Senator Murkowski Transcript

April 10, 2003    
Transcript:

MRS. MURKOWSKI: THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. IT IS FITTING THAT WE RESERVE SOME TIME EACH MORNING TO PAY THE TRIBUTE TO THE TROOPS. AND I, TOO, MOURN THE LOSS OF SO MANY OF OUR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE GONE OVER TO IRAQ, WHO WILL NOT BE COMING HOME. AND TO THEIR FAMILIES, TO THEIR FRIENDS, OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO THEM FOR THESE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN THAT HAVE PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE FOR OUR FREEDOMS. AND TO LISTEN TO THE STORIES THIS MORNING, TO HEAR THE ACCOUNTS OF THE TWO YOUNG MEN FROM DELAWARE WHO WILL NOT BE RETURNING HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES, TO SIT ON THIS FLOOR AND TO LISTEN TO THE SENATORS FROM THE VARIOUS STATES TALK ABOUT THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE COMING HOME.

AS A COUNTRY, WE MOURN FOR THEM. BUT WE ALSO HAVE CAUSE TO CELEBRATE AND TO BE JOYOUS WITH THOSE WHO WILL BE COMING HOME. AND I STAND BEFORE YOU WITH A COMPLETE SENSE OF PRIDE AND ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR A YOUNG MAN FROM ALASKA WHO WE JUST LEARNED ABOUT QUITE HONESTLY BY WAY OF A PHOTOGRAPH THAT APPEARED ON MONDAY. THIS YOUNG MAN WAS BEING PINNED BY GENERAL (TOMMY) FRANKS, BEING PINNED WITH A BRONZE STAR FOR VALOR. AND IT'S ONE OF THOSE SUCCESS STORIES, IT'S ONE OF THOSE TRIBUTES THAT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO MENTION AS WE SPEAK ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE NOT ONLY GIVEN THEIR LIVES BUT THOSE THAT HAVE GONE INTO BATTLE AND ARE COMING BACK TO—TO CELEBRATE THE VICTORIES WITH US.

THIS YOUNG MAN FROM ALASKA THAT I'D LIKE TO SPEAK ABOUT THIS MORNING IS SERGEANT LUCAS GODDARD. HE'S BEEN IN THE MILITARY NOW FOR JUST THREE YEARS. HE'S 21 YEARS OLD, AND HE'S PART OF THE ARMY'S 327TH 1ST BRIGADE OF THE 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION. AND IT WAS JUST ON MONDAY IN NAJAF THAT GENERAL FRANKS PINNED THE MEDAL OF HONOR ON SERGEANT GODDARD.

NOW, IMAGINE YOURSELF, MR. PRESIDENT, AS A PARENT—AS WE BOTH ARE—YOUR SON OR YOUR DAUGHTER IS OVERSEAS, THEY'RE IN CONFLICT, YOU HAVEN'T HEARD FROM THEM IN—IN SEVERAL MONTHS, NOT KNOWING THEIR SITUATION, NOT KNOWING WHETHER THEY'RE SAFE,
REALLY NOT KNOWING WHERE THEY ARE. YOUR EYES GLADLY GLUED TO—TO THE COVERAGE OF THE WAR TO SEE, TO GLIMPSE ANYTHING. THE PARENTS OF SERGEANT GODDARD RECEIVED A PHONE CALL ON MONDAY FROM A REPORTER WHO HAD SEEN THE PICTURE, RECOGNIZED
THAT THE YOUNG MAN HAD BEEN IDENTIFIED AS BEING FROM ALASKA, AND THEY CONTACTED MRS. GODDARD AND THEY SAID, "SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?" AND MRS. GODDARD WAS SPEECHLESS. SHE WAS SO HAPPY. SHE WAS SO JOYOUS. THAT NOT NECESSARILY BECAUSE HER SON HAD RECEIVED THIS INCREDIBLE RECOGNITION, BUT THAT HER SON WAS ALIVE.

THE HEADLINE IN THE HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER THAT DAY WAS, "MEDAL AND MEDIA IMAGES MEAN ARMY SON IS ALIVE IN IRAQ." THINK ABOUT YOURSELF AS A PARENT WANTING TO KNOW, WAITING TO KNOW, GETTING A CALL FROM A REPORTER SAYING, "WHAT DO YOU THINK?" BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, IS THAT YOUR SON IS ALIVE. AND ON TOP OF THAT, TO BE GIVEN A MEDAL SUCH AS THE BRONZE STAR. I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY LAST EVENING TO SPEAK WITH SERGEANT GODDARD'S MOTHER, KATHY GODDARD. SHE LIVES IN JUNEAU NOW. AND IT WAS HEARTWARMING TO SPEAK WITH HER ABOUT THE PRIDE THAT SHE HAS FOR HER SON, THE SENSE OF GIVING THAT SHE HAS AS A PARENT. SHE SAID TO ME, SHE SAID, WELL, IT'S NOT JUST LUCAS. IT'S NOT JUST LUCAS THAT'S OUT THERE. THERE IS—THERE ARE OTHER YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN FROM SITKA WHO ARE IN IRAQ, WHO ARE OUT SERVING OUR COUNTRY AND WE'RE CONCERNED FOR ALL OF THEM.

