Climate Change

Floor Speech

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Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a true American hero, my friend and my colleague, John McCain.

To know John was to know a man who was fiercely devoted to his family, his constituents, and his country. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.

As a nation, we all share in the sense of emptiness his passing has left behind, but we also share a profound sense of gratitude for the life John lived and the legacy of service and unwavering commitment he has left us to cherish.

Many Americans felt a personal connection to John McCain. Our men and women in uniform always knew he was on their side. He was one of them. John understood better than anyone what it meant to send people into combat. So much of his work in the Senate was devoted to making sure our troops got the training, the equipment, and the pay they need.

Last year, I had the honor of traveling with John on one of his final trips to the Middle East. I had the chance to see how deeply revered he was by everyone in uniform. They all knew the story. They know how John McCain, the war hero, spent nearly 6 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam; how, when offered an abrupt release less than a year after his Navy jet was shot out of the air, John McCain refused to be released while his brothers were still in captivity; how he was isolated, tortured, and beaten so badly that he carried the physical consequences of his loyalty to our country with him for the rest of his life; how he could have avoided it all but endured out of love and loyalty to his fellow servicemembers. They knew the story, and every single servicemember we saw treated John like a celebrity rock star, and that is because he was.

John was a deeply principled man. I had the honor of working with John closely in the fight to reinstall Glass-Steagall, and, boy, was it a fight. Throughout the entire battle, John would tease me about pulling my weight in ``getting this thing done.'' ``Show some fight, girl.'' ``Don't tell me you're afraid.'' ``Get in there--throw some punches.'' That was John's approach to life: If you are going to be in a fight, you had better give it your all.

Don't get me wrong, John and I disagreed on many things, and sometimes quite forcefully, but even when we disagreed, I always respected that his heart was focused on doing what he believed was right for the American people.

I remember expressing to John my views on the most effective strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan; that there are simply some problems that cannot be solved through military action alone. We can't simply fight our way to peace. We need to bring our troops home. Respectfully, John would disagree and then proceed to energetically walk me through why he believed in the benefits of staying longer.

Democrat or Republican, foreign leader or President of the United States, John McCain would go toe to toe with anyone to fight for what he thought was right. He applied these principles to his service to our country, in his commitment to the people of Arizona, and his abiding love and defense of the American people. At a time when character and integrity are under siege, the entire Nation mourns the loss of a public servant who lived his life with courage and conviction.

John ran the Armed Services Committee with an iron fist but also with respect for the importance of bipartisanship and a basic sense of fairness that no one could ever ignore. If you came to the table ready, prepared to work, John made sure you were heard. There were so many occasions where John would jump in while I was questioning a witness because John was listening and would hear how the questions were being dodged and disregarded. His admonishment to the witness was like a whip: If you can't come up with better answers, what are you here for?

I count it as a blessing to have had the honor to serve with Senator John McCain in the U.S. Senate. If there ever was a true American patriot, John McCain was that patriot. I will miss his strength, I will miss his maverick spirit, but most of all I will miss his kindness.

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