John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I believe at this time I am scheduled. Does the Senator from Pennsylvania have control of the time?

Mr. WARNER. I will take a few minutes. Mr. President, I was completing my luncheon and walking through the hallway back to my office when a reporter in a very respectful way spoke with me and asked how I intended to vote on this amendment. I said I intended to vote as I have done three previous times; basically to support it, the other options. He said: What is the driving force? Is it your highest priority? And he asked a series of questions in a very polite way which really said: Stop and think what it is I am about to do and why I am about to do it. I gave him a reply which follows along these lines: I listened to the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania yesterday referring with a deep sense of emotional pride about how his family had proudly worn the uniform of our country, and most particularly his father who was in the great Army that went over in 1917-1918 to save Europe, in World War I, and how he was severely wounded in the Battle of the Argonne. I checked my own father's record. I, of course, have it proudly on the wall in my Senate office. He served in World War I. He was engaged in several major battles. He was a doctor in the trenches and cared for the wounded. He was in the Battle of the Argonne. How do we know perhaps my father rendered medical assistance to Senator Specter's father. But those things are instilled in sons and daughters by their parents. When it came time for me to proudly raise my right arm and volunteer in World War II, I did so because of my father and how proud he was, as was my mother, who, incidentally, was with the American Red Cross in World War I tending to the wounded in the hospitals in the United States. In my father's library in which I grew up as a small boy, there were remnants and artifacts that he brought back from France from the 1917- 1918 experiences. I remember a small American flag, his helmet, his old belt, and several other artifacts, and how he and my brother and I treasured them as young persons. My military service is of no great consequence. I did have the opportunity for a short period in the final year of the war to go through the training command, but I remember very well I was then just in the training part of it--I think, out of boot camp or perhaps in boot camp--seeing that flag raised on Iwo Jima. We didn't know at that time in February-March of 1945 how long that war was going to last. We had no idea. We just experienced the Battle of the Bulge in which the final thrust of the German forces trapped so many of our soldiers with unexpected casualties in the 40,000s in that battle and now Iwo Jima, some 17,000 I think killed, wounded, and missing in that battle for about 5 weeks. I remember the picture of that flag going up. Now we see it on the monuments out here which the Marines revere so deeply. That was one of the reasons I later joined the Marine Corps and served for another period on active duty, this time in Korea as a young officer with the Marines. There was no particular valorous service, just like many others. You raised your arm and did what you were told to do and thanked God you got home in one piece. That is what we were all glad to do. So I am very humble about what little active service I had. But I have had the privilege of being associated with the men and women of the Armed Forces for over a half century, now in this Chamber serving with others, again, 28 years on the Senate Armed Services Committee doing everything we can for the men and women of the Armed Forces. So I told this reporter that I felt I had a duty to those who had worn the uniform of our country so proudly in these many years that I was privileged to be associated and learn from them and profit from them and my experience in the military. It has been a great, wonderful opportunity for me to have this service in the Senate and have as a part of it the responsibilities. So I thought I would recount some statistics. In World War I, the conflict in which our fathers served, I say to Senator Specter, 116,000 killed, 204,000 wounded; World War II, 405,000 killed, 671,000 wounded; Korea, 54,000 killed, 103,000 wounded; Vietnam, 58,000 killed, 153,000 wounded; Desert Storm, that is the first engagement with Saddam Hussein's forces, 382 killed, 467 wounded; Afghanistan, 291 killed, 750 wounded; the second battle with Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Freedom, 2,521 killed, over 18,000 wounded. Most, if not all, of those brave men, and I expect some women--I fully anticipate women were included--came back to their beloved country from those foreign lands and at some point before they were finally put into Mother Earth an American flag was put on that casket. There is not a one of us in this Chamber who has not had the privilege to go to those services. There is not a one of us whose throat hasn't swelled or whose eyes haven't welled up when that takes place. So, Mr. President, that flag symbolizes the everlasting--I repeat everlasting--gratitude of the citizens of this great Nation for that giving of a life in the cause of freedom. I could do no less than proudly stand here and vote ``aye'' for this amendment, as I shall do. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, for the Committee on Armed Services I report favorably the following nomination lists which were printed in the Congressional Record on the dates indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that these nominations lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma for his cooperation. We are trying to reduce the number of rollcall votes so that we can conclude this bill. We are very close to doing so. I yield the floor for the purposes of the Senator from Oklahoma being recognized.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, as a courtesy to the Senator, I move to reconsider the votes and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator from Oklahoma. I believe we will shortly have a UC request to present, but I am looking for the Senator from Alabama, Mr. Sessions. If I could have his attention, my understanding is that the Senator desires a rollcall vote on his amendment.

Mr. WARNER. Fine, the amendment has been debated on both sides.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we want to schedule that vote. So it is agreed that will be the subject of a rollcall vote.

Mr. WARNER. My understanding, Madam President, is that Senator Kerry has approximately 7\1/2\ minutes; is that correct?