MR. PRESIDENT, SITKA IS A VERY SMALL COMMUNITY IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA. IT'S AN ISLAND OF ABOUT 8,000 PEOPLE. IN THAT COMMUNITY IN THE GROCERY STORE, I UNDERSTAND FROM MRS. GODDARD THAT WHAT THEY'VE DONE IS THEY'VE PUT A LIST OF THE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE SERVING OUR COUNTRY RIGHT NOW IN THE GROCERY STORE SO THAT PEOPLE CAN JUST KIND OF GET A SENSE FOR WHO IS OUT THERE SERVING—THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT WE HONOR. NOW, I ASKED MRS. GODDARD, "CAN YOU TELL US WHAT IT WAS THAT YOUR SON DID TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE STAR." BECAUSE IN THE PICTURE THAT WE SAW, THERE WAS NO REAL RECOGNITION. IT WAS JUST AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT THIS YOUNG MAN HAD RECEIVED THE RECOGNITION, THE HONOR.

SHE DOESN'T KNOW. AND HER COMMENT TO ME WAS, "WELL, IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HE WAS RECOGNIZED FOR. BUT WHATEVER IT IS, WE'RE EXCEPTIONALLY PROUD AND WE CAN'T WAIT UNTIL HE GETS HOME AND HE CAN SIT AROUND THE DINNER TABLE AND TELL US ALL THAT HE HAS GONE THROUGH." SHE SAID THAT HE'S A VERY HUMBLE YOUNG MAN AND DOESN'T LIKE TO TOUT HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS. SHE SAYS HE'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE EMBARRASSED OVER ALL OF THE HOOPLA THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW. BUT, MR. PRESIDENT, THERE'S GOOD REASON FOR HOOPLA.

WHAT WE UNDERSTAND—AND IT'S STILL VERY SKETCHY RIGHT NOW—BUT IN REFERENCING SEVERAL OF THE NEWS ACCOUNTS OUT THERE, WE UNDERSTAND THAT GENERAL FRANKS AWARDED THE BRONZE STARS FOR VALOR TO TWO SOLDIERS WHO'D FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE FOR
NAJAF. SERGEANT JAMES WARD LED THE TEAM THAT STORMED THE MILITARY COMPOUND ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE CITY, AND SERGEANT LUCAS GODDARD SPEARHEADED THE ASSAULT ON THE LOCAL AIRFIELD,TAKING DIRECT ENEMY FIRE. IN FURTHER NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS, AS BEST WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO TELL, WE UNDERSTAND THAT THEY CAPTURED A COMPOUND OF WEAPONS WHILE UNDER FIRE BY AK-47'S, GRENADE LAUNCHERS, AND ROCKET-PROPELLED GRENADES. SO OUR BRAVE YOUNG MAN FROM SITKA DID WHAT HE WAS TRAINED TO DO AND WAS RECOGNIZED FOR IT AND WILL BE GOING HOME TO SITKA TO CELEBRATE WITH HIS FAMILY.

I NEED TO SHARE A MOTHER'S INTUITION WITH YOU, MR. PRESIDENT, AND THE MEMBERS. MRS. GODDARD SAID SHE WOKE UP ON MONDAY JUST SENSING THAT SHE WAS GOING TO HEAR FROM HER SON THAT DAY. SHE SAYS, YOU KNOW, YOU JUST SOMETIMES GET THAT INTUITION. I JUST FELT SOMETHING. AND SHE HASN'T HEARD FROM HER SON FOR UPWARD OF A MONTH PRIOR TO THIS. AND IT WAS THAT AFTERNOON THAT SHE RECEIVED THE PHONE CALL FROM THE REPORTER SAYING, "WHAT DO YOU THINK? WE'VE SEEN THE NEWSPAPER ACCOUNT." WELL, THAT WASN'T A DIRECT CONTACT FROM HER SON NECESSARILY, BUT SHE SAYS, YOU KNOW, YOU FOLLOW THAT MOTHER'S INSTINCT.I KNEW THAT I WAS GOING TO HEAR FROM HIM TODAY AND THAT'S WHAT SHE HEARD.

SO TO ALL OF THE MEN AND WOMEN FROM SITKA, FROM ALL OVER MY STATE, FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO YOU. WE'RE EXTREMELY PROUD OF ALL OF YOU WHO AT THIS MOMENT, LIKE SERGEANT GODDARD, ARE SO BRAVELY DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM AND OUR DEMOCRACY. AND WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE ALL OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN FOR THE SACRIFICES THEY'RE MAKING FOR AMERICA'S FREEDOM. OUR FREEDOM, THE FREEDOM OF THIS CHAMBER, AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD, AS WE'RE PROTECTED BY THOSE WHO ARE SERVING IN OUR ARMED FORCES.SERGEANT GODDARD IS AN EXAMPLE TO ALL OF US. AND IT'S THIS ROCK-SOLID COURAGE THAT WE THINK ABOUT.

WE SAY THIS IS WHAT OUR ARMED SERVICE, OUR MILITARY IS ALL ABOUT... UNFALTERING BRAVERY. SO THE RECOGNITION THAT SERGEANT GODDARD RECEIVED IS APPROPRIATE. WE SAY THANK YOU, AND GOD BLESS. I'M GOING TO SHARE ONE LAST COMMUNICATION FROM SERGEANT GODDARD AND THIS WAS IN AN E-MAIL MESSAGE THAT HE HAD SENT TO HIS FAMILY SOME MONTHS AGO. AND IT'S A TESTAMENT OF HIS GOOD WILL AND I BELIEVE HIS HONORABLE SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY. IN HIS MESSAGE, HE STATED, "I WILL BE THINKING OF YOU ALL WHILE I'M OVER HERE."

IT'S BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT WE FIGHT THE TYRANTS WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF FREEDOM AND PEACE. SO TO SERGEANT GODDARD AND ALL THOSE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE SERVING US FOR OUR FREEDOMS, WE THANK YOU.

MR. PRESIDENT, I YIELD THE FLOOR. I SUGGEST THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM.