Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for my colleague Senator Duckworth's resolution honoring the service and sacrifices of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and our veterans. The resolution rightly criticizes President Trump for a series of statements and actions which have denigrated our men and women in uniform, our veterans, and our institutions.

Service and sacrifice run deep among my constituents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With 130,000 Active-Duty members living in Virginia, the Commonwealth has one of the highest populations of military personnel in the Nation. Virginia is home to more than 700,000 veterans, men and women who have displayed the highest level of selfless service while defending this country and who have endured hardship and have put country above self.

I am proud to call these American heroes my constituents, as well as my neighbors, and I am humbled to represent and serve them in Congress. I am thankful to them for protecting this great country.

President Trump, though, again and again, has made disrespectful remarks about servicemembers, veterans, and military leaders despite being Commander in Chief. His name-calling and disdain for the value of service is divisive and dangerous.

Remember how President Trump ridiculed the Gold Star parents of Army CPT Humayun Khan, who died in June 2004 from an IED in Iraq. Mr. and Mrs. Khan are residents of Virginia.

Remember his comments questioning whether Senator John McCain should be called a hero and remember his recent comments, even after the reports of his comments in The Atlantic article came out--his recent comments that our top officials at DOD want to continue fighting wars to make defense contractors happy.

Whether it is pardoning and excusing those in uniform who commit crimes or not standing up to President Putin in defense of our troops when reports emerged that bounties have been offered for killing members of our Armed forces, whether it is deploying our military in response to peaceful protests, threatening to politicalize and divide our military from civilian society, the President, on each of these occasions, is on the wrong side of honoring our servicemembers. These actions and statements are an affront to everyone who serves or has served. They are unacceptable and un-Presidential.

Instead, let's stay focused on what matters in this country. Let's stay united. We need to ensure that we are expressing each and every day how thankful we are to those who serve for protecting the freedoms we hold dear.

I want to thank Senator Duckworth for the introduction of this resolution and, more so, I thank her for her dedicated and exemplary military service to our country.

It is my hope that all my colleagues in the Senate will recognize the mistakes made by our Commander in Chief when addressing the heroes of our military and our Nation's veterans.

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