Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, this weekend, we honor those who have fought on the frontlines in battle and made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the United States of America. These men and women represent America at its best--a nation that is restless and unwavering in combating tyranny, that facilitates peace, and defends human rights and individual liberty across the globe; a nation that is unafraid to call evil by its name and then works to eradicate it through force, if necessary, even at great cost to itself and its own people.

Today, in advance of the holiday weekend, I say thank you to the 200,000 military men and women who are stationed in my State, the State of Texas, and to the 1.7 million veterans who call Texas home.

Thank you for having served over the course of so many years in the face of so many dangers and at such great individual sacrifice.

Of course, many of their predecessors gave their lives defending this country on the bloody fields of Gettysburg, in the trenches of the Western Front, during the storming of the beaches at Normandy, and during the Shock and Awe in Baghdad. These are just some examples, each of them unique but none of which we should ever forget.

We must also thank the military families of those warriors. I pray they find peace on Monday, when many of them will place flowers on military grave sites and speak privately to their loved ones who have passed on.

In just a few days, I will have the chance to speak to young Texans who thought hard about their futures and the future of our country and decided they want to attend our U.S. military academies. These talented high school students are the cream of the crop. They have been accepted to our Nation's five prestigious military service academies, and they will be gathering together, on Monday, in San Antonio.

Even though I am not the one who has nominated all of them, we invite everyone who has been nominated--and their families--to come to this academy sendoff. This sendoff is something I look forward to each year because it is an inspiration to me. At a time when people talk about the next generation and America's future, they reassure me that our country still produces talented, patriotic young men and women who want to serve their country and want to preserve our freedom. Meeting these young people who are making such bold and selfless decisions speaks well of the character of our Nation's next generation.

Then I will be heading down to Georgetown, TX, which is just outside of Austin, to a community called Sun City, which has a large veteran population. There, I will join in celebrating Memorial Day in a place where patriotism is not a dirty word. In Sun City, it is not an act either. Loving one's country and honoring fallen soldiers is simply a given, and I know there will be a lot of American flags on full display.

In the few days leading up to Memorial Day, we should also reflect on our duty as Members of Congress and as a nation to support our military servicemembers and their families and ask whether we are living up to our end of the bargain in Washington, DC.

Just yesterday, we took a very important step in that regard by passing the VA MISSION Act, which includes some of the most substantial reforms to the veterans' healthcare system that have been made in years.

It lowers the barriers to care for veterans and gives them more treatment options. It also simplifies the bureaucratic system of community care programs and streamlines them from seven to one. It expands the family caregivers program, which I became convinced was important after having visited wounded warriors at Walter Reed. Frequently, because of the catastrophic injuries they have suffered, a spouse has had to quit his or her job and basically tend to the needs of that wounded warrior, just as a practical matter, and provide assistance in addition to the medical care that has been received. Expanding the family caregivers program is, I think, a step in the right direction.

In this bill, we also address opioid prescription guidelines for outside providers and encourage the hiring and retention of more Veterans Health Administration healthcare professionals.

So there is a lot to talk about when we go home for Memorial Day, and I look forward to talking to our Active-Duty military and our veterans and to demonstrating that we are doing more than just talking about it; we are actually doing something that will make a difference in their lives.

Upon our return, I am also looking forward to continuing our hard work on the National Defense Authorization Act, which is something the Presiding Officer is intimately involved in, which was marked up yesterday in the Armed Services Committee.

For 57 straight years, a Defense authorization bill has been signed into law by Presidents of both parties and through the hard work of congressional majorities that have been led by both parties. This year's legislation will help ensure our military has what it needs to achieve the most difficult missions they have ever faced and to embark on those that will inevitably arise tomorrow.

I have spoken quite a bit about the China threat recently at this podium, and that country bears mentioning again, right now, because of its connection to the Defense Authorization Act.

As the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said recently, it is ``[i]n the Indo-Pacific region [where] the United States faces a near-term, belligerent threat armed with nuclear weapons and also a longer-term strategic competitor.''

China is that longer term strategic competitor, of course, and that is what Congressman Mac Thornberry was talking about. Yet we can't just stop with China and North Korea. We need to talk about Russia, Iran, and the civil war and terrorist threat arising out of Syria and the Middle East.

All of those are important in our deliberations on the Defense authorization bill because the NDAA prioritizes military readiness across the globe where American leadership remains indispensable. It promotes security and stability in the Indo-Pacific, particularly through military exercises with our allies, and it improves Taiwan's defense capabilities while we keep our commitment to Taiwan that was established a long time ago.

The Defense authorization bill is important for reasons that hit much closer to home as well. In past years, this bill has authorized needed improvements at Texas military facilities like Fort Hood, Joint Base San Antonio, the Red River Army Depot, and Ellington Field. It has also given our troops a much needed pay raise and updated advanced aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles. All of these have implications in Texas.

As we get closer and closer to Memorial Day, let's remember what our Armed Forces have given for us, including their very lives, and everything they have given to us, which is our freedom that we enjoy every day.

Let's make sure we keep up our end of the bargain here in Washington with legislation like the VA MISSION Act and the Defense authorization bill and at home with our patriotism and our frequent signs of appreciation for their service to our great country.

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Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Texas (Mr. Cruz), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Flake), the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Heller), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), and the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio) would have voted ``yea.''

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