Hire More Heroes Act of 2013 -- Motion to Proceed -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we are all pleased today to welcome Pastor Trevor Barton to the Senate as he delivered the opening prayer.

Pastor Trevor, as everyone calls him, serves as lead pastor at Hawk Creek Church in London, KY. He is a laid-back guy, not big on fancy titles--the kind of pastor who would rather be preaching in blue jeans than a suit.

But under his leadership, Hawk Creek has exploded from a tiny fellowship to a congregation of well over 1,000 souls. I hear some parishioners drive all the way from Tennessee and Virginia just to listen to his sermons. Apparently, Pastor Trevor's parishioners aren't the only ones who have had a long commute to Hawk Creek. I hear the pastor sometimes drove in from almost an hour and a half away in Lexington. He did it so he could be close to his two young sons Shepherd and Greyson and to his wife Allison as she worked on a residency at UK Hospital.

Still, Pastor Trevor has developed important ties with the community in and around London. Hawk Creek does a lot of work with the Appalachian Children's Home. His church also has an important partnership with the local jail. Pastor Trevor's sermons are piped in live and loud every Sunday for the inmates to hear. One of my staffers told me she heard of Hawk Creek performing a baptism for about 70 inmates in a parking lot of that jail.

I think that says a lot about Hawk Creek Church, and it underscores something today's guest Chaplain once said: Whether ``you've messed up in the past, present, future, you are welcome'' in his church.

So I am proud to introduce Pastor Trevor today. We have been pleased to have him here as he dignified our proceedings with a prayer.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court did the right thing by affirming his right to do so. I am delighted to welcome this fellow Kentuckian as he carries out this proud American tradition

SENATE DEBATE

Mr. President, the American people sent us to Washington to debate serious issues. They expect us to take our jobs seriously, to develop effective solutions to the issues that matter to them. That is our charge. Throughout our Nation's history, the Senate has been the place where the weightiest issues have been discussed and debated and, in many cases, resolved.

It is where we wrestle with whether to go to war. It is where we pass landmark bipartisan legislation such as the Civil Rights Act, the GI bill, and the Welfare Reform Act. But over the past several years, and very vividly in the past several months, that proud history has started to erode.

Instead of a forum for debate and resolution of the most pressing domestic and international issues facing our Nation, it has become fodder for late-night TV. When the American people turn on C-SPAN these days they do not often see a majority party driving serious debate on the issues of the day. They hear bizarre monologues about greased pigs and a couple of Kansans the majority leader seems to be thinking about all the time. They see a daily display of absurd political theater that has almost no relevance at all to their daily lives.

It is quite disgraceful. But it is no surprise either since the Democratic majority clearly ran out of ideas a long time ago. Their refusal to engage in serious debate is just another symptom of that. Senate Democrats are afraid to expose their party's empty playbook, so they play games instead. They fill the time with aimless diatribes against private citizens and legislative theatrics that are more about satisfying their liberal patrons than addressing the real concerns and anxieties of the American middle class.

It is all about revving up the far left for them, so they will show up in November and save the President's Senate majority. That is the hope, at least.

But the larger point is this: As Washington Democrats seek to preserve their hold on power, they are becoming increasingly untethered from the daily concerns of average Americans.

That is why you are seeing the Senate lose its sense of purpose. That is why you are not seeing any real debates. Instead of listening to the needs of the middle class, they dance to the tune of the left. That is why you see Senate Democrats pushing legislation that would cost up to 1 million jobs--at a time when the middle class is practically begging us to create jobs. That is why you see Senate Democrats basically boasting that their legislative agenda was drafted by campaign staffers--with no shame at all. And that is why you see Senate Democrats killing job creation bills the House sends us, without even so much as a vote.

No wonder the American people are so disgusted with Washington. Wouldn't you be? The majority's antics this week were particularly shameful. They shook their fists and declared that global warming was the most important issue of our age--that to stand in the way of their preferred solutions would be, at best, immoral. They shouted it from the rooftops and, presumably, sent emails to leftwing supporters to let them know just how serious they were and how Republicans were somehow holding things up.

What they did not tell their supporters was that the Democrats' own majority leader, who also spoke forcefully on the issue yesterday, has been blocking the Senate from voting on global warming for years. Why? Because he does not want his fellow Senate Democrats to have to take a tough vote and because he knows it would never pass a Chamber Democrats control anyway.

