IRS Bureaucracy Reduction And Judicial Review Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I wish to spend a few minutes this morning talking about a young man who can be described in many ways and one who has earned many accolades: decorated Marine Corps veteran, award-winning journalist, Houston native, and seventh-generation Texan. But most importantly, this young man, Austin Tice, is better known as a friend, brother, and son to loving and caring parents.

Almost 3 years ago, Austin decided to pause his law school studies to spend the summer in Syria as a freelance journalist. He was frustrated by the lack of reporting on Syria's civil war, a war that has claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people by some estimates--and that is just within the borders of Syria--and has displaced millions more who are living in refugee camps both in Syria and in surrounding countries. This huge refugee crisis affects many neighboring countries, such as Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon, and has tremendous potential to destabilize the entire region.

As a strong believer in freedom of the press, Austin wanted to let his fellow countrymen know what was going on in that part of the world. As a former Eagle Scout and Marine Corps captain, Austin's typical can-do attitude led him to decide that he should go to Syria himself and report on the civil war, and that is exactly what he did. Well, as with most things he tried, Austin proved to be very successful. While he was reporting from Syria, his work was published in the Washington Post, McClatchy news, and other outlets.

In August 2012, just days before he was planning to leave Syria, he was kidnapped, and no one has heard from him since. We still don't know for sure who his captors are. Sadly, we know very little. One thing we do know is that his parents, Marc and Debra Tice, and his entire family have worked tirelessly to locate him and to bring him home safely.

This week marks the 1,000th day of Austin's captivity. I really can't begin to imagine the toll this ordeal has taken on Austin's family, but I have to say I so greatly admire the courage and conviction of his parents, who said earlier this week in a statement:

We have desperately missed Austin for over 1,440,000 minutes--each new minute fuels our resolve to find him and bring him safely home.

While we often mark the number of days someone has been missing, it is important to remember that to the family and friends of someone who has been kidnapped, even the minutes that pass are almost unbearable. Austin's family is not just counting the days he has been gone and all the milestones he has inevitably missed, they are counting the minutes too.

Austin Tice has a family who is waiting for him, missing him, and laboring to find any piece of information that will lead to information about his whereabouts, while longing for his freedom. I join the Tice family in encouraging the Federal Government to do everything we can to possibly secure Austin's safe return home.

I also say once again to his family: We haven't given up. We will continue to stand by you, and we will never give up until we find your son and bring him safely home.

This week, we pass another milestone, this time of 1,000 days that Austin has been separated from his family. I join the Tice family in their hope that someday soon we will be able to add another milestone to this story, one that marks the day of his safe return to so many who love and miss him.

Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the Tice family, and I stand ready and I daresay all of us stand ready to do whatever we can to encourage and facilitate the return of this Texan, veteran, brother, and son.

I yield the floor.

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