May 18, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6845

million outpatient visits for 3.7 million

patients would have been denied under

the majority’s budget blueprint, and

we will have turned our backs on the

majority of those who so valiantly

served this Nation.

Mr. President, this has been our findings in reading through the budget proposal that will be presented today to

the Senate. The majority’s budget proposals for cuts to Medicare and freezing

Veterans’ Administration health care

programs are simply, in my eyes and in

my heart, unacceptable. You cannot

single out health care for one segment

of the population for cuts without serious consequences. The senior citizens

of today, the veterans of today, should

not have the rugs pulled out from

under them. So, therefore, I urge my

colleagues to reject these unwise proposals.

I yield the remainder of my time.

THE VOTERS HAVE SAID ‘‘YES’’

IS CONGRESS IRRESPONSIBLE?

fMr. HELMS. Mr. President, the impression simply will not go away: The

$4.8 trillion Federal debt is a grotesque

parallel to the energizer bunny we see,

and see, and see on television. The Federal debt keeps going and going and

going—up, of course—always to the

added misery of the American taxpayers.

So many politicians talk a good

game—when, that is, they go home to

talk—and ‘‘talk’’ is the operative

word—about bringing Federal deficits

and the Federal debt under control.

But, sad to say, so many of these

very same politicians have regularly

voted for one bloated spending bill

after another during the 103d Congress

and before. Come to think about it,

this may have been a primary factor in

the new configuration of U.S. Senators

as a result of last November’s elections.

In any event, Mr. President, as of

yesterday, Wednesday, May 17, at the

close of business, the total Federal

debt stood—down to the penny—at exactly $4,884,246,600,937.11 or $18,540.68

per man, woman, and child on a per

capital basis. Res ipsa loquitus.

THE RETIREMENT OF REAR ADM.

PATRICK W. DRENNON, CEC, USN

fMr. NUNN. Mr. President, it has

come to my attention that Rear Adm.

Patrick W. Drennon will be retiring

from the Navy after some 33 years of

honorable and distinguished service.

He most recently served as the Director, Facilities and Engineering Division (N44) for the Deputy Chief of

Naval Operations (Logistics), Washington, DC. In this capacity he has provided timely support and accurate information on Navy facility and engineering plans and programs to the

Members of the Senate and our professional and personal staffs.

Admiral Drennon was previously the

Commander of Western Division, Naval

Facilities Engineering Command

[NAVFACENGCOM], headquartered in

San Bruno, CA. This was following

duty as Deputy Commander for Planning and Assistant Commander for Facilities and Real Estate at

NAVFACENGCOM Headquarters in Alexandria, VA, and as Assistant for Civil

Engineering (OP–04E) to the Deputy

Chief of Naval Operations (Logistics),

Washington, DC.

His other duty assignments have included: Assistant Resident Officer in

Charge of Construction in Key West,

FL; Public Works Officer at the Naval

Facility and the Navy Representative

for Construction while on the staff of

the Commander, U.S. Forces in the

Azores; Operations Officer of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion One on two

deployments to Vietnam; an instructor

at the Civil Engineer Corps Officers

School at Port Hueneme, CA; and an

Exchange Officer with the Mediterranean Division, Corps of Engineers,

Livorno, Italy. While working with the

Corps’ Mediterranean Division, he

served as the program manager for the

planning and design of King Khalid

Military City, Saudi Arabia.

Admiral Drennon also served in the

Seabee Division, NAVFACENGCOM

Headquarters; on the staff of the thenDirector, Shore Activities Planning

and Programming Division (OP–44) for

the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, DC; and as the Executive Officer of the Public Works Center and

Resident Officer in Charge of Construction in San Diego, CA.

His awards include the Legion of

Merit, Bronze Star with Combat ‘‘V’’

and a Gold Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with a Gold Star, and the

Navy Achievement Medal.

Rear Admiral Drennon has become

widely acknowledged as a leader and

visionary in the Civil Engineer Corps.

As a fellow Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, I can say that this is no real surprise as Rear Admiral Dennon began

his distinguished naval career upon his

commissioning out of the NROTC Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mr. President, over the past several

years many communities have experienced great anxiety and turmoil as a

result of the Department of Defense’s

base closure process. Rear Admiral

Drennon has played a vital role in promoting effective communications and

harmonious working relationships in

the Navy’s base realignment and closure implementation process. He has

assisted local civic leaders throughout

the country in working through many

challenging situations associated with

base closure and realignment actions.

Rear Admiral Drennon has been equally recognized and appreciated by all

who have come to know him.

A man of Rear Admiral Drennon’s

talent and integrity is rare indeed, and

while his honorable service will be

genuinely missed, it gives me great

pleasure today to recognize him before

my colleagues and to wish him, his

wife, Cheryl, and his family every success as he brings to a close a long and

distinguished career in the U.S. Navy.

TEXAS ACTS ON FLAG

DESECRATION

fMr. GRAMM. Mr. President, Texas

Secretary of State, the Honorable Antonio O. Garza, Jr., has forwarded to

me a copy of a resolution passed by the

Texas Legislature on March 9, 1995 and

signed by Governor George Bush. The

resolution petitions the U.S. Congress

to propose to the States an amendment

to the Constitution of the United

States which protects the American

flag from willful desecration. I supported the passage of such an amendment in 1990 when the Senate debated

the issue and have cosponsored the

most recent proposal to ban the desecration of our flag. Secretary Garza

has requested that I place in the

RECORD the text of the resolution

adopted by the Texas Legislature. Because of the importance that I place on

this issue, I am requesting unanimous

consent that the text of the resolution

and the text of a letter from Secretary

of State Garza be printed in the

RECORD in order that my colleagues

have an opportunity to read for themselves this important expression of the

collective will of the people of my

State.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the

RECORD, as follows:

THE STATE OF TEXAS,

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE,

Austin, TX, April 13, 1995.

Hon. PHIL GRAMM,

U.S. Senator, Russell Senate Office Building,

Washington, DC.

DEAR SENATOR GRAMM: Please find enclosed an official copy of Senate Concurrent

Resolution 24, as passed by the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, of the State of

Texas.

The 74th Legislature of the State of Texas

hereby petitions the Congress of the United

States of America to propose to the states an

amendment to the United States Constitution, protecting the American flag and 50

state flags from willful desecration and exempting such desecration from constitutional construction as a First Amendment

right.

It is also requested that this resolution be

officially entered in the Congressional

Record as a memorial to the Congress of the

United States.

Sincerely,

ANTONIO O. GARZA, Jr.,

Secretary of State.

Enclosure.

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 24

Whereas, the United States flag belongs to

all Americans and ought not be desecrated

by any one individual, even under principles

of free expression, any more than we would

allow desecration of the Declaration of Independence, Statue of Liberty, Lincoln Memorial, Yellowstone National Park, or any

other common inheritance which the people

of this land hold dear; and

Whereas, the United States Supreme

Court, in contravention of this postulate,

has by a narrow decision held to be a First

Amendment freedom the license to destroy