Mr. WARNER. At this time, the parliamentary situation is leader time, and I yield the floor to the distinguished Democratic leader.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, the following two votes will each be 10 minutes in duration.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I commend my longtime friend from Arizona. He in a very succinct way looked at this debate in the context of what is going on today and tomorrow and the weeks and months to come in Iraq, but he is also looking at it in the context of the future, how generations that follow us will look back on this chapter and moment in history and how the Congress of the United States, hopefully, has given support to the Commander in Chief under the Constitution--our President--to direct the operations of the current conflicts. The Senator also touched on how we have conducted this debate. I wish to just repeat a few remarks of my opening remarks yesterday with respect to my colleague from Michigan in addressing his amendment. I said that I have studied it carefully. I did not denounce the amendment; I said it was a serious amendment, and it is a serious amendment. It deserves serious thought, and I, and I think others, have given that serious thought to our colleague on his amendment. But I strongly oppose it. Unlike last year where I sat down and was able to work out with him a conciliatory, bipartisan amendment which got three-quarters of the votes of the Senate, it just, in the form he presented it, was not an option this time. Therefore, regrettably, we approach these critically important votes with far greater partisanship than I had hoped. I had hoped we would have greater bipartisanship. But my basic message to America and to my colleagues is that we have put an enormous investment into these conflicts, both in Iraq and in Afghanistan. We are focusing today on Iraq, but we have to look at the others. Madam President, 2,500-plus Americans have lost their lives and left families and loved ones grieving, and 18,000 have survived their wounds and are working to reestablish themselves, many going back into uniform or having never left uniform, but remaining in, which is to their everlasting credit, but others receiving the love and the care of their families and their communities in which they live. There has been enormous sacrifice. We have dollars incalculable in amounts. Also, what we have on the line is the credibility of the United States of America. The voice of this Senate will be recorded momentarily. I am optimistic it will be recorded in a way to support the President and his statements that we are there to work with the Iraqi people, to establish their democracy, which they have worked on these 18 months, now with a permanent, unified government, and to try to let this Government of only weeks establish itself, send its roots into the ground, derive its strength, and begin to govern and govern fully a sovereign nation and take on all of the responsibilities. Both of these amendments, the amendment of the Senator from Michigan and the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts, would send a message which would indicate there is some wavering, some equivocation here at home in supporting our President, the Commander in Chief, and that goes to the basic credibility of the United States of America, which is on the line in these votes. There is not one of us here who doesn't desire to have our forces brought home at the earliest possible date, but the formulation by which they can come home rests on the ability of this Government to seize those reins, to establish that security, to rebuild that infrastructure, and gain the confidence and the respect of the Iraqi people. That is a tough job, given the strong dissent between the various religious factions, but this Government appears to be up to it. It must be given a chance. It cannot be crippled at this earliest stage by messages coming from this Chamber and elsewhere that we have less than full confidence in their ability to achieve the goals of a full democracy in Iraq, and they are taking the reins to direct their people. Our credibility is on the line, Madam President. So I say to my colleagues as you approach this vote, it will be one of the most important that you have ever cast. Future generations of Americans will look back upon this very moment to determine if two branches of our Government, the executive and the legislative, stood side by side in honoring those who have given their lives, their wounds, and the 1 million other men and women of the Armed Forces, plus untold American citizens who, in the years of the Iraqi conflict, have gone over and accepted the risks of serving there, be that in the military or civilian capacities. This is a very heavy investment which has been made by many thousands of courageous Americans to see that we have gotten to where we are today; namely, a new government, a unity government, and to give that government a chance to function without in any way jeopardizing that by sending a signal that we have less than full confidence in their ability to achieve their goals. Madam President, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. WARNER. I reserve the remainder of the time.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I yield to myself such time as I may require. I thank the Senator from Arizona. He has been a very strong voice, not only in this debate but all debates. Once again, to me, the debate today hinges around getting this new Government, in which we have invested an awful lot over these 18 months in life and limb, dollars, and in every other way, up and running. It is now running, Mr. President. I have just left a meeting with the Secretary of Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and General Casey, the field commander in Iraq, who were briefing a few of us this morning. Clearly, that Government is setting down its roots, getting stabilized, operating as a sovereign entity. We must give them that support and not send a signal that we are going to pull, possibly, the rug out from under them because it is our security environment, together with the coalition partners, that is enabling that Government to function. I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, in fairness, we should give the sponsors of the Kerry-Feingold amendment the opportunity to speak to the Senate.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, before we start on the next speaker, as I understand it, the standing order recites that the Levin amendment would be the first vote. If I understand the request of the distinguished colleague from Michigan, there is a preference to have it switched so that the Kerry vote will be first. Is that a request being propounded?

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, there will be no objection on this side to that request. So for the advice of all Senators, the first vote that will occur will be on the Kerry-Feingold amendment to be followed by the Levin-Reed amendment.

Mr. WARNER. I yield such time as the distinguished Senator requires.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I had intended to reserve a brief period of time for the President pro tempore, Mr. Stevens, but in his absence, I will just once again conclude. The message today is whether we are here to uphold the credibility of the United States of America, as stated most eloquently by our President, as we have come to establish a new government in Iraq. That has been achieved. It has now been 18 months since the beginning of their elections, brave elections, followed by the establishment of a unity government. That Government is functioning, and we must give it an opportunity to govern. Our President said it most succinctly upon his return from Iraq: My message to the Iraqi people is this: Seize the moment. Seize this opportunity to develop a government of and by and for the people. And I also have a message to the Iraqi people, that when America gives a commitment, America keeps its commitment. I yield the floor and yield back any time remaining.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, the order requires that the votes be taken. I ask for the yeas and nays on both amendments.

Mr. WARNER. I thank our colleague.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Trade, Tourism, and Economic Development be authorized to meet on Thursday, June 22, 2006, at 10 a.m. on the state of the U. S. Tourism Industry.