Date: 2002-11-20
Speaker: STROM THURMOND (republican)
Chamber: S

I thank you. I thank you for all you have done for me and for all you have done for America. Tom Brokaw has written about the greatest generation. those who served in World War II. STROM THURMOND has had the most extraordinary of service. I remember one time he called me up and he said: John. the President has invited me to go withhim to the DDay beaches. It was the 40th anniversary. It was the thinking of President Reagan at that time. very wisely. that many of those veterans would not live to see the 50th anniversary. So Strom embarked for the beaches of Normandy on the 40th. Howard Cannon. Democrat from Nevada. went. with us. Howard Cannon had gone in on DDay in a glider. Lowell Weicker Went with us. I remember his father had been Chief of the Air Force Intelligence. 8th Air Force. Army Air Corps. So there were just the four of us who went. STROM THURMOND was assigned a helicopter right behind the Presidents helicopter and perhaps one with the Secret Service. We traveled up and down the Normandy beaches for 2 days. visiting almost every single site where our troops were involved. I just remember it so well. I remember one Member of the House of Representatives who joined us. beckoned to Senator THURMOND to come over. a Congressman from Florida. I will put his name in the RECORD. He said: Look. STROM. I can see the indentation where I dug my foxhole. Sure enough. there was the beach and an indentation was there. He was consumed with emotion. STROM likewise. I remember these two men embraced on that spot. There were other veterans. many ofthem there. who had participated in DDay. I always respectfully kept a distance. a pace or two behind STROM THURMOND. vho was a Major General in the National Guard. as he was greeted warmly. and likewise shared moments. deep thought with those veterans who had been there on that historic moment in American history. How well I remember that trip. How well I always remember STROM THURMOND and what he has done for America and what he did for this humble Senator. I served at the very end of World War II in the Navy. just in the training command. gettingready for our overseas assignments when. God bless America. the war ended. I was privileged to be a very minor part of the generation of STROM THURMOND. Also on our committee was- TIM HUTCHINSON. TIM was a fighter then. He is a fighter now. He stood over there on the floor last night. and we talked a bit together. His spirits are high. He lost in a tough. competitive race. But he reflected on those achievements he was able to provide for the men and women of the Armed Forces as the chairman of the personnel subcommittee. when I was chairman of the committee. and then as ranking. Concurrent receipts is a very difficult issue. one that had to be addressed by the Congress. The distinguished Senator from Nevada. Senator REID. and Senator HUTCHINSON. Senator SMITH. BOB SMITH. also a Member of the Armed Services CommitteeI will speak about him momentarily. Senator LEVIN and I joined that triumvirate and finally we had what I call a measure of success on that issue. It seemed to be irresolvable. irresolvable for many years that the committee addressed this issue. But finally we established a beachhead and. while it is not satisfactory to all. it is nevertheless a beachhead for the first time in the history of the doctrine of concurrent receipts. which goes back 100 years. It is not easy to set aside 100 years of history to establish the beachhead we did. Tim was in the forefront in that. He also joined in the leadership when we put TRICARE For Life through. Those who serve in the Armed Forces of the United States always remember some of the circumstances when they came in and all the promises that were made when putting on that uniform. Particularly those who became careerists and spent 20plus years in. they always felt they were entitled to assisted care and medical care and treatment for themselves and their families. which they were. in large measure. promised through the years. Put aside all of the legalities. nevertheless. to me it was a moral commitment of this country. to provide that care. TIM HUTCHINSON joined me. I was then chairman. We were able to put that into law such that that care now and for the indefinite futureso long as I am here. I will fight to preserve itwill be made available to those career individuals. Pay raisesall types of things the personnel committee is responsible for. again. the GI bill and other things. But I conclude with TIM on one remark. The Commandant of the Marine Corps approached me the other day just to give me a little update. The retention. particularly in the officer corps of the United States Marine Corps. is at the highest it has ever been in living memory. That comes about through many factors but the principal factor is the knowledge and the feelingwhether it is in the Marine Corps. the Navy. the Army or the Air Forcethat the Congress of the United States stands there to help these individuals. and just to treat them fairly with regard to their pay and benefits and the needs of their families. TiM HUTCHINSON. I salute you. You did a marvelous job to care for the men and women of the Armed Forces. We also had JEAN CARNAHAN serving on the committee. I remember so well that she fought hard for the FA18. a modern naval aircraft. Here is this really