Alaska and in the overarching efforts to attain rights and lands for the Alaska Native people. One of Bud's best friends was Ralph Perdue, a strong Alaska Native leader, who, along with Mary Jane and Bud, founded the Fairbanks Native Association. Working together, they focused heavily on education for Alaska Natives, particularly high school education, something most Americans take for granted. Until 1970, rural Alaska--a huge swath of America--by and large did not have any high schools. The small communities, small villages, did not have any high schools. To get a high school education, young students and even children had to leave their homes and their villages and travel to boarding schools in very faraway places in Alaska and in the lower 48. Now, that was an injustice--one, among others, that the Fairbanks Native Association decided to tackle. They produced studies. They gave lectures. They talked to State officials. They talked to Federal officials. They and so many others across the State helped lay the groundwork for the seminal lawsuit brought by a group of Alaskans that resulted in a State-signed consent decree to provide high schools in communities throughout the State--communities with at least 15 students--rather than sending their children all across Alaska, hundreds of miles away, or to the lower 48, thousands of miles away. At the time, this education settlement was the largest education settlement in American history, but Bud's commitment to education didn't stop there--not even close. He was on the Board of Regents for the University of Alaska, eventually serving as president of the university. It should be noted that later, Mary Jane, his wife, also served on this very important board. With a combined 24 years of service together, Bud and Mary Jane were on the University of Alaska Board of Regents. Bud helped run the university when the president abruptly resigned. He and Mary Jane also opened their home to villagers all across the State who came to Fairbanks and just needed a place to stay. They knew that Bud and Mary Jane would take them in. ``Our house was always full,'' their lovely daughter Julie said. There were always people living with us who were empowering themselves through education. To this day, I still have Alaskans stop to tell me how they were helped and given a second chance by my parents. As Julie also noted, there was always a huge amount of smoked salmon strips on the table for all to share--the best smoked salmon in Alaska, I might add. There is so much more to Bud Fate's life. For instance, at the young, tender age of 70, he decided he was going to run for office. He ran for the State legislature, and he won in a landslide. He served two terms. He was immediately elected chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, which is a huge, important committee in Alaska, and was highly respected on both sides of the aisle. The list of boards and commissions that he sat on is way too long to go into here, as is the list of service organizations he has volunteered for and led. He has known Presidents of countries and dignitaries from all over the globe. He is as comfortable at his fish camp on the Yukon River as he is in the board room. As I mentioned, he is a rabble rouser with very strong opinions--I have heard them for many years, but at heart all of his opinions are focused on a commitment to treat everybody with respect and kindness and provide every Alaskan--every American--an opportunity to better themselves. He is a good man--Bud Fate--one of the best. The measure of Bud and the impact of his life is probably best reflected in his family and his friends, so many of whom gathered in Fairbanks on December 4 for his 90th birthday, where people from all walks of life all across the State came together--well over 100--talked about his generosity, how it impacted them, how it impacted families, and how it impacted people all around him. People gave speeches about how he and Mary Jane took in people from all walks of life--veterans coming back from Vietnam who needed comfort and respect, people who needed a helping hand, food, warmth, just love. He lifted people up, so did Mary Jane, and they saved lives. I was actually one of those people giving a speech in Fairbanks at Bud's 90th birthday party, and I talked about the profound impact Bud has had on my own life--after all, Bud Fate is my father-in-law, and I can't imagine a better one. He has taught me so much. Bud and Mary Jane, along with my own mom and dad, have provided me a model--actually, for me and Julie, my wife, of what a true partnership looks like. He is a model for how fulfilling a life of service can be, especially a life in the great State of Alaska. As I mentioned, he is not just a model for me but for the whole State of a life well lived and a life lived in full. So, Bud, thanks for all you have done for Alaska, for America, for Fairbanks, for our family, for our great State, and all you continue to do. Thanks for being a great father-in-law and a friend, and, Bud, congratulations on being our Alaskan of the Week. I yield the floor.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to thank my friend from the great State of Montana, Senator Tester. This is actually a bill that he and I have cosponsored out of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and it is a companion bill that we are going to be bringing over from the House to vote on here in a couple of minutes to hopefully get this on the President's desk very soon to get him to sign it. There is a lot of legislation that focuses on these kinds of issues: How do we address this growing problem of suicide in our country? The real tragedy is that all suicides are tragic, but there are very high numbers of suicides that impact our veterans. My State, the great State of Alaska, has more vets per capita than any State in the country. We are proud of that patriotic fact. Sadly, we also have some of the highest suicide rates in America. So since I have come to this body, I have had the privilege to serve my fellow Alaskans, and focusing on suicide has been a very, very important issue for me. It is a very important issue for my constituents, and it is a very important issue for America. As a matter of fact, the first bill I cosponsored as a U.S. Senator was called the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, which was named after a young marine who had a number of deployments, and, unfortunately, when he was seeking help, he couldn't really get it, and this young, brave hero took his own life. This should be a priority for the Senate. We have been prioritizing the veterans and the members of the military who are in crisis when we draft legislation that tries to address these challenges, but what we are doing today is also important. This bill actually focuses on the people who help our veterans. These are suicide prevention coordinators. They are specially trained employees at the VA medical centers who identify and connect high-risk veterans with the care they need. Across the Nation, these VA professionals conduct outreach, promote awareness, and disseminate suicide prevention best practices. They are, literally, on the frontlines. But, as you can imagine, this isn't an easy job. This is a hard job, and there are reports that many of these prevention coordinators throughout the VA system are overworked and unable to keep up with their many responsibilities. What we are focused on here is that we want to make sure that the people who are helping our veterans are also taken care of and adequately resourced so that they can do the best job in terms of helping our veterans. The VA must have a skilled and resourced workforce available, trained to recognize the warning signs of a veteran in crisis, and then be able to work with that veteran, hopefully successfully, to connect them with lifesaving resources before it is too late. That is what the Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act requires. That is what Senator Tester and I worked on together to bring this out of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and, hopefully, if we get that right, then, it has a positive impact on lessening this high rate of suicide among our veterans. Senator Tester mentioned what is in this, but it is not just additional resources. It is also a comprehensive study by the GAO to make sure that our coordinators are resourced and have a strategy to make sure they can do their jobs most effectively to impact our veterans. It is an overall look at the VA system of preventing veteran suicide with a focus on these frontline coordinators who do really, really important work. They are not always recognized. For those who are doing that work, I commend you, the Senate commends you, and I think we are going to have an overwhelming vote here in a couple minutes that will make sure of your ability to do this really, really important job for our veterans and for our Nation and that you are going to be able to do it better. I applaud the leadership on both sides of the aisle for bringing this bill to the floor, and I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation. Let's get it on the President's desk for his signature soon, and we can take another step--another step--to make sure that we are taking care of our veterans and are trying to address this horribly tragic situation where far too many veterans in America are taking their own lives.