The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“VETERANS DAY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S7920-S7923 on Nov. 7, 2013.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
VETERANS DAY
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, as Veterans Day 2013 approaches next Monday, I ask that in honoring the brave men and women who have served our Nation, we in Congress honor them in ways that are meaningful and help them return to civilian life after they have served. A mere thank-
you is little comfort to a veteran who cannot find meaningful employment, who is striving to provide for his or her family, or who is dealing with post-traumatic stress.
President Woodrow Wilson established this holiday--originally known as Armistice Day--on November 11, 1919, when he proclaimed that it would be used to honor the brave Americans who fought and died in World War I. The holiday was officially recognized by the U.S. Congress on June 4, 1946. After the end of World War II, Armistice Day was expanded to honor all veterans of our military services, and the holiday's name was changed to Veterans Day.
We should honor our veterans every day, but I believe that this annual holiday is especially important as it allows us to reflect on the true aspect of the sacrifices that our servicemembers have made. Their sacrifices are often made in stressful, frustrating, and dangerous conditions. Yet these brave men and women do not shy from committing themselves to serving our country. It is because of those who have served selflessly, with honor and dignity, that we can continue celebrating our history and our way of life.
While I am proud of all of our veterans, I am especially proud of the veterans in my State. Maryland has a long and proud military tradition. Maryland is known as the Old Line State. Some people think that comes from the Mason Dixon Line, but it actually dates back to 1776, less than 2 months after the Declaration of Independence, when George Washington's army was nearing annihilation in an indefensible position at Brooklyn Heights. They were faced with overwhelming odds, and the British Army--the most powerful military force in the world at the time--was closing in around them. But on this historic day 400 Marylanders who made up the Maryland Line stepped up against those overwhelming odds and ran into the breach in defense of our Nation. Today, there is a plaque over the mass graves of those citizen soldiers that reads simply this: ``In honor of the Maryland 400, who on this battlefield on August 27, 1776, saved the American Army.''
Every year I make it a priority on Veterans Day to take an opportunity to thank the millions of brave men and women who served our Nation in uniform and honor them for their courage, dedication, and sacrifice. In my first year as a Senator of Maryland I went to Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery in Owings Mills for a Veterans Day observance, as well as attended a Veterans Day Salute and groundbreaking of a new facility for Baltimore Station, which provides innovative therapeutic residential treatment program supporting veterans who are transitioning through the cycle of poverty, addiction, and homelessness to self-
sufficiency.
I have also spent Veterans Day at the Leonardtown Cemetery and Crownsville Veterans Cemetery Remembrance Ceremony, where I placed wreaths honoring those who have paid the ultimate price in serving our country. Two years ago, I had the privilege of joining Maryland Veterans Affairs Secretary Edward Chow, Jr., to observe Veterans Day at Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery. Through our efforts, we were able to announce that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the cemetery a grant of $1.7 million to make improvements.
Just last year, I had the opportunity to thank the millions of brave men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces and risk their lives for our Nation when I provided remarks at the Crownsville Veterans Day Ceremony. Additionally, I was invited by the Armed Forces Foundation to speak to students at Manor View Elementary School--
located on Fort Meade--as part of their Operation Caring Classroom Program. During my visit, I talked to students about Veterans Day and the importance of honoring the service of men and women in the military, as well as the sacrifices of their families. We far too often forget to thank the families of our veterans for all they have sacrificed. We want our veterans and their families to know we are grateful for their service to our Nation and are here today to honor them as well.
This year I will have a chance to say thank you to veterans across Maryland as I participate in the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 451 Veterans Day Celebration and Baltimore City's Veterans Day Celebration sponsored by the Baltimore City Veterans Commission. This Veterans Day, I am reminded that Maryland is home to over 470,000 veterans to whom we made solemn promises. I am committed to making sure they receive the services and benefits they earned and the support they were promised. The United States is the strongest Nation in the world, and I am proud to honor Maryland's veterans with my gratitude and respect.