As I said, almost everything has become a show in the Senate now. The needs of the middle class are simply lost in the shuffle, and the institution itself is trivialized, it is diminished. The Senate used to be a place where we would discuss the pressing issues of the day. We would be able to do so again if the Senate floor were not being used as a campaign studio.

On Iran, Republicans have tried for months to debate and vote on additional sanctions to put an end to its nuclear program. We know a huge bipartisan majority would vote for increased sanctions if the majority leader would only allow the bill to come to the floor. But he will not. Just as he stopped us from voting to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline yesterday, resulting in headlines such as this one from the AP: ``Democratic leader blocks Senate vote on Keystone.''

``Democratic leader blocks Senate vote on Keystone.''

In fact, at a time when we should have been debating energy, the majority leader refused to allow a single Republican amendment on energy this week--not a one. As I have noted in recent days, the Republican-led House has offered Democrats 125 rollcall votes on their amendments since last July. Here in the Senate, the majority leader has allowed us nine--nine--rollcall votes on Republican amendments since July.

But let me put a finer point on that. Democrats in the House have received more than twice as many rollcall votes on energy-related amendments alone as we have received on all amendments since July. That is not the way this body was meant to function. It is disrespectful to the millions of American citizens represented on the Republican side of the aisle. They deserve a chance to be heard.

The way the Senate operates these days is a travesty--no real debate, no amendments, no respect for the millions of Americans represented by the minority party. It has become an arm of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. We owe the American people so much more than that.

It is time to focus on the middle class again--to let go of the obsession with the far left and the next election. It is time for the Senate to be the Senate again.

HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES

SERGEANT JEREMY R. SUMMERS

Mr. President, I want to speak today about a brave young U.S. Army soldier from my home State of Kentucky who was lost in battle. SGT Jeremy R. Summers, of Brooksville, KY, perished on July 14, 2011, from wounds suffered when the enemy attacked his unit with small-arms fire in the Paktika Province of Afghanistan. He was 27 years old.

For his service in uniform, Sergeant Summers received many awards, medals, and decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan

Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, three Overseas Service Ribbons, the NATO Medal, and the Combat Action Badge.

Kenneth Michael Summers, Jeremy's father, says this about his son:

He never hesitated to make a new soldier feel welcome into the unit. There was one soldier who said he was so scared because he was a newbie, but Jeremy stepped up and helped him. [The other soldier] said for that, he was so thankful and would never forget Jeremy. That was a common story when soldiers told us about their experiences with Jeremy.

Jeremy was not only thoughtful and willing to help others, he was also a dedicated and committed servicemember, and I am sure it was due in part to his following the example that was set for him. Both Jeremy's father and mother, Laura Jo Summers, served in the Army. Jeremy, who graduated from Bracken County High School in Brooksville in 2002, enlisted in the Army in March of 2005 and served for 6 years.

At the time of his deployment to Afghanistan, he was serving as a U.S. Army forward scout observer and was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, based out of Fort Campbell, KY. Previously Jeremy had deployed to both Iraq and Korea.

Jeremy was a voracious reader and loved to watch scary movies. He was known to indulge in a practical joke or two to scare his friends. Jeremy was also a bright student in school, who earned a degree in computer engineering after his first tour of duty. Jeremy asked his parents for advice about reenlisting and decided to continue serving his country in uniform.

Sergeant Summers has followed not only the tradition of his parents but also the tradition of service of so many brave Kentucky men and women who have worn our country's uniform.

``He felt more comfortable in the military lifestyle than he did as a civilian,'' Jeremy's father recalls. ``I reckon it was only fitting ..... since he started life as a military brat and ended as an honorable soldier.''

Speaking for his family, Jeremy's father continues on to say this:

Jeremy was a good listener, a great friend, an awesome brother and a terrific son. I wish all of you could have known him like we did. He is still one of our hearts' greatest treasures.

Mr. President, we are thinking of Sergeant Summers' family today after the loss of one of their hearts' greatest treasures. These include his parents, Kenneth Michael and Laura Jo Summers; his grandparents Joyce Wagoner and Mary Fowler, his siblings Austin Hunter and Jessica Elizabeth Summers, and many other beloved family members and friends.

My colleagues and I here in the Senate extend our greatest sympathies and
condolences to the Summers family for the loss of their son, brother, grandson, and friend Jeremy. We are proud of him for following the example set by his parents and volunteering to wear an American patriot's uniform.

We are deeply humbled and honored to be the beneficiaries of his life of service and his ultimate sacrifice. Without the bravery of men such as SGT Jeremy R. Summers, our Nation would not be free.

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