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Geoffrey Clift, a Navy fellow in Senator Cruz's office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is Thursday. I know the pages know this, and many people watching know this, but it is that time of the day in the Senate when I come down on the Senate floor and talk about somebody who makes my State a very unique and special place--and it is an opportunity for me to talk a little bit about what is going on in Alaska right now, particularly before the holidays--somebody we refer to in Alaska and here in the Senate as the Alaskan of the Week. Before I get into this very special Alaskan, I will give you a little weather update. A lot of people like to understand what is going on. Winter has come. It is coming to Alaska. Snow has arrived throughout much of the State. In Southcentral Alaska it has come. Anchorage is covered in snow. A lot of people are getting ready to undertake winter. Sports and activities on Monday in Utqiagvik, the northernmost point in North America--it used to be called Point Barrow--the Sun rose and set for the last time until January 23. So it is going to be dark up there, but they are used to that. They are great people. The community has now officially settled in for a bit of a dark Arctic winter, but they have been doing that for a millennium. It is a winter wonderland right now throughout Alaska. So I always encourage people watching, watching on TV, to come on up. Summer, winter, fall, spring, come on up and visit. You will love it. It will be the trip of a lifetime. As I mentioned before, I think I come from the most beautiful State in the country, but it is also a place made up of the most important, caring, wonderful, generous, and supportive people anywhere. Some of these people have had ancestors living in Alaska for thousands and thousands of years. Others arrived more recently but immediately found a home in a community that they were supportive of and was supportive of them. Let me introduce you to Rosemary Habeich. Her friends call her Rosie. She is an extraordinary Alaskan who has done extraordinary things for our people. She is our Alaskan of the Week. What has she done? What is extraordinary about Rosie? Let me just mention one off the top, which is pretty remarkable-- fostering over 50 Alaskan children with her husband, Eben Hobson, Jr. I should add here that Eben is the son of the first mayor of Alaska's North Slope Borough and someone who has also fought for the rights of Alaska Natives throughout his life. He deserves mention, as well as his wife, as a legendary Alaskan. Not only did Rosie and Eben foster all these children, they adopted three, and raised five of their own children. That is a crowded household but a kind, loving, supportive and warm household--a place of love. I can say here that the recommendation for Rosie to be our Alaskan of the Week comes from our First Alaskans Institute fellow, Elizabeth Ahkivgak, who is right here with me and who has done a great job in my office. Elizabeth is one of dozens and dozens of children Rosie and Eben took into their bright home and loved them so much so they could love themselves. Let me tell you a little bit about Rosie, our Alaskan of the Week. She was born in Idaho. Like too many Americans, unfortunately, she actually came from a broken home. Her mother was battling an illness and sometimes was too sick to handle Rosie and her siblings. It was during one of those bouts of illness that Rosie herself briefly became a foster child. That experience, the experience of visiting her mother in an institution, and the kindness of neighbors who stepped up and helped during those very difficult years would form the basis of Rosie's steadfast belief that helping others in your community throughout your State is a higher calling. Eventually, Rosie moved with her family to Fairbanks when she was just a young girl. Those were good years for her and her family. She thrived in Alaska, went to college, and became a social worker for the State. Eventually, her work took her to Utqiagvik--as I mentioned, formerly Barrow, AK--where she fell in love both with her husband, Eben, and with the community. She found in Utqiagvik that if you had a good idea and were willing to do the work and see it through, you could succeed with the help of others, and she did succeed. At various points during her time in the North Slope Borough of our great State, she worked as the director of the city's rec department, director of the health department, and executive director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. She also sat on the board for the Rural Alaska Community Action Plan. She was a public health nurse and was appointed director of the North Slope Borough Health Department by two different mayors. That is an impressive resume, as you see. She now spends much of her time in Anchorage, where she volunteers for a group called Friends in Serving Humanity, or F.I.S.H.--a church network that feeds the hungry. On many days, you can find her in different communities handing out meals and food boxes often paid for out of her own pocket. Rosie gives her all to everything she does, but one of her truly lasting contributions to Alaska and to her community is how she has taken in so many children across the State who need a home, who need support, and who need love. She took in siblings. She took in infants. She took in teenagers. She took them from all backgrounds, from all across the State, and she loved them. She was patient with them. She intuitively understood what they needed and when they needed it. Some of the children she took in were horribly abused, most others were homesick, and some were confused. In Alaska, getting running water to households across the State has long been a major challenge, one we are still working on today. If you can believe this--this is certainly one of my passions in the Senate-- we have over 30 communities in Alaska with no flush toilets, no water and sewer--in America. Many of the children who came to Rosie were from these kinds of households and these kinds of communities. Many had never flushed a toilet in their lives. She was sensitive to all this. One of the first things she did when a child came to her was to teach her how a faucet and a bathroom and a toilet worked. Then she fed them. Rosie's cooking is renowned. She listened to them and loved them. This is how one of her former foster children described the experience of walking into Rosie's home: Imagine coming from a place with nothing--absolutely nothing, [poverty]--and you walk into a normal house, filled with normal things that people and the rest of America take for granted--a warm house, a flush toilet, food on the stove, adults who speak to you [kindly]. It was like visiting a toy store for the first time. It was like visiting a different planet. It showed us what [a good] life could be like. Not all of Rosie's kids made it out of a life of challenges and dysfunction and abuse, but many of them have. Many have broken the cycle of violence in their families for the first time. Some of them, along with their biological children and the ones she has adopted, are now doing great things for our State and our country. They are successfully running businesses. They have joined the military. They have worked at high levels of government. One of them, who is sitting right here next to me on the Senate floor, works in my office. We are lucky to have Elizabeth. All of them, regardless of where they are now ``have a place in my heart,'' says Rosie. Why does she do it? Why has this woman given herself to so many others and changed so many lives? She tells a story about a time when her mother was sick and had to go back into the institution, leaving her to take care of her four younger siblings. It was Christmastime, and Rosie literally had nothing. So the neighbors got together, left boxes of presents at the door of their house, and brought over Christmas dinner when she was young and needed help. ``That's the way life is supposed to be,'' Rosie said. ``You're supposed to recognize when people have less than you, and you are supposed to help them out. It doesn't matter if you're looking at it through a biblical lens, or through karma, or through Buddha. Giving is fundamental.'' That is her quote: ``Giving is fundamental.'' All the Senators here today are heading home and heading back to the great States they represent for Thanksgiving, which we will be celebrating next week--a uniquely American holiday that all of us love and cherish so much. I know I certainly do. Rosie and Eben's story and commitment to others are exactly the kinds of things we as Americans should be thankful for as we are celebrating Thanksgiving next week. Giving is fundamental. I know I am thankful for what they have done. Their household will be full this holiday season--friends, family, children. At some point this season, she will make her famous apple sausage stuffing, a recipe she learned from her own foster mother and one she has passed down to foster kids all across the great State of Alaska. It is made with love and with kindness and with thanksgiving. Rosie, thank you for all you have done. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for your spirit, your generosity, and your example as we head into Thanksgiving weekend, for touching so many lives across Alaska. Congratulations on being our Alaskan of the Week and happy Thanksgiving. I yield the floor.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Elizabeth Ahkivgak, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the day.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to join my colleagues here on the importance of the VAWA reauthorization. In particular, I want to thank Senator Ernst for her months of hard work that she has put into this bill that we are introducing today. I am a proud cosponsor on that bill. You saw in her remarks earlier her passion, her energy, and her focus on rural America, which is very important to me and my great State of Alaska. I am hopeful, as all of my colleagues here are, including our friend from California, Senator Feinstein, that we in the Senate are going to get to a place where we can have a bipartisan bill that is going to reauthorize VAWA. This is hugely important for America, and it is hugely important for Alaska. I come down to the floor every week and I talk about someone who is doing something great in my State. I like to brag about the great State of Alaska. It is an amazing place, but, I will tell you, there is one area where we are not so amazing. My State, unfortunately, has the highest rates of domestic violence and sexual assault of any State in America. It is horrendous. The number of victims and the carnage that this leaves in Alaska and throughout our country are something we should be able to come together and fix. We can do this. I want to talk about a provision in Senator Ernst's bill that is something that I have been working on with her, but, importantly, with many Senators, including a lot of my Democratic colleagues. It is title XII of the bill. It is called the ``Choose Respect'' title. This is a series of bills that I have introduced with Senators Gillibrand, Harris, and Coons, my Democratic colleagues, and it is focused on trying to change the culture and get more legal resources to victims and to survivors. Why is that so important? When you look at the studies that show what is the best way for a survivor to break out of the cycle of violence that they often find themselves in, one of the answers is to get them an attorney. It empowers them. It enables them to use the justice system to their advantage. Yet here is the problem. When you look-- literally, on a daily basis--at the lack of legal representation for victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, it is endemic across the country. So a number of the elements of this bill, particularly under the ``Choose Respect'' title, are going to try to change this. Last year, we had legislation that I authored that was passed into law and was then signed by the President. It was called the POWER Act and was about getting more legal resources for survivors. It was a good start, but it didn't do enough. The bill this year--again, a bill that I cosponsored earlier with Senator Harris of California--focuses on this issue. Think about this: If you have an accused abuser--let's say an accused rapist--and if there is an indictment, under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, that perpetrator gets a right to counsel. OK. That is our Constitution. That is fine. What does the victim get? What does the survivor get? Right now, the victim gets nothing. Far too often, victims go without any legal representation, and that is often the beginning of a cycle they fall into. One of the provisions of this would be, once there is an indictment of a crime of violence, that the Federal Government would help to ensure the goal of having the victim also get an attorney through State domestic violence counsels. These are just some of the elements of this bill. Senator Gillibrand and I have legislation that is part of this. It is called the Choose Respect Act, which would have a public advocacy program to try to get young men in particular to start changing our culture. It is not just a problem in Alaska; it is a problem throughout the country. There are many things in this bill that are very bipartisan, and I certainly am committed to working with Senator Cornyn, Senator Hoeven, Senator Blackburn, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Ernst in order to get to the compromises we need to make in the Senate to pass this bill. That is what we want to have done. That is why we are all here on the floor, talking about this passionately. I think we can do it because it is too important to miss this opportunity to pass legislation that is going to help some of the most vulnerable people in our country and in my State, and I am certainly committed to working with everybody here to make it happen. I yield the floor.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, we just celebrated Veterans Day here in the Senate, back home, and across our great country in the States that all of us represent. Everybody was celebrating our troops, our military, and supporting their families. You hear that word ``support'' a lot when it comes to Veterans Day and our military and their families, but I am going to talk a little bit about that rhetoric. That is great. Senators talk a lot. But that is very disconnected from what actually is going on in the Senate right now and what is happening in terms of the action of supporting our troops. I came to the floor a couple of weeks ago to talk about this. I was pretty fired up. I am someone who is very collegial with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but the one thing I have noticed is that there is talk on supporting troops and then there is action. The rhetoric, particularly with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, doesn't always match what is actually happening. I would like to explain to my constituents at home, the American people, and anyone watching what is happening right now with regard to supporting our troops--the action, not rhetoric--the action. Two weeks ago, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle filibustered the Defense appropriations bill. That is the bill that funds our troops. We had a big budget deal. We all agreed to it. It is hard to vote for it. I voted for it because it actually supports rebuilding our military pretty significantly after the Obama- era cuts. I voted for that. We are starting to bring up these minibus appropriations. We had one a couple of weeks ago. We debated and voted on it. The plan was to bring up the Defense approps bill. What did my colleagues on the other side of the aisle do? They filibustered it. It was the ninth time since I have been in the Senate that my colleagues decided to filibuster the spending for our troops. There is no other bill in the body of the Senate that the Democrats filibuster more than the bill that funds our troops. They don't want you to know that. They don't go home and brag about it because they should be ashamed about it, but that is what they did. Despite this budget deal and despite all of this great support for our troops, right now, my colleagues, for the ninth time since I have been a Senator, which is 5 years--nine times they filibustered the spending for the men and women who serve in the military. I ask the leaders to come out and explain that to the American people. Explain that to the press. Explain that to the people watching on TV. They don't. I think most of my colleagues don't want to do it, but they are told to do it because their leadership wants another priority. That is what is happening. They talk about supporting our troops, but then the action is that we are actually not supporting our troops at all. We are keeping funding away from them because we are trying to leverage the desire to support our military and a Defense appropriations bill for other political goals. This has happened nine times. There is no other bill since I have been elected to the Senate that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle filibuster more. When they want leverage on a nonmilitary issue, they filibuster spending for the troops. I would welcome some of my colleagues to come and explain why they do that. That is one issue. Another issue is not my colleagues in the Senate, but it is certainly the Democrats on the other side of Capitol Hill. We are now debating the National Defense Authorization Act--the NDAA, as we call it. This is the heartbeat of the Congress. Why? It has passed this body 58 years in a row. That is the closest thing we have to a guarantee in this body. Members--Democrats and Republicans--come together, and we set forward--coming out of the Armed Services Committee, on which I sit-- the NDAA, which oversees, reforms, and authorizes important programs for our national defense and sets spending authorization for the entire