For more than 237 years, Marylanders in every branch of service have been at the forefront of providing distinguished service for our national defense. Let me mention a few examples. Marylanders are justifiably proud of amazing soldiers like PFC Kevin Jaye, an Army hero born and raised in Smithsburg who saw his life change when he stepped on an improvised explosive device, IED, while serving in Afghanistan. Kevin lost his right leg below the knee, but despite the many surgeries and the long recovery process, he is determined to overcome these challenges. Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, more than 1,500 U.S. troops have become amputees and Kevin is one of them.
We are justifiably proud of naval heroes like Navy Hospital Corpsman Michael Couch, who received a Purple Heart earlier this year as a result of the injuries he sustained while serving in Afghanistan. Michael was traveling in a convoy when his vehicle rolled over an IED which detonated. He was knocked unconscious, and his eardrum was ruptured. After 3 weeks of rehabilitation he rejoined his unit. Michael is now stationed at the Naval Academy, where he is an optometry technician who prescreens the vision of midshipmen before they meet with an optometrist.
We are justifiably proud of marines from Maryland like HM3 Vanzorro Gross, Jr., who was awarded the Purple Heart in May by Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River. Corpsman Gross received the Purple Heart for wounds received in action during a raid while deployed in Afghanistan with the Marines. During the firefight, eight service personnel were injured and two were killed. Corpsman Gross was 30 days into a 6-month deployment at the time of the attack and was sent home with damage to the bones in his foot. He had a 3-inch hole in his foot from the shrapnel damage and has undergone four orthopedic surgeries so far to reconstruct it. Despite these injuries, when visited in Walter Reid National Military Medical Center by a commanding officer, Corpsman Gross' first question was, ``When can I go back?''
We are justifiably proud of Air Force Airman Captain Barry F. Crawford, Jr., a member of the Maryland Air National Guard, who was recently awarded the Air Force Cross--second only to the Medal of Honor--and Purple Heart for his extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy of the United States as special tactics officer near Lagham Province, Afghanistan. Captain Crawford is credited for taking decisive action to save the lives of three wounded Afghan soldiers and evacuating two Afghan soldiers killed in action. Captain Crawford is only the fifth recipient, since 9/11, to receive the Air Force Cross.
We are justifiably proud of Security Forces airmen stationed at Warfield Air National Guard Base, who were awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement while assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations Tactical Security Element at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. MSG John Duly and MSG Olen D. Smith III led a 15-man tactical security element that provided security wherever the Office of Special Investigations detachment needed to go. On a routine mission, an Army platoon came under attack from Taliban fighters, and Sergeants Duly and Smith moved their unit to provide support. For the next 48 hours their unit provided security and overwatch, responded to a vehicle rollover, initiated and received direct fire, coordinated with helicopter and fixed wing assets, and responded to a vehicle hit by an IED.
We are justifiably proud of the A-10 pilots from the 104th Fighter Squadron with the Maryland Air National Guard assigned to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, who recently flew as part of a harrowing mission to support ambushed coalition forces fighting during dangerous weather conditions. A dozen pilots protected more than 90 coalition servicemembers during a major battle in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
All across the services, our military members and veterans from Maryland are the best in the Department of Defense. But Congress simply has not done enough to provide enough support to our veterans. For example, unemployment is also an issue for the veterans community. Veterans, particularly young veterans from our most recent conflicts, are having trouble getting jobs. In this September's jobs report, the Bureau of Labor reported that while the unemployment rate for nonveterans was 7.2 percent and the unemployment rate for all veterans was at 6.5 percent, the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans was at an astonishing 10.1 percent. I find this troubling, as the experience that these veterans acquired during their recent military service should make them invaluable to prospective employers. We must do better in providing employment opportunities for our veterans.
Ultimately, Veterans Day is an opportunity for all of us to thank our veterans for their service and to renew our commitment to serving and honoring them each and every day of the year. A true marker of our Nation's worth is our willingness to serve those who have served us. As we continue to wind down our commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan after a decade of war, we need to gear up our commitment to our veterans. Our veterans deserve every possible tool we can provide to help ease their transition to civilian life. I am committed to making sure that our veterans receive the services and benefits they earned and the support they were promised and deserve. The United States is the strongest Nation in the world because of our veterans, and we owe them and their families our gratitude and our respect.
Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, Veterans Day 2013 gives us an opportunity to set aside our day-to-day worries and celebrate the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. It is a national day of recognition and gratitude for those who have bravely served and fought to defend the freedoms that make the United States a beacon of liberty to the world.
I am heartened each year by the pride that Mississippians have for our Armed Forces, and their appreciation for the sacrifices made by loved ones on behalf of our Nation. The ceremonies, parades and programs taking place this year will reflect the admiration we share for our veterans. It is gratifying to see the deep respect that the people of my State have for those who have served, from the first Mississippians who took up arms to defend this land to those currently deployed around the world.
Today, the new generation of all-volunteer veterans returning from more than a decade of sustained combat operations reminds us of our sacred obligations to all our veterans and their families. We must dedicate ourselves to meeting those commitments. Doing so will make us a stronger Nation.
I appreciate that on Veterans Day the world will witness an American people united in its appreciation of the men and women who have served and fought for our republic.
Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Fiscal Year 2014 Appropriations
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I wish to take this opportunity to associate myself with the remarks of the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Mikulski, earlier this week. She has really been an extraordinary leader for many years in this Congress. She is truly an expert appropriator. We could have no better person trying to bring this body together--Democrats and Republicans--in my mind than Senator Mikulski. She is trying to get our appropriations bills through the process--which is so important for the country, not just for our agencies and our departments, as the Presiding Officer knows, as a Senator from Massachusetts with thousands in his State and millions of private contractors and nonprofit organizations, not the least of which is one my favorites, the Catholic Church, which delivers so many social services to the people of our State and Nation.
It is very hard for anyone to plan anything when the Federal budget is in such disarray. If there is anyone that can figure this out, it is Senator Mikulski. So as one of her subcommittee chairs, I want to be here to support her work. I am the chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, and I add my voice to how important it is for us over these next few weeks to get a budget resolution done.
Senator Murray has passed a budget on this side. After the recklessness of a government shutdown, finally everyone has come to their senses, and we are now in conference with the Budget Committee. We have to get that budget number down so that once we agree on what the top-line spending is, the budget for the country, we can then go about building the 12 bills that actually run the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Education, and the others.
The important reason for Congress to adopt a budget resolution would be for us to provide some stability--not just for the next year but the next 2 years, and not only for stability to our agencies but to our many private sector partners, so that we can give some idea of what the outlook for spending and investing is going to be by the Federal Government. It is very important for our overall economic strength. We cannot afford another government shutdown which puts our economic viability at risk and denies assistance to millions of Americans.
In my State, I was trying to figure out a way to describe the cost of the shutdown--reckless, and it should have been avoided, and it was not. So I asked, what are some of the things that cost about $92 million in Louisiana? One of the things I found out is that the New Orleans Saints payroll is $70 million a year. That would be like telling the Saints we are not paying you for one whole year. We would never do that in New Orleans. But when we think about not paying the salaries of the players and then the effect that would have on the whole operation, the whole organization, the city itself, the games, we can see the ripple effect; and that was just the impact to Louisiana. The impact to the Nation was extraordinary. We have to avoid it at all costs.
One of the missions of the Appropriations Committee is to make sure the Federal Government continues to operate on behalf of the people, the taxpayers we serve, and that we invest in their future, in their opportunities to strengthen families and grow businesses. They need a budget that they can count on just like we do. When the Federal Government is not functioning under normal order and getting our budgets, our appropriations bills, it really does wreak havoc in many communities throughout our country. We need to pass our 12 appropriations bills that set priorities and invest in our future.
If we are not able to get to an agreement on the budget and to set top lines for all of our appropriations bills, we will basically punt to a continuing resolution--CR--which I think Senator Durbin said is like running your business for 2014 based on your checkbook receipts from 2013. Why would any smart businessperson do that? No one would run a family budget or business operation using last year's stubs from the checkbook. We want to pay for this year coming up. We want to budget for the future.
