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[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 128 (Thursday, September 20, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6490-S6493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Corporal Darrion Terrell Hicks, Petty Officer Second Class Sean E. 
         Brazas, Lance Corporal Christopher Phoenix Jacob Levy

  Mrs. HAGAN. Mr. President, 11 years have now passed since the attacks 
of September 11, that horrific day that forever changed the world. 
Although we have killed Osama bin Laden, the fight against the al-Qaida 
militants is not over. Al-Qaida remains a threat to America, and the 
brave men and women of our Armed Forces are still fighting every day to 
protect our way of life.
  Mr. President, I want us to honor and think about these men and 
women. There are over 77,000 U.S. servicemembers deployed in 
Afghanistan right now who remain in harm's way. These men and women 
willingly joined the military during a time of war. They want nothing 
more than to serve our country. They fight for our way of life so we 
don't have to and so that our children and grandchildren will not have 
to.
  I am going to highlight three servicemen from North Carolina who have 
made the ultimate sacrifice. I have personally spoken with their 
families, and I want to share their great love of country with you 
because it is so important that all Americans understand our military 
and their families who sacrifice so much for all of us.
  From my home State of North Carolina alone there are more than 6,000 
of our finest sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, moms and dads 
deployed in Afghanistan. They are the men and women of the II Marine 
Expeditionary Force, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 
2nd Marine Logistics Group from Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point. They are 
the men and women of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg. They 
are the men and women from the National Guard and Reserve Units from 
North Carolina. And they are the thousands of other soldiers, sailors, 
airmen, and marines deployed to foreign lands to stand watch over the 
world and keep us safe.
  Sometimes I feel as if the war is hardly an issue in the news, in 
daily life, anywhere, except for those who are personally affected by 
it. Our focus is too often drawn to the news of the elections, of the 
economy, of politics, of celebrities, of scandals, of the rich and 
famous, and of the simply bizarre. We do not hear enough about the 
brave souls who have lost their lives while trying to make the world 
safer for the rest of us, who willingly joined the military during a 
time of war, who want to serve our country.
  We all need to pay respect, to honor, and to remember the very men 
and women whose commitment, dedication, and courage are what make our 
country safe and to respect and remember the families they left behind.
  As we scale down our presence in Afghanistan and bring our service 
men

[[Page S6491]]

and women home, we must remember every day this war is still going on, 
and it is occurring at a tremendous cost--a cost that is 
disproportionately paid by the brave men and women who are fighting for 
the rights and privileges we enjoy.
  These men and women traded their youth, and they have spent years 
away from family and friends. They voluntarily put their lives on the 
line for their friends, for their loved ones, their country, and for 
people they have never met--for me and for you. These men and women are 
the almost 50,000 wounded in action since the start of this war. They 
are the 336 U.S. servicemembers who have died just this past year. They 
are the 54 coalition forces who died in the month of August alone. They 
are strangers to most of us, but they are the most important person in 
the world to someone. They are selfless defenders of our freedom, many 
of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice, and many of whom are from my 
home State of North Carolina.
  They are people such as CPL Darrion Terrell Hicks, U.S. Army, from 
Raleigh, NC, who died July 19, 2012, just 2 months ago. Darrion was a 
2009 graduate of Broughton High School, where he was a standout student 
who was loved and respected by all.
  Darrion always wanted to be a soldier. It was a goal he set early on 
and something that everyone remembers about him. It was a goal he 
pursued with diligence and honor. He was a model Junior ROTC student 
who was voted Mr. Junior ROTC by his peers. Darrion is remembered as 
the kind of young man a teacher wishes all of their students were like. 
He was a boy you wanted your children to be friends with. He became the 
kind of man we should all be so thankful to have in this world.
  When I was speaking with his mom Tracy, she shared with me that he 
was the kind of boy who never gave her a problem, ever.
  Corporal Hicks achieved his goal of becoming a soldier when he 
enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school. He loved the 
Army, and it seemed he had found his place in life. He loved his 
family, and he kept in close contact with his mother. Whenever he spoke 
with his mom, she would always tell him: ``Always pray. Be safe. I love 
you.'' To which he would respond: ``I am going to be fine. I love you, 
too.''
  This year, Darrion was serving with the 54th Engineer Battalion, 18th 
Engineer Brigade as a sapper. Sappers are responsible for clearing the 
way for others, making the way safe for those who follow. This is what 
Corporal Hicks was doing when he was killed by an enemy IED. He was 
only 21 years old.
  As one of his teachers at Broughton said:

       When we talk about Darrion, we are not talking about a 
     teacher making an impact on a student. We're talking about a 
     student who made an impact on the teacher.

  Corporal Hicks made an impact on everyone he touched, and I think we 
all have something to learn from him and the life he chose to lead.
  There are people such as PO2 Sean E. Brazas, U.S. Navy, from 
Greensboro, NC, where I have lived for the last 30 years. Sean died on 
May 30, 2012. Sean was your all-American boy next door. He grew up 
playing soccer in the same traveling soccer league in which my son 
played, and Sean was on the swim team.
  Sean graduated from Western Guilford High School, and he could have 
done anything, but he wanted to do something important with his life. 
Sean Brazas joined the Navy after graduation and became a dog handler. 
He was stationed at Naval Base Kitsap in Washington State, where he met 
the love of his life, Allie, who was also in the Navy. When Sean met 
Allie, being the southern gentleman he was, he held the door open for 
her at the post office when they first met. Putting others first was 
just how he lived his life.
  Sean Brazas loved being a dog handler and loved being in the Navy. 
His wife is now a 23-year-old widow with a young daughter Addison, whom 
Sean nicknamed Short-stack. They were the center of his world. His life 
as a sailor, devoted husband, and loving dad was rich and full and 
tragically short.
  Petty Officer Brazas had only been in Afghanistan a short time when 
he died on May 30 while helping a fellow servicemember get into a 
helicopter when their unit was ambushed. That seems to define Sean--a 
man who selflessly did what he could to help others.
  Sean Brazas served his country proudly because he appreciated the 
rights and privileges that Americans are fortunate to enjoy. He wanted 
to make sure his daughter never had to worry about anyone telling her 
what books she could read or where she could go to school or what she 
could become. He wanted his mom, dad, wife, and daughter to be safe.
  He died a hero and now rests at Arlington with his grandfather and 
friends who have left the world far too soon. He died a man his dad Ed 
looked up to. Ed told me he hopes to be half the man his son was.
  There are people such as LCpl Christopher Phoenix Jacob Levy, U.S. 
Marine Corps, from Ramseur, NC, who died September 10, 2011.
  On 9/11, Jacob had just turned 11 years old. He had gotten a bloody 
nose at school, and his mom Amanda was called to bring him a change of 
clothes. She shared with me she was driving to his school when she 
heard on the radio of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. 
When Amanda explained what had happened to Jacob that night, she said 
Jacob then said he would be in the military. He was only 11 years old 
at the time.
  Jacob joined the Junior ROTC at Eastern Randolph High School where he 
was a standout runner and wrestler. He was also a proud active member 
of the Lumbee Tribe. That is why he has the name Phoenix, from his 
Indian heritage. It stands for immortality and renewal.
  In 2009, Jacob fulfilled the goal he set in 2001. He enlisted in the 
Marine Corps and graduated from boot camp. He planned on being a marine 
for 20 years, retiring, and then returning to his hometown to give back 
to the JROTC in his community. It is clear from an early age Jacob was 
driven to be a part of something more than himself, to do his part for 
the greater good. That was just how he lived his life.
  Lance Corporal Levy deployed to Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, 
8th Marines and returned home from his first tour on Mother's Day of 
2011. However, Jacob told his mom his job was not yet done; that he 
needed to return to his brothers in arms in Afghanistan. He then 
volunteered to deploy again in the fall of 2011, this time with the 1st 
Battalion, 6th Marines out of Camp Lejeune. It was during this 
deployment he was mortally wounded by a single enemy shot. He was only 
21 years old.
  A couple of weeks before he died, Jacob spoke with his mother for the 
last time. He told her not to worry about him. He asked for underwear 
and beef jerky. He asked her to tell everyone he loved them. Jacob left 
his mom, dad, stepdad and two brothers.
  Jacob's Indian name Phoenix, for immortality and renewal, has proven 
a worthy namesake for him. Although his life was tragically short, he 
lives on in the lives he touched. He inspired a scholarship at his high 
school that will go to help others, and he was an organ donor. He 
helped save seven other people he had never met. He gave the loved ones 
of those seven strangers more time with their parent, spouse, child, or 
sibling.
  His death resulted in an outpouring of love and support for the Levy 
family from the Marines of both the 3rd, 8th, and 1-6. As Jacob's 
mother told me: ``I may have lost one son, but I gained 30 others.'' To 
this day, those young men who served with Lance Corporal Levy continue 
to remember and look after her.
  These are the people who are paying both your share and my share of 
the cost of freedom. These servicemembers gave their lives for us and 
for our country. We must not forget them: Darrion Hicks, Sean Brazas, 
and Jacob Levy. We must not forget their families.
  We must not forget the men and women still deployed in harm's way. 
They come from our small towns, our big cities, and our rural areas. 
They are our neighbors, they are our fellow Americans, they are our 
heroes, and they are my fellow North Carolinians. To these men and 
women, to their families, we owe an eternal debt of gratitude. May God 
bless them, and may God bless America.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). The Senator from West 
Virginia.