military. Again, this process is normally very bipartisan, and it has been and continues to be in the Senate. I give Chairman Inhofe, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, my good friend from Oklahoma, and Senator Reed from Rhode Island, the ranking member, enormous credit for getting a bill that came out of committee 25 to 2. That is very bipartisan. Then, when it came to the Senate floor, it was 86 to 8. OK. That is the Senate saying: Hey, this is really important. We are going to take care of our military. We are going to lay out the policies and the topline numbers for rebuilding our military after the massive cuts from 2010 to 2015. So that is positive. Why am I complaining about it? Well, that bill right now on the House side, as we have gone into conference, is stuck. It is stuck. Many of the more extreme Members on the House side, who really aren't big supporters of the military--let's call a spade a spade--are now not allowing us to move forward on any kind of compromise in the broader NDAA as we move into conference. There are provisions that are very important to the military that this body strongly supported in a bipartisan way, but right now, because of what is going on in the House--the leadership in the House, which seems to be a lot more focused on other issues and not the national security of our Nation, is not moving forward on any compromise. Who does this benefit? Well, it certainly doesn't help our troops. It certainly doesn't help our military. It certainly doesn't help their families. I can guarantee you, whether it is our adversaries or potential adversaries--Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran--as they are watching the stalemate on the NDAA, they are very pleased. This is something we need to come together and address. I am asking the chairman of the Armed Services Committee over on the House side, Chairman Adam Smith, and others to work with the Senate, work with Chairman Inhofe, work with Senator Reed on getting to the compromises we all know we need to move this bill for the fifth year in a row to support our military. We think that should be based on the Senate bill. When you have 86 Senators vote for something--a superbipartisan majority--that should be the basis for compromise. But it is stalled. The chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Chairman Inhofe, has done a great job. He is a very patient man. He and Senator Reed, the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, are frustrated. We are frustrated. The troops are frustrated. We don't have much time to waste. Again, I would like to conclude by saying that there is a lot of rhetoric here. There is a lot of rhetoric about supporting our troops. But what we need is action. By the way, I think a lot of times my colleagues are like, well, you know the men and women in the military are not really watching this. They don't really know that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have filibustered the funding for what they need nine times in the last 4\1/2\ years--nine times. It is disgraceful, in my view. People think, well, they are not really watching what is going on with the NDAA, how the extreme elements of the Democratic Party and the House side are making sure there is no compromise so that we can't move this bill. Guess what. They are watching. They know this. When they don't get support from the Congress of the United States, it is a problem for our military, not just in terms of the resources they need but in terms of morale. I am going to ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: The next time you go home and give speeches about supporting our troops, supporting our families, do me a favor. Don't come back to this body and filibuster their spending or, for the Members of the House, don't stake out such obstinate positions that you know there is going to be no compromise on an NDAA bill that is really important to our military and has strong bipartisan support in this body. I know some of my other colleagues are going to be on the floor talking about this NDAA issue, talking about the Defense appropriations issue. Again, let's match the rhetoric we all talked about with regard to Veterans Day--about supporting our troops--with action on the floor, not just hot air and words.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is Thursday afternoon, and that means it is one of my favorite times in the U.S. Senate because I get to come to the Senate floor and recognize an Alaskan who has done something that is great for our State, great for the community, great for the country--you name it. I come here and brag about somebody I represent in Alaska, and I call this person the Alaskan of the Week. I know the Presiding Officer likes it, and the pages certainly do. What I like to do when I am starting this speech each week is talk to our visitors in the Gallery and people who are watching on TV to give a little update on what is going on in Alaska and encourage a visit. You will have the visit of a lifetime, guaranteed, if you come to Alaska. Right now, as you can imagine, the great white north winter is coming in parts of the State. It has definitely arrived in other parts. Winter is a great time to be in Alaska, not just the summer. You can ski, snowboard, and at the end of the day sit back, drink something warm, and watch the northern lights dance in our sky. So come visit. You will love coming to visit Alaska. What is really nice to do if you come and visit now is to wear a fur in Alaska. We have some great furriers in Alaska, but David Green Master Furrier in Anchorage is one of the oldest, most well respected, and certainly one of the best in our State and, I think, in the country. It is an Alaskan institution, and our Alaskan of the Week, Mr. Perry Green, one of the kindest, most generous, most patriotic, hard- working Alaskans, has worked throughout the decades to keep this great institution that way. Let me tell you a little bit about Perry Green. His father David was from New York. He was enthralled with Alaska, a huge fan of the characters that Alaska attracts, as well as Jack London's ``Call of the Wild.'' So David moved to Washington State to be close to Alaska, where he eventually opened stores many, many years ago. Perry Green, David's son, was born in Seattle on March 17, 1936. That is St. Patrick's Day. How great is that? I always knew Perry had a little Irish in him. He recalled: My father would come back from Alaska with such great stories, and all the Alaska sourdoughs would come to visit him. They sat at the dinner table and I was enthralled with their tales. Anyone who knows anything about Alaska knows those stories, has heard about them, read about them--bear attacks, moose charges, frostbite, crossing perilous rivers, traversing vast landscapes under the dancing skies, wolves howling in the distance, fires barely starting at 40 below, and countless stories about being saved by the kindness of strangers out on the trail. Perry also came of age during World War II. His father made fur ruffs for the soldiers' parkas, which set the stage for Perry's enduring patriotism and support for our troops. He said: I remember watching the troops head overseas, the wonderful parades. It all made me swell up with pride. I would say that Perry Green is the most patriotic American I know, and we have a lot of patriots in Alaska. He met his beautiful future wife, the beautiful Gloria, gracious Gloria, when they were both young and began dating as teenagers, and they have been together ever since. As a matter of fact, that is 63 years of marriage. That is something to be celebrated. Perry said that marrying Gloria was the best decision he ever made. I know Gloria, and I would certainly agree with Perry, and I would certainly agree with this: Like me, he definitely married up. Like his father, he traveled back and forth to Washington State often for work. He went to Alaska to work on the Alaska Railroad in order to save enough money to buy Gloria a wedding ring. He served in the U.S. Army for 3 years, and eventually he and Gloria made their way to our great State to forge a life together. They have been there ever since, and what a life they have lived. Initially, Perry worked at his father's store in downtown Anchorage, but for a time he broke out on his own and started the Anchorage Fur Trading Company, which became the largest fur dealer in Alaska, and it was wildly successful. He traveled all across the State--300 villages in all, some of them multiple times--buying furs from the locals. He traveled by dog team, by sled, by snow machine, by bush plane, and everywhere he went he was greeted warmly and generously by people in rural Alaska in these villages. He said: I learned so much from the Alaska Native people. I was in awe of their kindness, their respect for elders, and their rich, cultural heritage. That time in rural Alaska was one of the best times of his life and laid the foundation for what has been one of Perry Green's biggest loves--our State, the great State of Alaska, which he has given his all to. His company, David Green Master Furrier, is an iconic business in downtown Anchorage because they sell