Anytime we can't pass an appropriations bill and we punt to a continuing resolution, it is like putting the country on autopilot set for last year's weather, not what is coming ahead for next year. It really is a waste of money. It wastes taxpayer money.
So I am hoping that cool heads can prevail and we can get a budget number. It is going to take some additional revenues put on the table, as well as some smart cuts and reductions, balancing between the Murray priorities and the Ryan priorities. Then we can be given our numbers to build the Homeland Security budget. That is what I want to talk about now just briefly.
Everyone knows how important it is to keep the homeland security of this country intact. We have done a very fine job. It has been expensive. This budget has gone from zero to its current level of $42 billion post-9/11, in the last 12 years, but it has been an investment worth making. We have a lot of threats against our country every day from border intrusions, to cyber security threats, to explosions, as the Presiding Officer knows so well, with the Boston Marathon, which frightened and terrorized an entire community and city. So there are lots of challenges. Throwing money at the problem isn't going to fix them all, but not having enough money to invest will ensure vulnerabilities which we cannot allow.
When a homemade explosive device wreaked havoc at the Boston Marathon, we saw how critical it was that law enforcement and first responders had proper training and equipment. That training and equipment is funded through the Homeland Security bill. We have given robust grants over the years. We want to continue to be able to do that. However, if we don't get to a budget, if we don't get to an agreement, grant funding would be reduced to the lowest level since it was formed 10 years ago. I don't think we want to go back to pre-9/11 investments. This is a new world. It is a dangerous world. The threats are evolving, as we saw play out in Boston. We need to be ready for the next attack, and we won't be if we can't get a budget agreement.
Our cyber networks are under constant attack. There are 6 million probes on U.S. networks alone. Among the attackers we know are 140 foreign spy organizations. One example: The Syrian Electronic Army defaced the Marine Corps Web site and hacked into numerous print media Web sites. A recent Annual Report to Congress from the U.S. Secretary of Defense documents that China is using its network exploitation capability to support intelligence collections--of course, that is understandable--but hacking into some of our manufacturing and private sector databases to steal U.S. trade and manufacturing secrets. We know this. It has been put into the record before, but it is worth repeating.
Also this year, in the wake of serious chemical plant incidents in West Texas and Ascension Parish in Louisiana, we are reminded that people live around chemical plants and industrial sites that are very dangerous. Lots is done to keep them safe, but if that perimeter was ever breached by people who had intentions other than to work there and produce legal products, it could be a disaster. That is ongoing. It is a big country. It is an open country. We have partnerships to build in the private sector, and in large measure that is part of what our budget does. Last week, a Transportation Security officer lost his life, and two others were shot in the line of duty at the Los Angeles airport.
So these attacks are real. This budget does what it can with limited resources. We try to be strategic. We try to be as efficient as we can to make sure that we keep our hundreds of airports, land ports, and water ports safe for people to move, for manufacturing and trade, and for our economy to advance. It is a big job. It takes a lot of money to do that, and it takes cooperation. I sure hope in the next couple of weeks we can find it.
We continue to face threats of weapons of mass destruction. Dirty bombs being detonated in one of our cities or ports is an ongoing worry. A radiological attack would incite not just harm but mass panic and shut down transportation systems. We just cannot afford not to have a Department of Homeland Security budget that is looking to the future. As these threats evolve, they are ever changing. People say: I just bought a cell phone. Do I have to buy another one? The technology is changing so fast, it is hard for people to keep up. I just got a laptop last year. I need to buy another one. The technology is changing. In the same sense, threats are evolving. We can't budget for what happened 2 years ago. We need to budget for the future, and if we can't get this budget worked out, if we can't get our appropriations numbers, we will either be in a continuing resolution--which is basically funding what happened in the past, which makes no sense and wastes taxpayer money--
or we will be short-changing our constituents.