[[Page S6492]]

  Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, something unusual is happening in 
Congress. Democrats and Republicans are agreeing on something; we 
appear headed toward same goal.
  The problem is, what we are agreeing on is more business as usual in 
Washington. They want to pass yet another continuing resolution instead 
of a real budget solution. I can almost hear the people back home and 
all over this country saying, There they go again.
  I can argue this both ways. A continuing resolution will let the 
government limp along again for another 6 months. That way, we can go 
home now and come back after election to fix the budget.
  I haven't had anybody in West Virginia tell me that we should hurry 
home to campaign. I have had plenty of them tell me that we need to 
stay here and do the job they hired us to do. And that means fixing the 
budget, because our debt is piling up every day and it is choking our 
economy.
  These continuing resolutions are supposed to be temporary, but it 
looks to me as though they have become a permanent way of doing 
business here in Congress. And let me tell you, it is a bad way of 
doing business. It ignores the dire circumstances of a record $16 
trillion of national debt that will increase close to $1 trillion a 
year if we don't balance our annual budget, and do it soon. It makes me 
think of the goofy kid on the cover of Mad Magazine, Alfred E. Neuman, 
``What? Me worry?''
  I came to the Senate not quite 2 years ago, and in the time I have 
been here there have been 12 of these continuing resolutions. There 
were three in December of 2010. In 2011 there were two in March, two in 
April, two in September, one in November, and three in December. Now we 
are being asked to pass another CR to keep things going a little bit 
longer, for 6 more months, so we can all go home--that is the problem--
so we can all go home and worry about our elections, and we are going 
to worry about this country's growing debt later. We have got to get 
home first.
  Well, a baker's dozen is one too many for me. Enough is enough. I 
can't vote for this measure to simply kick the can any farther down the 
road. It can't go on. The people of West Virginia didn't send me here 
or send the Presiding Officer from the great State of North Carolina to 
do that. They sent us here to help fix our budget problems with 
bipartisan commonsense solutions.
  That is the way we did it in West Virginia when I was Governor. We 
didn't pull these kinds of stunts on West Virginians. We stayed on the 
job until the work was done. We wouldn't leave. We stayed and worked. 
If it was all through the night, we would stay. If it was an extra day 
or an extra week, we would stay and get our work done. We came together 
to make decisions on what was best for our State, not best for us 
individually. It is time we do the same here in Washington.
  We have to stop putting off what we need to do to get our fiscal 
house in order. It is time to cancel the flights home, it is time to 
roll up our sleeves and get down to the people's business, because we 
have reached a dangerous point in our history--a point in which our 
debt is threatening not just our economic standing in the world but 
also our national security.
  I know everybody expects that we will come back after elections in a 
lameduck session, and we are going to rush to fix all of our fiscal 
problems at the last minute. But if Congress's past performance is any 
indication of what to expect after the election, I wouldn't expect too 
much. That is a shame. A lameduck session of Congress is cutting it 
pretty close, because we have gotten ourselves into a real bind.
  The so-called fiscal cliff is real. We are looking at over $5 
trillion of economic swing by the end of this year, December 31, coming 
up to January 1. One part of that is sequestration. I think we all 
remember the sequestration. That was a penalty we put on ourselves if 
the supercommittee did not do their job. Well, the supercommittee 
wasn't that super. It didn't work out the way we all thought it would. 
It means that what we have to do is take painful cuts. Because we said 
if we make the penalty strong enough and great enough, we will 
definitely come to the table and fix the financial problems. But we 
didn't do it. That was a year ago. We could have been working and 
fixing all that between, but here we come down to last minute and we 
are asking for 6 more months.
  These are the kinds of meat axe spending cuts--and I will talk about 
that. I never did put budgets together that were across-the-board cuts. 
If you had to cut, you looked at it. Government can do two things with 
your money: It can spend your money or it can invest your money. We 
have done a poor job of investing. We have done a great job of spending 
the money. That has got to reverse and change. We can't just say, Well, 
across-the-board cuts. We have to look and find out and put forth 
priorities based on our values. And you shouldn't cut where investments 
should be made, but overall there will be a reduction. That can happen.
  Some of our congressional leaders who put together the sequestering 
in order to force us are now acting as though, We really didn't mean 
it. It really wasn't sincere about we should do this. We knew we 
couldn't do it, but it sounded good back then because we really thought 
we would do so. Can you think what would happen to the confidence of 
the people in this country if we don't do what we said we were going to 
do? It is not a smart way to run this country.
  Then they talk about cutting the defense budget. Oh, that can't be 
done. That can't be done. We want to make sure we have the strongest 
and toughest. And every one of us here supports our military to the 
hilt. Every man and woman in uniform should have the best equipment, 
the best training, and the best support this country can give them. But 
when you look at the ballooning costs of what has happened to our 
Department of Defense, most of the money spent on contracting, most of 
the increases on contracting--people doing the same job making three 
and four and five times more than a man or woman in uniform? That is 
not right. And they are telling me, We can't cut it? Oh, no. If we do 
that, you are not strong for America.
  Well, I have said this: The automatic cuts go into effect January 2, 
as we know. Our national security budget is still over $600 million in 
2013. That is more than we had in 2006, at the height of the Iraq war. 
In fact, even after the automatic cuts, the United States will still 
account for 40 percent of all military spending in the world. Forty 
percent of all the military spending is by our country. I promise you, 
we are going to make sure that America keeps the strongest defense in 
the world.
  I have been in this body for 2 years. One of the most sobering 
moments I have ever had, I am sitting on the Armed Services Committee 
learning, as the Presiding Officer and everyone else, about the dangers 
we face around the world and the threats to the United States of 
America. The question was asked to then-Chairman ADM Mike Mullen, What 
is the greatest threat America faces? I am thinking I am going to hear 
about all the different North Africa problems we have, Iraq, 
Afghanistan, Iran, and on and on. He didn't hesitate, he didn't waiver. 
He said, ``The debt of this Nation is the greatest threat we face as 
America.'' He wasn't worried about our military might. He wasn't 
worried about a terrorist attack. He was worried about us coming apart 
from within.

