Floor Statements

Madam President, I want to congratulate now-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on his confirmation to be Secretary of Defense. I spoke yesterday about his confirmation, the two votes that had to happen. I had the honor of introducing this great American at his confirmation hearing at the Armed Services Committee. I served with him in the military many years ago. And I think he is going to be an important addition to President Biden's team.

One of the things that we have been working on, over the last several years, is rebuilding our military after drastic cuts by the Obama-Biden administration. Hopefully, we are not going to see that again. One of the reasons I was strongly supporting now-Secretary Austin was because I believe--and I certainly hope this is a correct belief, and I have commitments from him--he won't agree with that, although I am sure some, unfortunately, in this body and others in the Biden administration are going to agree with drastic cuts to the military. It will hurt readiness. So one of the reasons that I think he is going to be a good Secretary is not just his exceptional character, humility, leadership but because he knows what will happen if there are dramatic cuts like there were in the second term of the Obama-Biden administration to our military. Not good.

One of the things I had the opportunity to talk to him about--one of the things that has been a huge positive for America over the last decade, for so many reasons, is that we have become the world's energy superpower again--like we were, essentially, during World War II.

What do I mean by that? Prior to the pandemic, we were the No. 1 producer of oil. Yes, people still need to use oil. I know some of my colleagues in this body don't believe that, but it is true; the No. 1 producer of natural gas, clean burning natural gas. We are starting to export it all around the world; No. 1 producer of renewables. So all of the above, America is the superpower of energy.

This is good. It is great for the national security of our Nation, for a whole host of reasons. General Austin understands that--Secretary Austin understands that. It is great for jobs. In the 2008-2009 recession, the No. 1 sector of the economy that got us out of the great recession was the energy sector, in terms of GDP growth and jobs.

It is great for the environment. Why do I say that? Some people tilt their heads. It is great for the environment because in America-- certainly, in my State, Alaska--we have the highest standards on the environment of any place in the world by far. It is not even close. If you need energy, which you do, you should do it, produce it in the place that respects the environment the most--not Russia, not Saudi Arabia--America, Alaska.

It is good for energy security. It is good for manufacturing low-cost natural gas throughout the country. Like I said, it is really good for jobs. These are really good jobs. Resource development jobs are really good jobs. They support working families and the middle class. Everybody knows that. That is a good thing that is happening in the United States of America.

There are some fringe groups that don't like energy. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues in the Senate don't like hydrocarbons. By the way, as we became the world's energy superpower, our greenhouse gas emissions declined probably more than any other industrialized economy in the world. Why? Because natural gas is clean-burning. So this is a win-win-win-win-win on so many fronts.

Here is why I am speaking right now: Because it is all at risk. It is all at risk. The first few days of the new Biden Administration have seen an unprecedented assault on resource development and energy jobs, an attack on the men and women--working men and women with good wages-- who produce really important resources for this great Nation and now for other countries because we export a lot of these resources. It is an assault on good energy jobs, good resource development jobs that have been the bedrock of millions of middle-class Americans for decades.

Let me just give you an example, just in my State. Everybody knows about ANWR, right? This body moved in terms of legislation for leases. We did it the right way, with a law passed by the Senate and the House, signed by the President to move forward on leases.

The first day on the job, the new President decides he is going to suspend everything with regard to ANWR. OK, that wasn't a surprise, to be honest, but, of course, it was a huge disappointment. I am not sure it is legal. Like I said, we did it the legal way. He is doing it the old-fashioned, ``Obama pen and phone'' way. There are probably a lot of questionable legalities there. That is one. We were expecting that.

Here is the other one. We have another part of Alaska called the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, set aside by Congress for oil and gas development. It is not controversial. We have been doing it for decades. It was originally called the Naval Petroleum Reserve for America. This is not controversial. And we have a lot of energy projects in the NPRA that are ongoing. Heck, even the Obama-Biden administration allowed us to drill there because that is what Congress said for decades, and it is good for the country.

We need energy. We need energy. So if we need it, shouldn't we get it from America? Shouldn't we get it from American workers? That is better than getting it from Russia. The NPRA is a really important area of America's energy production in my State--the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. It has been that way for decades.

So there is a moratorium on any more permits for energy production in the NPRA yesterday. I woke up to text messages from Alaskans saying: Senator, help us. My little company is going to go out of business. I have to lay off a bunch of workers.

Workers who are doing what? Producing American energy.

Since when was that bad, Mr. President? Since when was that bad?

One more thing, they say: Well, it is only a 60-day moratorium.

In Alaska, because we have the highest standards in the world on producing energy, exploring for energy, we only do exploration in the winter. It costs more for energy companies. Why do we do that? Because it is the high standards that we have--the highest standards of any place on the planet Earth. What do I mean by that?