extraordinary figure who bore the brunt of such tragedy. to quickly come to the Senate of the United States and assume not only the mantle of a Senator with the burdens of the office. under those tragic circumstancesI would say on her committee she performed very well. We were proud to have her. She was very gentle. a bit softspoken. but tenacious. So I wish that member of our committee well as she departs. MAX CLELAND: MAX also was on the personnel committee. chairman and ranking. MAX was a fighter. MAX bears the scars of war and those are the scars of really a tenacious fighter. He carried that same measure of courage and tenacity here to his duties in the Senate. He fought hard fpr the GI bill. He fought hard for the F22. That is our modern high altitude fighter. It has gone through a lot. of trials and tough times. but it looks as if it is going to make it. In the next 20 to25 years. that aircraft. at those high altitudes. with the ability to interdict any aircraft comparable in the world and have distinct technological advantages. and hopefully pilot advantagesit can provide the security of the airspace for the other elements of our military below that airspace. whether they be on land or on the sea. Those familiar with warfare know if you do not have the space secure. those beneath the airspace are in constant peril. Thank you. MAX. for the GI bill. for endstrength adjustments. He recogiflized the stress being put on the men and women of the Armed Forces today and their families and deployment. He fought hard to see that those end strengths were in law. written such that the appropriate Chiefs of Staff and the other civilians in the Pentagon could make the adjustments necessary to better care for the men and women of the Armed Forces. MAX also has a very special place in my heart because. as I mentioned earlier. I was privileged to be Under Secretary and Secretary of the Navy for 5 years during Vietnam. I visited Vietnam a number of times. I visited the aid stations where the wounded were brought straight from the field of battle. It is hard for people to realize. but those of us who were in the Pentagon -in charge of the military service during that period would sit down each week and write some weeks 50. 60. and some weeks hundreds of letters to the families who lost their loved ones in the battles of Vietnam. You dont forget that. Each day that I was privi leged to see this fine. strong American. veteran brought back those memories for me in that period of history. As I look back on it now. it was a period where perhaps we should have seen earlier on in that conflict a different way to proceed to try to preserve the integrity of the Government of South Vietnam before it fell. But that I will save for another day. MAX. I wish you well. Of course. MAX did another thing to this old Senator from Virginia. He announced last night that he was going to get married. "I think that leaves me now as the only bachelor in the Senate. FRED THOMPSON. of whom I will speak now. bailed out on me. And now MAX has bailed out on me. I am all alone in that category. FRED THOMPSON: I remember there was a very successful advertisement years ago. I cant remember it clearly. but it sort of characterizes FRED THOMPSON. When he speaks. people listen. This is a man who has a remarkable presencenot only a commanding physical presence but an equally commanding strength of mind. And when he spoke. we listened. whether it was here on the floor or within our caucuses or listening to his speeches or when presiding over the Government Operations Committee. People listened reverently as Senator THOMPSON spoke. He also had a remarkable Sense of humility. Those who have traveled through the Hollywood scenesome of which I have known in my lifetimeoften do not have a sense of humility. But FRED has. His capstone. I suppose. was last night when I believe the vote was 90 to 7 for the homeland defense bill about which he felt very strongly. I think America will look back. and hopefully will look at a successful piece of legislation to add to the bastion of defenses with which we must now defend this Nation. FRED. we thank you for your work on that and wish you well with your young bride. PHIL GRAMM: Few people realize it. but when we passed new highway trust fund legislation some years ago in 1996. I was privileged at that time to be chairman of the subcommittee of the Environment and Public Works Committee that was charged with the principal responsibility of drafting the provisions of that historic piece of legislation which enabled each and every State to get a minimum of 90 cents return on those tax dollars paid by citizens of those States and visitors when they pumped a gallon of gas. We had a very inequitable and unfair system of donor States and donee States. The State of Virginia was a donor in that we only got 78 or 79 cents back. and the remainder of the Virginia drivers Federal taxes went to other States. There were some other States such as Massachusetts that got over a dollar. for what reason I have never been clear on. But PHIL went back and examined the tax structures supporting the highway trust fund. President Clinton had put another 5cent tax on and split it between the highway trust fund and the general trust fund. PHIL. as a member of the Finance Committee. got that reversed. All 5 cents went to the highway trust fund. Otherwise. the 50 