  That was perhaps my most sobering moment since coming to the Senate. 
And when you have the highest ranking officer of the world's most 
powerful military that history has ever recorded, I think you should 
take that seriously. I did. That alone should give everyone in Congress 
a sense of urgency and doing something about our out-of-whack spending. 
And it truly is out of whack.
  If anybody is betting that we can fix our finances in a lameduck 
session of Congress, I will remind them that some people made the same 
bet on the supercommittee last year. That didn't work out too well.
  In fact, we are about to leave town with a lot of unfinished work. We 
are not just unsure about our finances, and it is not just about 
finances. The 112th Congress--and I am ashamed to say this--is one of 
the least productive Congresses in the history of this country in terms 
of passing new laws. The Congress we are in right now, the 112th, 
passed only 173 public laws as of last month. As you recall, in our 
history books, President Harry Truman--who

[[Page S6493]]

dubbed the 80th Congress as the do-nothing Congress--passed 906 bills. 
I don't even know if he would have a definition of what we have done.
  So a do-nothing Congress is something I am not proud of. It is clear 
to me that betting on Congress getting religion after the election is 
also a risky gamble--a gamble with America's future, a gamble with the 
next generation. We tried that with the supercommittee, but it failed. 
That is the reason we are here today facing the fiscal cliff. The 
sunsetting of the Bush tax cuts, the tax extenders, the end of 
emergency unemployment benefits, sequestration, those are all meat axe 
cuts, and we know that.
  The Congressional Budget Office says the fiscal cliff could cut the 
GDP by 4 percentage points next year and send the economy back right 
into a recession. Look at the time we have wasted. The supercommittee 
fell apart almost 1 year ago, and yet here we are. Instead of voting on 
a real and permanent solution to our financial problems, we are getting 
ready to vote on yet another temporary measure that will allow us to 
leave before we have addressed a single one of these most critical 
issues.
  What has happened since the supercommittee shut down with no 
agreement? One thing that has happened is our long-term national debt 
has topped $16 trillion a couple weeks ago. That is a figure that is 
almost impossible to wrap your mind around. But I think you can wrap 
your mind around this: Each one of us who lives in this great country 
is now in debt $50,700, every man, woman, and child.
  Sixteen trillion dollars is roughly the same as our country's entire 
economic output for the first time in 40 years. The last time our debt 
was 100 percent of GDP was right after World War II. We were fighting 
to save our Nation, to save a society, to save a way of life. This has 
been self-inflicted, and we can't keep going on this way.
  We have reached what the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility 
and Reform called the moment of truth. The report it prepared for the 
President almost 2 years ago--in fact, that was the title of its 
report, The Moment of Truth. And while the commission faced the moment 
of truth with a comprehensive bipartisan plan for reducing our debt, 
Congress has yet to do so. Now is the time. We know how to fix things. 
Congress has done it before.
  In the early 1990s, our economy was faltering because deficits and 
debt were freezing capital. But Congress sent a signal to the market 
that it was capable of being fiscally responsible. And it was. The 
result was the longest economic expansion in history: the creation of 
over 22 million jobs and unprecedented wealth in America, with every 
income bracket rising--every income bracket, not just the chosen few.
  The budget framework put together by Congress and the White House led 
to the first balanced budget in generations and put our country on 
track to be debt free this year, in 2012. If we had stayed the course, 
we would be debt free as a United States of America right now. Let me 
repeat that. This year we would have been debt free.
  But we got totally off track with tax cuts, two wars, and expansion 
of the prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients--none of 
