-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I need to begin today with some tragic news. This weekend, as Americans joined together to salute our heroes, five soldiers deployed out of Fort Campbell, KY, were killed while operating in dangerous conditions in the Mediterranean Sea: CW3 Stephen Dwyer, CW2 Shane Barnes, SSG Tanner Grone, SGT Andrew Southard, and SGT Cade Wolfe.

These fallen warriors were members of Fort Campbell's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known by their brothers- and sisters-in- arms as Night Stalkers.

The Night Stalkers are elite, highly trained fighters who take on the most sensitive missions. They are ready to respond at any time there are serious threats anywhere in the world, and they ground their service in two principles: never quit and never surrender.

Night Stalkers live, breathe, and--tragically--often die by a creed which reads:

I serve with the memory and the pride of those who have gone before me, for they loved to fight, fought to win, and would rather die than quit.

This weekend, five brave men honored their creed. Their memory will live on, carried by Night Stalkers who continue to profess it and by every American who mourns their loss. This tragedy is a stark reminder of the incredible dangers our men and women in uniform face and of the debt we owe them.

So, today, I join our Nation in grieving these fallen warriors, and I extend my prayers to their families, children, and comrades.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source