Honoring Our Armed Forces

HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Nevada for his words. We came to Congress together with TIM JOHNSON many years ago and feel a special kinship and friendship with TIM and Barbara and the family.

I was fortunate enough to be walking past the Chamber and saw Senator TIM JOHNSON speaking and stopped to hear the words he had to say about his son. I thought he showed remarkable composure when he talked about his son who is currently with the Army in Iraq in the midst of this battle. Obviously, he has a great deal of pride and, of course, a great deal of concern, natural concern of any parent.

And then to hear Senator Daschle's special tribute to Brooks Johnson told us a little more about this young man, an extraordinary young man who has done so many things in his short life of 31 years and has tried over and over to continue to serve his country.

What a great reminder of the men and women who are serving their country overseas today. I am glad this Senate went on record today with an incredible vote of 100 to 0 to increase combat pay and the family separation allowance of those who are serving. That is something that should be done, and I am glad we said it today and said it decisively, and I hope we move quickly to change the law to help those families.

I also wish to say before I yield to my great friend and colleague from West Virginia, that I thank the Senator from Arkansas, Mrs. Lincoln, who has brought us to the floor now several times to talk about our men and women in uniform. It is important we continue on a daily basis to remind America that this Senate, as well as the Congress, is very sensitive to the fact that what is happening on the screens of the television just a few feet away involves real lives and real Americans and that our commitment is to them.

The vote in the Senate just last week, 99 to 0 in support of those men and women in uniform, I think shows the current state of affairs in America transcends our political differences. We may disagree on foreign policy, we may disagree on what led up to this war, but when the first shot was fired, 99 Senators, everyone voting stood up and said: At this point, make no mistake; we are standing behind our men and women in uniform.

I have been surprised and disappointed by some of the comments I have received in my office from a few people, some by e-mail and some by telephone, who have taken exception to that vote. They said: We thought you voted against the use-of-force resolution, and now what are you doing, hedging your bet by saying you support the men and women in uniform?

What I have said to them and I say on the floor of the Senate is: You better draw a clear and bright line between the debate on foreign policy and whether or not we stand up for these young men and women who have volunteered to serve their country to risk their lives in battle.

I lived through the Vietnam war and remember it as one of the most formative experiences in my life and one of the saddest chapters in American history, the fact that many people channeled their hatred for the war toward the men and women in uniform. That was unfair. It was unfortunate. It should never be repeated.

Political leaders make decisions about foreign policy, committing our troops in various parts of the world, and those men and women who are sworn to serve the leaders and our Nation meet their call of duty, and we should never forget they did not make the foreign policy decision. They are serving their Nation as we asked them to serve. We should never ever compromise our commitment to them. That is why I think the resolution we have adopted, the vote today when it comes to combat pay and the tribute on the floor, is a reminder that we stand as one, shoulder to shoulder in unity, with these men and women in uniform.

In the congressional family of 100 Senators and 435 Members of the House, it turns out we have, to my knowledge, only one son, and that is TIM JOHNSON's son, Brooks, who is in our Senate congressional family serving our Nation.

We are going to be mindful of him. I ask TIM every day: Have you heard anything from Brooks? We will be mindful of him, as we are mindful of people from my town of Springfield, IL, or my State of Illinois who may be in harm's way. It is part of an expanding American family that we come together in times of fear and in times of crisis.

To those who oppose the war, to those who favor peace, please draw that clear bright line: We should never take it out on the men and women in uniform, no matter how much we may disagree with the policy. And I think most Americans who feel that way, even those with misgivings with the events that led up to this war, feel this commitment should be singular.

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I mentioned Senator Byrd. Today there is a front-page story in the Washington Post about a family in West Virginia—and I imagine he will bring our attention to that in his remarks which follow. It, too, tells the story of a young woman, in this case, who made an extraordinary sacrifice and is in an usual, unpredictable situation perhaps being captured in Iraq.

I take the floor today to thank Senator Lincoln and Senator Johnson. I urge my colleagues, if you can, spare a few moments each day to come and tell a story of those you know who are serving this war and serving this Nation so well.

I yield the floor.