which was paid for. All great ideas, but none was paid for. And the 10-
year $5.6 trillion surplus forecast in 2001 has become a debt of more 
than $16 trillion. That is a $22 trillion swing in less than a decade. 
It is unbelievable. It is mind boggling.
  But we can get back on track if we follow a simple formula, roughly 
the same one the Bowles-Simpson debt commission recommended. We have to 
curtail spending, we have to have a fair revenue stream, and we have 
got to look at cutting the fat; and, to do that, an overhaul of our tax 
system so it is not only more equitable for everyone but also 
encourages the kind of entrepreneurship that makes our country the 
bedrock of the global economy.
  In America, we need a tax system where everybody pays their fair 
share, and where American businesses are free to do what they do best: 
outproduce, and outinnovate competitors all around the world. To keep a 
bright future, we have to reform our entitlement programs so we can 
preserve the benefits. There is serious trouble ahead if we don't act.
  Think about this. In 2016, Social Security disability is basically 
insolvent; 2024, Medicare insolvent; 2033, Social Security will only be 
able to deliver 75 cents on the dollar, a 25-percent discount.
  The American people are hungry for plain talk on our debt. That is 
why a few weeks ago in Charleston, WV, we hosted Senator Alan Simpson 
and White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton Erskine Bowles. They 
packed the house, and they spoke the truth. What they were saying is, 
give the American people the facts, show them the options the way we 
did at our fiscal summit, and they will do their part to get our 
country back on the right track. They always have. That is what makes 
this country so great.
  So don't sell the United States of America short. Don't sell the 
American people short because this is an election year. They can tell 
when you are dealing straight with them or when you are playing 
politics. Right now, there is no more time to play politics.
  In fact, I got a letter yesterday from James of Clarksburg, WV, 
talking about the summit. Here is what he said.

       It is time for responsible Members of the Senate like you 
     to take to the floor and tell your fellow Senators, ``It is 
     past time for us to take responsible action to address the 
     fiscal crisis which is our responsibility to the people who 
     sent us here--because it is just that. There is no excuse for 
     delaying action until after the election.

  No excuse to delay it just because of an election.
  James got it exactly right; there is no time to waste. I am not 
naive. I understand some of the choices we face are going to be hard 
for some of us to make. I know Republicans don't want to talk about new 
revenue, and I know Democrats don't want to talk about entitlement 
reform. But we need to start thinking more about the next generation 
than of ourselves, or the next generation than the next news cycle or 
the next flight out of Washington.
  Millions of Americans are struggling in this tough economy, working 
overtime to pay their bills, find a job, and find a way forward for 
their families. They are looking to us for the leadership they need. 
They are looking to us for solutions. They are looking to us to come 
together and do what is best for the country in a balanced and 
practical way. They are simply looking to us to do our job, and I 
intend to do that to the best of my ability.
  Winston Churchill once said: You can always count on Americans to do 
the right thing--after they have tried everything else.
  I think we have tried everything else, including kicking the can down 
the road 12 times before. Now it is time for us to do the right thing. 
This temporary step is the wrong thing at the wrong time. We have work 
left to do, and we need to stay and do it. The people of America expect 
us to do better, to stand up for them, to put politics aside. The 
people of West Virginia can be assured that I will always stand, and I 
will continue to try to do the best that I possibly can for them and 
for the people of this great country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Hagan). The Senator from Rhode Island.

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