some of the best and most beautiful furs around, no doubt, but also because of Perry and his extended family, who have done such a great job of running the company for decades. My daughters and I have a little tradition on Christmas Eve. We head over to this great store and look for something to buy my wife, their mom. It is a fun, fun tradition that we do. Perry has been the face of the store for decades. People still remember his quirky commercials featuring tarantulas, huge athletes chasing him around, and always the tagline, ``If you don't know your furs, know your furrier.'' It seems that all of Anchorage and so much of Alaska knew their furrier. It should be noted that they also know this Alaska furrier in Las Vegas as well. Perry Green is a very good poker player and has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and has made it to the final table of the World Series of Poker main event in Vegas two times. How about that for an adventurous life? It wasn't just his store and Perry's love of a good poker game that has endeared him to so many Alaskans. A man of deep faith, he is one of the most generous people in my State and one of the most committed Alaskans to public service and helping others. ``I never was interested in being rich,'' Perry said. ``I wanted to do something positive for other people because that's the greatest thing you can do.'' He has sat on nearly every board there is. You name it--the taxicab commission, the insurance board, the planning and zoning board, the symphony and opera board, the Rotary board, and a member of the Elks Club, the Masons, the Alaska Jewish Campus and Museum. The list goes on and on in terms of his service. He also raises money for numerous causes. ``I can't think of a fundraising effort that his name isn't a part of,'' his longtime friend Gordon Glaser said about Perry. Perry is especially generous in causes that raise money for our men and women in uniform. On the eve of Veterans Day, we can't thank him enough for that. ``Anyone who's been in Anchorage in the last two generations knows that if you need something done, Perry will do it,'' his friend Gordon said. If you are down on your luck or if you need a job, need a place to stay, or need some assistance, Perry will help. Every community, every State, has leaders like this. We all know those types of people. They are very special, and he is one of them. Perry and his wife Gloria are also personally generous with their house--a lively, happy place open to people all across our State and, really, the world. Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, another longtime friend of Perry's, credits him for teaching him and so many others ``how to be an Alaskan.'' What does that mean? According to Mayor Berkowitz, it means that he brought the spirit of Tikkun Olam to Alaska. That is a Hebrew phrase meaning healing the world. Perry has brought this to our State one generous act at a time, one community at a time. Perry and Gloria will be honored at Alaska's Jewish Gala next week-- one of our State's most fun and memorable events. It will be next Saturday evening, and I will be there for sure. It is a time when we all can gather together, celebrate the vital role the Jewish community has played in our great State, and be reminded that Alaska is a place where we can all come together and take care of each other the way the Greens have been doing for decades. Rabbi Yosef Greenberg, a good friend of mine and another extremely generous man who has given so much to our State, says that the mission of the Alaska Jewish Campus that Perry Green has been so generous to is ``Warming up Alaska!'' ``In the 60 years of Alaska's statehood,'' said Rabbi Greenberg, ``Perry Green has warmed up Alaska, not only with his David Green fur coats but even more so with the joys of his life, big heart, and lending a hand to ordinary Alaskans and anyone in need.'' That is how he has warmed up our great State. Perry and Gloria have done so much for Alaska. They are highly deserving of this recognition they will be receiving at the Jewish Gala next week. Congratulations to them and their 5 children, 13 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, and all of the extended Green family, so many of whom continue to serve our State and country so well. Perry, from your friend, congratulations on being our Alaskan of the Week. I yield the floor.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is one of my favorite times during the week, when I get to come to the Senate floor--I know it is the pages' favorite time--to talk a little bit about Alaska and talk about my State and present what we weekly call the ``Alaskan of the Week.'' It is the opportunity to talk about someone in the community who has done something great for their community, for the State, maybe for America, and I would like to recognize this great variety of wonderful Alaskans, great Americans, whom we have in my State and talk about them. By the way, I always like to give a little update on what is going on in Alaska and to talk to people who are in the Gallery and who are watching on TV and encourage them--now is the time to plan your next trip to Alaska if you are going to come next summer. But, also, you should know that winter, which is coming--it has pretty much come to Alaska--is a great time to visit too. It is a winter wonderland. You can ski, snowboard, and at end of the day, sit back and drink something warm and watch the northern lights dance in the sky. You can't do that in many States in our great Nation. So come on up for the trip of a lifetime. We want you to come whether it is summer, winter, fall, spring; it doesn't matter. You will not be disappointed if you come visit us in the great State of Alaska. I am going to break the rules a little bit on the Alaskan of the Week because I usually recognize one, but today I am going to recognize four extraordinary Alaskans. They are four teachers in my State who are the recent recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Joshua Hall is a math teacher at Dimond High School in Anchorage and the chair of the math program there. Jennifer Childress is also a teacher at Dimond, teaching science and engineering courses. She currently teaches 11th and 12th grade physics and Advanced Placement physics. Dawn Wilcox teaches second grade at Campbell Elementary School in Anchorage, and Angie Wright teaches 4th and 5th grade math at Auke Bay Elementary in Juneau, AK. We are very, very proud of them. This is a great achievement for all four of these wonderful teachers. This award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government specifically for K-12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science teaching--something we need more of, not just in Alaska but in America. And we need great teachers who can do this, and that is what this award recognizes. As any State has--Alaska, North Dakota--we have thousands of teachers in my State who do such great work day in and day out to make sure our next generation is not only educated on the facts but who also understand, in the words of the great leader Nelson Mandela, ``Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.'' Nelson Mandela said that. These four teachers have been working hard every day for years so that their students will go out and do just that--change the world; make Alaska, America, the world a better place. They, as well as our teachers all across the country, all across Alaska, certainly have one of the most important and most difficult jobs, so we salute all of them, but I want to salute these four teachers in a little bit more detail. They have chosen not only to master these science, engineering, physics subjects, but to teach it to the next generation. Despite a slight improvement in the STEM skills of Americans over the last 20 years, it is widely recognized that the United States is still being outpaced by countries all over the world in these critical subject matters. Now, more than ever, our country desperately needs skilled Americans, skilled professionals, who can innovate for our Nation, who can improve our Nation's infrastructure, advance our healthcare system, build the tools that defend our country, and ensure our Nation's prosperity and a strong economy. We need STEM education. There is so much to say about all four of these teachers, but let me give you a brief example of how they are teaching the youth of Alaska in these critical areas. Mr. Hall is a math teacher at Dimond High School who, by the way, has former students and fans in my office. This is a bit of a theme. A lot of these teachers have taught a lot of my staff right now, including Jesse here. Mr. Hall has been an educator for more than 20 years. He has been teaching math for the past 14 years at Dimond High, and as the department chair, he decided that the school needed an event where math students could show and take pride in the skills they are learning. He worked with another math teacher to design and organize a schoolwide math competition. They just had their fourth annual event, and 175 students participated. The audience cheered; students were excited. It was a huge deal. Studying math