StatesI emphasize that50 States could not have gotten a substantial increase in those dollars necessary for roads and bridges and other infrastructure measures to facilitate transportation. That. to me. is one of Phils most significant accomplishments. He worked with us on the Environment and Public Works Committee and .the transportation committees of the House and Senate to ensure that America got an equal and fair distribution of those highway trust fund moneys. Of course. PHIL will always be remembered for his wit and for his wisdombrilliant in both but equally controllable in both of those attributes. I say. they are attributes. He is ever quick with the turn of a phrase. or a very insightful path to take to resolve a problem. Many times he stood up in our caucus to say this is a piece of legislation which I believe should take this course. and our leadership often followed that advice. We will miss you. PHIL. But we will remember you. and we will remember you. as you say. with love and affection. Those are the words that heused so often. Of course. he. along with FRED THOMPSON. was one of the principal architects of the homeland defense bill. And I am confident that will in due course be a landmark piece of legislation that will serve this country well. Lastly. I speak of my colleague BOB SMITH. BOB and I are friends based on our loyalty and indebtedness to the U.S. Navy. BOBS father was a very distinguished Naval officer in World War II. He fought in the Navy. and he fought through a number of combat situations in the Pacific to come home. And then his extraordinary capabilities in aviation enabled him to become a test pilot. That is sort of the ultimate desire of aviatorsto become a test pilot to begin to push the frontiers of aviation and develop those aircraft for successive generations to combat the enemies that are lurking against this country. BOBs father had not been home from World War II but a few months when he was testing a plane that malfunctioned and he lost his life. BOB was robbed of his father at a very early age. He carried that thought with himas he does todaywith complete reverence to what his father did in the Navy. BOB served in the Navy himself during Vietnam. So the Navy has a very strong bond between us. I remember when he fought so hard right here on the floororiginally. I didnt think it was a good idea. but I eventually decided to join him in going back to reexamine the circumstances of the USS Indianapolis. That was a remarkable chapter in Naval history. It was a magnificent heavy cruiser. It was the last ship sunk by enemy action. I could be wrong on some minor vessels. but the last capital ship sunk by an enemy action. A Japanese submarine sank that ship as it was making its way back to the Pacific theater. to take up its position once again. It had been out there earlier -in the Pacific. This was another tour. positioned with our fleet. when. in moonlightthe captain was asleepthat ship took a torpedo and went down. A great many of the crew were lost when she went down. But a number survived and floated aimlessly in the oceans. suffering from the deprivation of water and intense sunlight. Sharks actually came in and physically devoured and maimed a number of those crewmen. The Navy search for that ship will always be one of controversy. but eventually a destroyer came alongside and found them. I remember very well an officer on that destroyer was a proud Virginian. Graham Claytor. who eventually became Secretary of the Navy. He followed me by a few years in the Navy secretariat. And he told .me. firsthand. about the appalling sight of those men who had been at sea some several days. suffering extraordinary deprivation. The captain was held accountable. courtmartialed. and although it dwindled off in a certain wayit pretty well drummed upBOB felt that the captain had not received the full measure of justice to which he was entitled. He fought on the floor of the Senate. and eventually the Senate voted to. in large measure. restorealthough the captain was long since deadthe equities. the recognition that he is entitled to for his hqroism on that ship. So to this sailor. to this Vietnam veteran. who is so proud of the Navy. and who fought so hard when he was chairman of the Strategic Subcommittee in the Senate on missile defenseBOB. to this day. feels very strongly. as do I. to have this Nation have a workable. early deployable. limited missile defense system. -BOB fought hard for that. Every Senator cherishes the opportunity to provide for their States National Park Systems. FRANK. I thank you for helping me. over your many years in the Senate. to make additions to Virginias Park System. In particular. those initiatives. some of first legal impression. to make private land available for viewing and study by the ever growing number of visitors interested in the civil war. Thank you. FRANK. for also being a "Paul Revere" on the need for a national energy policy and the increasing need to free America from the bondage of reliance on imported energy. We wish you and your wife good fortune as you are "elevated" to the Governorship of Alaska. So I again summarize simply by saying to my colleagues. thank you for all you did for this humble Member of the Senate. I wish each df you well in your next chapter of distinguished careers. We shall remember you here. one and all.-in the Senate. I yield the floor.