For 4 years in a row the Department of Homeland Security has had to tighten its belt. Everyone has. We have been willing to do that. We have operated at reduced funding. But the impact of the sequester--
which is really a blunt instrument that cuts funding in a not very smart way. They are automatic cuts that were never intended, that were never designed to run the government. They were really designed to motivate us to do a better job of getting to the budget. That seems not to be working. As a result, these automatic cuts that are blunt, that are harsh, and that really are not smart are happening to all of our agencies, defense and nondefense alike. It is time to get rid of that inefficient way of operating and go to a more strategic, forward-
leaning planning budget process.
I just want to mention an agency that I am very supportive of, the Coast Guard, not only because we build many of the boats in Louisiana but because so many of our people--and Massachusetts as well--are literally saved every year by the Coast Guard. We have lots of water, lots of lakes, lots of important work going on with offshore oil and gas drilling, and we are intercepting drugs that come into the United States. The Coast Guard is on the front line. They are operating their surface and air assets at 25 percent below planned levels because of sequestration--not smart cuts. It has resulted in a 30-percent reduction of drug seizures--people are not happy to hear this; I am not happy to say it--and an 11-percent reduction in the interdiction of undocumented migrants.
Under a yearlong CR, Customs and Border Protection would not be able to hire any new officers for our air, land, and sea ports of entry. This is bad news for travel and trade. The Presiding Officer knows, as people come into America they ask: Why do we have to wait so long in line? We just came here to do business. We have to get to New York, Chicago, Boston, Louisiana, California, and to other places where people come to do international business.
We can't shift assets from the past to the front line with a sequester. We can only do it with a rational budget that will help cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans and Miami to grow. This is important to business. It is important to the Chamber of Commerce.
So I urge my colleagues, let us work very hard together in a bipartisan way to come to some agreement on our budget, so that we can have direction as appropriators to design bills--whether it is for the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Commerce--to fashion budgets that meet future needs, that are not funding tired past priorities but are funding investing in the real future and real-time needs, present and future, of our citizens and of the great country that we believe in and want to see get stronger.
Under a year-long CR, DHS would not be able to implement safeguards to prevent unauthorized release of classified information. Vulnerabilities in the existing system were highlighted in the Wikileaks releases and the more recent disclosures by Edward Snowden. There was no funding in fiscal year 2013 to stop this type of activity so DHS's classified data will not be adequately protected without fiscal year 2014 funding.
Critical infrastructure protection efforts would be hindered. For example, without the $34 million above the fiscal year 2013 sequester level, inspections of chemical plants to prevent weaponization by terrorists will be delayed. Funding to better coordinate Federal chemical programs in the wake of the West, Texas facility explosion will not be provided. Increases to prevent catastrophic impacts to critical infrastructure during manmade or natural disasters will be eliminated.
Because of these impacts, it is critical that we conference our fiscal year 2014 Senate bills with our House counterparts so that we can address the weaknesses that continuing to operate at sequestration levels would entail. A conference would also permit a necessary delay to flood insurance rate increases for properties that were formerly grandfathered into affordable rates since the House and Senate Homeland Security bills contain identical language on this issue. This is one small step in a larger effort I have been working on to fix flood insurance so that it is affordable, accessible and self-sustainable. Time and time again, Senators have heard from their constituents about the skyrocketing increases in flood insurance rates. Many homeowners throughout the United States will see their rates rise to unaffordable levels. For example, up to 2.9 million policies nationwide could see their previously grandfathered rates become absolutely unaffordable. One resident in my State of Louisiana could see rates increase from
$633 to over $20,000 per year. That makes homeownership unachievable for many Americans and traps others in houses that they cannot sell.
We must get our work done. We need to agree on a budget for fiscal year 2014. Then we need to finalize our fiscal year 2014 bills so that our agencies have the appropriate funding for their critical missions--
instead of lurching from one funding crisis to the next. This is a hard task but one I believe that is achievable. This is exactly what we were elected to do.
I thank Senator Mikulski for her leadership.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Warner). Without objection, it is so ordered.
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