is really cool. It is great. Gosh, there were 175 students. So that is Mr. Hall. Mrs. Childress is also at Dimond High and also has a big fan base in my office of former students, including Jesse, I believe. She has taught for over 20 years, 14 of which have been teaching science and engineering courses at Dimond. She helped found the Engineering Academy at Dimond, and she and another teacher developed and ran a program called Smart Girls Rock! Smart Girls Rock! exposes freshman and sophomore girls to female engineers from Anchorage and encourages young women to pursue STEM careers. As a father of three daughters, I know just how important it is to do that. Here is a fun fact: Mrs. Childress and Mr. Hall have been married for 23 years, which makes this award all the more special for both of them. I would call them a true power couple in Alaska STEM education. Miss Wilcox, a teacher from Campbell Elementary, has had a 20-year career and has been teaching at Campbell for the past 3 years. Working with her colleagues, she created a STEM school at Campbell--the first STEM elementary school in Anchorage. Again, these are innovators. You can tell these teachers are innovators. Also, as a project for the Iditarod Teacher in Every Classroom, which is a science program based on our famous sled dog race, the Iditarod, she worked with another colleague to get their classroom to adopt and improve a local park. Miss Wilcox's second graders appeared before the school board, the community council, and the parks commission to advocate for their idea. So not only are they learning STEM, but they are learning civics. For their efforts, they were awarded a $20,000 Anchorage Parks Foundation matching grant, and the park now has outdoor learning labs, paths, signs, and is a joy to visit. So all of you visitors who are going to come to Alaska have to make sure you check out this great new innovation in our parks. Finally, let me talk about Ms. Wright. Ms. Wright has been an educator for over 16 years. She began her career teaching in rural Alaska, which I view as the heart and soul of our State. For the last 7 years she taught at Auke Bay in Juneau, where she was born and raised. She is passionate about incorporating place-based knowledge into the classroom. She says that every year her students participate in place- based learning. They pick berries, a traditional part of the Alaska Native subsistence lifestyle, in order to gather the data and more detailed information about our incredible environments throughout the State. ``Students in my classroom learn a lot of Alaskan Native languages and participate in a Tlingit dance group, performing around southeast Alaska.'' She also takes her fourth and fifth grade students on a field trip to the muskeg ecosystem to learn how animals adapt to survive in different environments. ``Teaching in Alaska is a gift and taking advantage of it is something I value very much,'' Ms. Wright said. It was, in fact, Mr. President, a sentiment expressed by all four of these teachers who won this very prestigious award. Henry Adams once wrote, ``A teacher affects eternity; he or she can never tell where their influence actually stops.'' Think about that. A teacher impacts eternity. The influence that these teachers have over the lives of so many young Alaskans will really never stop. As I mentioned, many staff members of my office are direct recipients of this influence, which will continue help to grow the next generation of leaders, of workers, of thinkers, of doers, and I am sure the next generation of teachers, through their example. I see students who, in turn, will continue to make our State and our country the great places that they are. We cannot thank these teachers enough for what they have done. So I want to congratulate Mr. Hall, Ms. Childress, Ms. Wilcox, and Ms. Wright for all they have done for this great award, for all they continue to do, for your dedication to your profession, for your passion for math and science, and for your commitment to Alaska's next generation. And, of course, I want to congratulate them on being this week's Alaskans of the Week. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 396 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The clerk will report the resolution by title. The senior legislative clerk read the resolution, as follows: A resolution (S. Res. 396) designating October 2019 as ``National Health Literacy Month''.

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. For the information of Senators, tomorrow the Senate will vote on the confirmation of the Rudofsky and Wilson nominations at 11:45 a.m. and the confirmation of the Nardini nomination at 1:45 p.m.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Jesse Oney, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Thursday, November 7; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Rudofsky nomination under the previous order.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to say a few words this afternoon about the funding of our military, the support for our troops, and what just happened on the U.S. Senate floor because it is a pretty sad exercise that, unfortunately, happens way too often in this body. I know it can be confusing to the people who are watching in the Gallery and on TV, but I want to explain what just happened because the American people should know what is happening right now in this body. Unfortunately, it is deja vu all over again on the Defense appropriations bill. Now, I enjoy my bipartisan work. Some of the best friends I have made here in the Senate have been on the other side of the aisle, but there are also principled disagreements on key issues between some of the parties here. One of them is whether we fully support our military and national defense and if we make that support a priority, not a political football, which is what we just witnessed on the Senate floor. Now, I know all of my colleagues are patriotic. I have no doubt about that--all 100. We all love our country. Yet, in our looking at history over the decades and also just in the past few years, it certainly leaves one with the impression and the strong conclusion that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle support our military when it is convenient but have much higher priorities for which they are ready and willing to undermine military funding, readiness, and support for our troops who keep us safe. To put this in context, we just voted to get on the Defense appropriations bill, which is the bill that funds our military. We had a budget agreement several months ago that did that. We just took up a previous appropriations bill. The plan in the Senate was to go from the bill on appropriations that we just passed to the Defense bill. That was the plan. Lo and behold, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said: No. We are going to filibuster the funding for our military. That is what just happened. America, media, please understand that this is what just happened. As I mentioned with regard to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, this priority for the military isn't always there. I also mentioned decades. If you look at the national Presidential level over the past four decades during which a Democratic President has been in power--think about it: President Carter, President Clinton, President Obama--what has happened? Defense spending has been cut dramatically every time, and the readiness and morale of our military forces has plummeted. That is a fact. I chair the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support. From 2010 to 2015, defense spending for our military declined by 25 percent, which was President Obama's second term, and we are still digging out of the hole we dug for our military with regard to readiness. Let me give you a couple of examples. In 2015, when I first got to the Senate, 3 out of 58 brigade combat teams in the U.S. Army were at the tier 1 level of readiness that we expect. Think about that. The men and women who joined the Army who were ready to fight were in 3 out of the 58 brigade combat teams. The brigade combat team is the 5,000-man building block of the Army, but over half of the Marine Corps naval aviation couldn't fly in 2015. Think about that. In terms of training for all pilots in the military, the flight times plummeted to, I think it was, about 8 hours a month. My very first challenge in 2015 was part of this Obama drawdown of the military. Right when I got here, they had announced that they were going to cut an additional 50,000 U.S. Army Active-Duty troops. This was in 2015. This was only 4 years ago. Again, national security challenges are growing in the world, and 4 years ago, the Obama administration cut the Army by an additional 50,000 Active-Duty troops. This included a very important unit for the Army that happened to be in my State, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division--a 5,000- man Airborne brigade combat team. It was the only airborne, Arctic- trained unit in the entire Asia-Pacific, in the entire Arctic. It was on the chopping block to go. We fought that. I fought that. It was an issue I put hundreds of hours into with