John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I join my distinguished colleague from Michigan. The Senator and I have been here 22 years, and we have seen a lot of Senators come and go on the Armed Services Committee. When this fine American stepped on to our committee, from the first day he has taken a position for which we all respect and value his guidance and judgment. I will say, this man has a sense of humor. Now, it takes sometimes a little probing to get it out. He always combines his humor with history. He is a great student of military history and those who have been in public life in the past. He livens up the committee meetings and the markups. When things are sort of in a trough, he will inject himself. But this is something he and I have discussed for a number of years. I am very hopeful that we, in the course of the conference, can achieve some measure of these goals, maybe the full measure, I say to the Senator, but I know not. As I have said, with great humility, what modest military career I have had in terms of periods of active duty, both at the end of World War II and during the Korean War, in no way compares to the heroic service that this fine Senator rendered his country. But I will say, the greatest investment America made in post-World War II, in those years when this country was returning to normalcy-- they were exciting years, 1946 to 1950--it was the GI bill, the investment by America in that generation of some 16 million men and women who were privileged to serve in uniform during that period, and I was a modest recipient of the GI bill. I would not be here today, I say to the Senator, had it not been for that education given to me. My father had passed on in the closing months of World War II, and my mother was widowed. We were prepared to all struggle together to do the best we could in our family. Among the assets was not the money to go to college. Had it not been for the GI bill, I would not be here today. So you have a strong shoulder at the wheel with this Senator. But I salute you. We are going to do our very best. I thank you for working tirelessly on behalf of the men and women of the Armed Forces. Mr. President, the distinguished ranking member and I are prepared to offer a number of amendments with our colleagues. Amendment No. 3216 (Purpose: To ensure that obligations to make payments under the CVN-69 contract for a fiscal year after fiscal year 2001 is subject to the availability of appropriations)

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Snowe and Senator Kennedy, I offer an amendment, which is a technical amendment to section 125 of the bill regarding the overhaul of CVN-69, the U.S.S. Eisenhower. Mr. President, I believe this amendment has been cleared by the other side; am I correct?

Mr. WARNER. On behalf of Senator McCain, I offer an amendment that will enhance the survival benefit plan available to retired members of the uniformed services, and I ask unanimous consent to be listed as cosponsor.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator McCain be listed as a cosponsor on the amendment by the Senator from Georgia on the Montgomery GI bill.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, in the context of the Kimmel/Short matter, recently I have had an opportunity to be visited by the former Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. James Holloway, who would strongly endorse the action that is before the Senate with regard to these two officers.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments be agreed to en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to these individual amendments be printed in the Record.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, let me expand on this and say how much I respect Senator Bingaman for bringing this to the attention of the Senate and incorporating this most well-deserved recognition on behalf of these individuals. Again, with brief service in the concluding months of the war, particularly while I was in the Navy, the Marine Corps utilized these individuals a great deal. What they would do is get on the walkie- talkies in the heat of battle and in their native tongue communicate the orders of the officers and noncommissioned officers to forward and other positions, subjecting themselves to the most intense elements of combat at the time. They were very brave individuals. They performed a remarkable service. Here we are, some 56 years after the intensity of the fighting in the Pacific, which began in 1941, honoring them. They were magnificent human beings, and the men in the forward units of combat appreciated what they did. I salute our distinguished colleague. I am delighted to be a cosponsor.

Mr. WARNER. In other words, the enemy simply did not, if they picked up this language with their listening systems, have the vaguest idea. There are stories of the confusion of the enemy: They didn't know who it was on the beach, what was coming at them. It was remarkable.

Mr. WARNER. Indeed.

Mr. WARNER. There were quite a few stories written about them. They were self-effacing, humble people, proud to be identified with their tribes. They went back into the sinews of America, as so many of the men and women did, to take up their responsibilities at home. Amendment No. 3232 (Purpose: To revise the fee structure for residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home)

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Lott, I offer an amendment that would revise the fee structure for residents of the Armed Services Retirement Home.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, Senator Roth has worked tirelessly on the issue of revisiting that chapter of our history, the attack on Pearl Harbor. Those listening to this debate will recall that Admiral Kimmel was the Navy commander and General Short was the Army commander. There has been a great deal of controversy throughout history as to their role and the degree of culpability they had for the actions that befell our Armed Forces on that day. This is an action of some import being taken by the Senate. I remember a debate on the floor one night in the context of last year's authorization bill when Senator Roth sat right here in this chair for hour upon hour when we debated this issue.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, is there any time remaining?

Mr. WARNER. I will let the Senator from Arizona proceed.

Mr. WARNER. I did not know that order was entered.

Mr. WARNER. I am not hearing the Senator. The Senator is recognized, and that is open-ended; is that the order of the Chair? Unusual. I do not know how it happened, but the Senator got it. What is the Senator advising me?

Mr. WARNER. Will the Senator from Minnesota advise the Chair and the Senator from Virginia exactly how much time he wants and for what purpose? The time being consumed now can be charged to the managers.

Mr. WARNER. I understand that. Of course, we have an order at 1 o'clock to go straight to an amendment.

Mr. WARNER. I am trying to finish other things from now until 1 o'clock. This is most unusual. I do not realize how we got to this. I am not sure how we got here, but it is here.

Mr. WARNER. What is done is done. You have it open-ended, I say to the Senator, until 1 o'clock. What can you do to help us?

Mr. WARNER. If you can give us a time, then we can help our colleagues. How about 10 minutes?

Mr. WARNER. Ten minutes?

Mr. WARNER. If that is the case, it leaves very little time for the managers to recognize others who are waiting.

Mr. WARNER. Fine. Would you settle for 20 minutes?

Mr. WARNER. I yield the floor.