We build what are called ice roads and ice pads on the tundra when we explore and when we drill. That means we just do it in the winter. You build these ice roads and ice pads that cost a lot of money and when you move equipment across the tundra on ice, you drill for 3 months and when the winter is over, you move it off. The ice melts, and there is not one tiny impact. It is called zero-impact drilling and exploration.

I used to be in charge of this in Alaska. I am very familiar with it. We have the highest standards on the planet. So if you put a 60-day moratorium on drilling on the NPRA, guess what. You lose the whole season. You lose the whole season. That is what the Biden Administration did yesterday. I literally have people back home in my great State calling frantically saying hundreds--if not thousands--of jobs are at risk. That was day two of the Biden Administration: Let's crush every single energy job in America.

Why? I don't know why. I don't know why.

Since when is it bad to produce energy for your fellow Americans? We need it. We have the highest standards in the world. These are great middle-class jobs. But on day one in this administration, they are attacking the

men and women who produce energy for this great Nation--shameful.

Now, it is not just me who is a little bit upset. You can tell I am a little bit upset. The Keystone pipeline was canceled again--again, no idea why they would do that. There is nothing about climate change. As a matter of fact, that pipeline was going to be all union jobs, and they had it developed and worked on in a way that was going to be emissions neutral.

Here is the head of the Laborers' International Union of North America--LIUNA, the laborers. Terry O'Sullivan is a great American. I know him well. His father was a marine. He served in the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean war.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a statement by Terry O'Sullivan on behalf of the Laborers' International Union of North America

This is a statement by Terry O'Sullivan:

The Biden Administration's decision to cancel the Keystone

XL pipeline permit on day one of his presidency is both

insulting and disappointing to the thousands of hard-working

LIUNA members who will lose good-paying, middle class family-

supporting jobs.

By the way, LIUNA is the largest labor union in construction, the largest labor construction union in America--500,000 members.

By blocking this 100 percent union project, and pandering

to environmental extremists, a thousand union jobs will

immediately vanish and 10,000 additional jobs will be

foregone.

That is day one. This isn't me talking, the Senator from Alaska. This is the head of LIUNA.

We support the President's campaign to ``build back

better.'' But for union members affected by this decision,

there are no renewable energy jobs that come even close to

replacing the wages and benefits the Keystone XL project

would have provided. Killing good union jobs on day one with

nothing to replace them is not building back better.

This is, again, Terry O'Sullivan, head of LIUNA.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a statement by Mark McManus

This is Mark McManus, General President of the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters. They were going to build the Keystone pipeline, too, just like the LIUNA members.

In revoking this permit, the Biden Administration has

chosen to listen to the voices of fringe activists instead of

union members and the American consumer on Day 1. Let me be

very clear: When built with union labor by the men and women

of the United Association--

Mr. McManus's union--

pipelines like Keystone XL remain the safest and most

efficient modes of energy transportation in the world. Sadly,

the Biden Administration has now put thousands of union

workers out of work.

Let me close with this. There are a number of Senators who want to meet directly with the President on this issue. By the way, when they made these announcements about Alaska, no one from the Biden Administration reached out. No one called me. No one called Senator Murkowski. No one called Congressman Young. You would think if they were going to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in your State, that somebody would have reached out to us.

I just spent the last week working hard to make sure the Biden Administration's Secretary of Defense got confirmed. I probably worked harder than any other Senator in this body on that issue. I did that because I think it is going to be good for the military, good for America.

But we are trying. We are trying. I haven't heard from one person on the Biden Administration. A number of us tried to request a meeting with the President. The President talks a lot about his blue-collar background. Great, but guess what: The President is killing blue-collar jobs right now by the thousands. A lot of them are in my State.

I hope somebody in the new administration is listening to this. I hope he realizes what he is doing. We are in this pandemic. Our economy needs to grow. We have high unemployment. The idea that you would start your administration by targeting the men and women who have built this great Nation, who have good-paying jobs is astounding to me.

Mr. President--I am not talking about the President of the Senate, Madam President, I am talking about the President of the United States--you need to listen to us. This is not a good start. You talked in your inauguration about putting yourself in other people's shoes. Well, I hope you put yourself in the shoes of the energy workers in America whom you are crushing right now. Put yourself in their shoes and maybe rethink these crazy, crazy policies that are only harming Americans throughout the country.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, there is a lot going on in the Senate, a lot of activity behind the scenes right now. Leadership of both parties is negotiating a 50-50 power-sharing agreement, which is very important for the Senate and very important for our Nation.