my team. I put a hold on the Secretary of the Army's confirmation. I put a hold on the Chief of Staff of the Army's confirmation to finally get their attention that this was a bad idea for America's national security. We won that fight, but the other 40,000 Active-Duty troops whom the Obama administration decided to get rid of are gone, and we are still rebuilding from that. Make no mistake, if one of my colleagues who is running for President--my colleague from Massachusetts or my colleague from Vermont--gets elected next year, defense spending is going to plummet. That is just the way it is. Go look at some of the versions of the Green New Deal for which they are advocating. It is not just about shutting down resource development. Some of the versions of that legislation, of that idea, say we are going to cut defense spending up to 50 percent. That is in the legislation. So that is at the national level. What about what has been going on in the U.S. Senate? I have been here for almost 5 years. One of the big reasons I ran for the Senate was to stop the gutting of our military and to take care of our troops. I mentioned that from 2010 to 2015, readiness plummeted and that defense spending plummeted, but we have turned that around. In this Congress, with the Republicans in control and with a Republican in the White House, we have turned that around. Now we are rebuilding our military, and a lot of my Democratic colleagues have supported this. I want to give them credit. They realized the Obama cuts were very harmful to our readiness, to our military, and to their families. There has been bipartisan support for rebuilding our military, but--and this is a big ``but''--this has been a big struggle. Why? Every time my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have higher priorities than funding our troops and the national security of our Nation--and I am not sure there are many higher priorities than that, not in my view, anyway--they turn to holding hostage defense spending by filibustering the funding of our military. That is just what happened a couple of hours ago--actually, an hour ago--here on the Senate floor. Their friends in the press don't report on it, but it happens all the time. This puts lives at risk, and this undermines our military. By the way, the members of the military see this. The press might not report on it, but our Nation's troops and their families watch. I said it happens all the time. Let me give you a couple of examples. In 2015 and in 2016, when the minority was led by Harry Reid, of Nevada, he filibustered the Defense appropriations bill seven times. Again, the media didn't report on it. I am a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves, and I trained with the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command. I remember being out, training with these marines, many of whom are now going off to the Middle East--to Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. Yet what was going on in the Senate was that the minority leader, Harry Reid, was blocking the funding of the troops. I get it, that one leader of the Democratic Party was doing that, but what really shocked me back then was why all of the colleagues on his side followed suit to do that. I still can't understand it, especially the colleagues who have a significant military presence in their States, like in my State, the great State of Alaska. During that time, I went to the majority leader, Leader McConnell, and asked him to keep bringing this bill to the floor. Let's debate it. Let's talk about it. Let's see if the American people understand what is happening, which I think they did. As we kept bringing this up to the minority leader of the U.S. Senate, many of us came down here and asked the questions: Why are you doing this? Do you not think the American people understand? Do you not think the troops understand? Come down to the Senate floor and explain why you are not supporting the funding of our troops and their families and military readiness. Unfortunately, he never did that. That was a couple of years ago, and it is deja vu all over again today. We tried to bring the Defense appropriations bill to the floor in September, before the end of the fiscal year, but my colleagues on the other side filibustered. What does that mean? It means they didn't want to vote on it, and they didn't want to deal with it so they didn't let us vote and get the 60 votes to get on the bill. Now we are a month into the new fiscal year, and as we just saw on the floor, we finished another appropriations bill that had strong bipartisan support. The plan was to then go to Defense appropriations, but there was another filibuster. Amazing. I still haven't heard an explanation from anybody on the other side as to why they are doing it, but I will tell you this: It is clear to me that supporting our troops and military readiness are not their priorities. Here are just a few items in the bill that was just filibustered: a 3\1/2\-percent pay raise. For the Army, there is full support for the 58 brigade combat teams I mentioned that were in such a low state of readiness. By the way, it is increasing. I think the number is close to 25 brigade combat teams now that we have been funding the military at tier 1 levels. Included is support for the Navy's carrier strike groups, amphibious-ready groups for the Marines and Navy, and Navy and Marine aviation units. It funds the maximum amount of flying and training for our Air Force pilots, which has been such a problem in terms of readiness. There is a huge boost to missile defense, most of which is based in the great State of Alaska, and it appropriates the funding to buy 96 F-35s in fiscal year 2020. These are the most sophisticated fifth-generation fighters. Two squadrons of F-35s will be coming to my State soon--this is funding for that--to compete with China and Russia. These are just a few of the particulars, but what do these numbers really amount to? A better paid, better equipped, and more lethal military force. That is what the American people want from us. It doesn't matter party--Democrat, Republican--or region--South, North, Alaska, Florida-- the people want this. The troops want this. Their families want this. We have troops in harm's way right now all around the world. Yesterday, almost every one of the Members of this body--all 100 Senators--went to a top secret briefing about the raid that killed the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi. We were able to actually see some of the video of the remarkable professionalism, courage, and dedication of our military Special Forces who went in there at great risk to their lives and took out this ruthless, brutal, dangerous terrorist. We owe these and our other military members and their families such a huge debt of gratitude and certainly the support of the Congress of the United States. I was honestly thinking this morning: How can any Senator who witnessed that yesterday--and I think all 100 were there--come to the floor this afternoon and filibuster the funding for our military? Well, a bunch of them just did. I don't know why, but as far as I can tell, since I have been in the Senate--going on 5 years--that is the ninth filibuster of defense spending in the appropriations for our military and their families that my colleagues on the Democratic side of this body have done. Let me repeat that. Nine times in the last 4\1/2\ years, there has been this exercise to hold our military hostage for some other political priority by denying them funding--nine times. I checked, and since I have been here, there has been no bill--no bill--filibustered more by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the bill that would fund our military. Think about that. Think about that for a minute. This is the bill, when they want to leverage some other issue that has nothing to do with national security, that they pick out and they filibuster--nine times in the last 4 years. I think it is shameful. It is politics pure and simple, certainly driven by the extreme left of their party, many of whom have not focused on the national security of our country and supporting our troops. They are trying to leverage funding for our troops to gain political concessions on other issues. Here is the bottom line: The men and women who serve in the military don't deserve this. I wish the press would write about it. Don't hold your breath on that. For my part, I am going to continue to come down here, as I have done before on this very issue, and say: Look, if there is one thing we should be focused on, it is supporting our military and funding them and their families to make them ready, to make them lethal, to enable them to protect our country. If there is one bill in the Congress that we shouldn't have filibustered nine times in the last 4 years, it is this one. But that is what just happened. I hope more Americans see this. Call your Senators who voted no today and tell them you don't agree with that vote. You do not agree with that vote. I guarantee you, the men and women who serve our country don't either, and they would appreciate if you would weigh in on their behalf. I yield the floor.

Mr. SULLIVAN

Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to add my voice in recognizing what an important day it is here. I want to thank the Senators from Alabama and Mississippi and, of course, my good friend Senator Murkowski. Many other Senators--the Senators from California, Iowa--all came to the floor already today to talk about this great American, this great Alaskan. I try to come to the floor about once a week, and I do a speech that I call the ``Alaskan of the Week'' to talk about an Alaskan who has done great stuff for our State, their community, the country. But as Senator Murkowski just mentioned in her remarks, I am literally able now to talk about the Alaskan of the Century. That is right. The State of Alaska legislature voted that Ted Stevens was the Alaskan of the Century for reasons we are all talking about today. So I just want to add a few more words about this legendary U.S. Senator, whose portrait we are unveiling today. Let me say it is more than fitting that we have a portrait of Senator Stevens in the Halls of Congress. It is a small tribute compared to the magnitude of his contributions to our country and to our State. Yet, in so many ways, it is proper and fitting because his spirit certainly remains in this body. It is an example of leadership and public service that you hear and I hear and I know Senator Murkowski hears all the time--how so many of my colleagues still talk about Senator Stevens and what he meant, just like my good friend the Senator from Alabama and so many others. So I will just give a little more color to this great man's life. He was born in Indiana in 1923. When he was a young boy, the Great Depression hit. Senator Stevens supported his family by selling newspapers on the street, and after the untimely death of his father, he moved to California to live with an aunt and uncle, where he learned to kind of relax and to surf. The surf board that he learned to surf on stayed with him in his office until the end. As was already mentioned, he was, of course, a part of America's ``greatest generation''--a pilot, 14th Army Air Corps, flying supplies to General Chennault's Fighting Tigers over ``the Hump''--India, China, Burma--very dangerous missions. In 1953, armed with a law degree from Harvard, he made his way to then the Territory of Alaska, where he found, in his words, ``the passion of my career, the Alaskan dream.'' So what was this dream of Ted Stevens? A dream of an Alaska with promises of the 21st century ``springing up from the Arctic,'' he said--an Alaska where our Federal Government works with us, not against us, to achieve our destiny to develop our resources and our economy for the benefit of all Alaskans but also for the benefit of all Americans; an Alaska that lives up to the potential the Congress of the United States saw when it voted to allow Alaska to become the 49th State. Senator Stevens worked tirelessly for these dreams, and in the last speech he gave on this floor of the U.S. Senate, he recounted some of his successes. He said: ``Where there was nothing but tundra and forest, today there are now airports, roads, ports, water and sewer systems, hospitals, clinics, communications networks, research labs, and much, much more.'' He went on to say: ``Alaska was not Seward's folly and is no longer an impoverished territory. Alaska is a great State and an essential contributor to our Nation's energy security and national defense.'' In that speech, he said that he was proud to have had a role--a role--in that transformation of Alaska. Now, I think we are all realizing that in that speech Senator Stevens was being very humble. He didn't have just a role; he played the lead role. Indeed, everywhere any Alaskan goes across the State--as Senator Murkowski has already stated--you see signs of his hard work, his dedication to the Alaskan dream and the critical role he played in transforming our great State. But I think many of us--and we have already heard it being talked about today--also see his hard work in the friendships and example he set here in the U.S. Senate, friendships not based on party labels but on a commitment to service. As I mentioned, Members of this body, like Senator Shelby, still approach me on a regular basis, saying what an impact Senator Stevens had. His friendships were of course legendary: Scoop Jackson; Henry Magnuson; Pat Roberts; John Warner; Senator Shelby; Senator Leahy; Senator Biden, who, as Vice President, traveled to Anchorage to speak at Ted Stevens' funeral; and, of course, as Senator Murkowski mentioned, his famous, enduring friendship with Hawaii's Daniel Inouye. Senator Murkowski also mentioned his famous motto: ``To hell with politics, just do what's right for Alaska.'' As a matter of fact, I happen to be wearing a very special pair of cufflinks that once belonged to Ted Stevens. That very motto is on these cufflinks. When we are doing important stuff, I will wear these on the floor to remind me--and I think all of us--of what is important not just for our States but for our country. As was already noted, it wasn't just Alaska that he focused on and achieved so many great results for; it was our Nation. Whether national security, strengthening our military, taking care of our veterans through improved pay and benefits, as Senator Murkowski mentioned, modernizing our fishing industry, our telecommunications industry, being known as the title IX--the ``Father'' of that important legislation, making sure young girls have the opportunity to play sports--if you are an American and you have daughters--I have three-- and they are playing sports right now, guess who had so much to do with that. The late great Senator Stevens. He was also in many ways the Senator who cared more about the Olympics and focused on them more than any other Senator. One other thing about Senator Stevens. No matter how far he rose--and we are hearing about the high levels he attained in the Senate--he never forgot what was most important: serving the people of Alaska. When our constituents traveled thousands of miles to come to DC, he always made time for them. Thousands of Alaskans have notes from him-- congratulatory letters, condolence letters, and letters of appreciation. At his standing-room-only funeral in Anchorage, where I had the honor of serving as an honorary pallbearer, someone asked for a show of hands from the audience--hundreds and hundreds of people--how many had received a letter from Senator Ted Stevens. Nearly every person at that service raised their hand. Of course, he treated his staff like family. If you worked for Senator Stevens--as my wife, Julie, did--you were always part of that family and you could always expect loyalty from him the rest of your life. These principles--relentless focus on Alaska, fighting the Feds if you must, working across the aisle for the betterment of Alaska and America, maintaining a strong military and national defense, and deep reverence for our veterans and fellow Alaskans--are a key part of the Stevens legacy. I am deeply honored to serve in the Senate seat Senator Stevens held for over 40 years and to literally sit at the same desk--right here, this desk--he used in the Senate. More important, I try to live by and serve my constituents according to these principles and the example he set for Alaska and America. But here is something else that is really so remarkable about Ted Stevens. I said I try to serve in that example, but, as you are hearing on the Senate floor, so many other Senators have said that and believe that too. That is really remarkable and shows how much influence he still has in this body to this day. Like most Senators, I try to get home every weekend. Senator Murkowski and I just have a little farther to go than most--well, actually, a lot farther than most. Our State recently dedicated a wonderful statue of Ted Stevens in the Ted Stevens International Airport. It is life-size. He is sitting on a bench with an inviting smile, cowboy boots on, and his briefcase nearby. It is right in the middle of the airport in Anchorage. I often walk by it, touch it, and quietly say: How are we doing? It gives me inspiration and strength and peace to do that. With the unveiling of the official portrait of Ted Stevens today and its placement permanently in the halls of the U.S. Senate, I will have another image of this great Alaskan and this great American from which to draw inspiration, but I think so many other Senators will as well. So congratulations, especially to the family of Ted Stevens: Catherine, his wonderful wife; his children: Ben, Walter, Ted Junior, Susan, Lily, and Beth, who is with us in spirit, as are so many other Alaskans and others who had such deep respect for Senator Stevens; and to his wonderful grandchildren, many of whom Julie and I have known and watched grow up with pride since they were born. S.J. Res. 50

Mr. SULLIVAN. I yield the floor. Vote on S.J. Res. 50 The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read the third time.