One issue that is being discussed is the status of what is going to happen, possibly--hopefully, nothing is going to happen--with a really important element of the U.S. Senate: the legislative filibuster-- something that has been a hallmark of this body almost since the founding of the Republic. This shouldn't be a hard issue.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter, led by Senator Collins and Senator Coons, dated April 7, 2017, to the then- majority leader, Senator McConnell, and the Democratic leader, Senator Schumer

Over 60 Senators in the U.S. Senate--the majority of Republicans and the majority of Democrats--sent this letter to who was then leadership of the Senate, writing, in essence: Don't change the legislative filibuster.

A bunch of Democrats and a bunch of Republicans--I was going to read the names, but they know who they are--the majority on both sides in this body, from both parties, in 2017 said: Don't change it. This shouldn't be something the U.S. Senate changes.

Part of the reason this was going on was that, at the time, then- President Trump was pressing Senators, particularly Majority Leader McConnell, to change the filibuster. The filibuster requires 60 votes to move legislation in the Senate. It requires compromise. It requires bipartisanship. It is what makes us different from the House. At the time, then-Republican President Trump was saying: Change it. I want legislation to move more quickly.

The Republicans and then-Majority Leader McConnell said that it was not a good idea. As a matter of fact, most of us said that it was not a good idea, so we didn't do anything. We didn't change it because we didn't want to change the nature of the U.S. Senate.

This is one of the issues being discussed right now, but it shouldn't be a difficult issue because, as I said, the vast majority of Senators in this body, a couple of years ago, said: Don't do it. We don't want the Senate to just become a smaller version of the House, because that is what would happen if you were to get rid of the legislative filibuster.

I do want to extend my congratulations to the new majority leader as of yesterday, Senator Schumer, but to the new majority leader: This should not be a difficult issue. This should not be something that we are having a problem with in terms of the negotiations between the Democrats and the Republicans that delays the power-sharing agreement. This should be a piece of cake. Just a couple of years ago, the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans said: Don't change the legislative filibuster. We want to make sure that remains the case.

I think, for the new majority leader, this would be an act of statesmanship, an act of compromise, and would certainly make the statement that he is going to keep the Senate the same as it has been for decades, for centuries. Changing the legislative filibuster would change the entire structure, history, and precedent of this very important body in our country, so it shouldn't be hard. The vast majority of the Democrats and Republicans has already agreed to this.

To our new majority leader: Do what you know is right--an act of statesmanship and compromise. We have all been talking about it. It should not be a difficult decision, particularly given that so many Senators on both sides of the aisle feel strongly enough to have written Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell just a couple of years ago on this.

To all of my colleagues who signed that letter--you know who you are--make sure you are pressing the new majority leader to stick to what you pressed him on just a couple of years ago. It is important.

Madam President, I also want to talk about another important issue, and that is President Biden's nomination for the very important job of Secretary of Defense, Mr. Lloyd Austin. We are going to be voting on his nomination here on the Senate floor in a couple of hours.

I had the honor of introducing Mr. Austin just 2 days ago at his confirmation hearing, and I thought the confirmation hearing went well. So I want to talk a little bit about Mr. Austin before we take what will essentially be two important votes for his confirmation.

Now, the last time I was actually on the floor of the U.S. Senate, our Capitol was under siege, and from a foreign policy and national security perspective, America's authoritarian rivals have been gloating over what happened on that day. They have been reveling in our disunity. Democracy brings chaos, they tell their people. It is better to have a strong hand that keeps order. Well, as you know, we do live in an imperfect democracy, no doubt, and the American I was honored to introduce at the Armed Services hearing the other day, Mr. Lloyd Austin, understands our imperfections more than many.

Yet, on closer inspection, the world's dictators have little to celebrate. Congress went back to work on January 6, right here on the Senate floor, to count electoral votes, and yesterday there was a peaceful transfer of power at the top of our government, as there has been since our Republic's founding.

At some point--maybe sooner than we think--Chinese and Russian citizens are going to ask: Hey, why can't we do that? Why don't we have strong, resilient institutions that ensure the regular elections of new leaders and that invest in self-government and the people?

When these citizens ask these questions of authoritarians like Putin or Xi Jinping, they are not going to be gloating anymore because they won't have answers to these questions.

So what does this all have to do with Mr. Lloyd Austin? A lot. Mr. Austin has been nominated to lead one of America's most trusted institutions--the Department of Defense. Many of us have worked hard over the last few years to rebuild our military's strength and readiness, but I think we can all agree that there has been too much turmoil at the top at the Pentagon. As its civilian leader, I am confident that Mr. Austin will bring steadiness, leadership, and respect to this indispensable American institution.

I got to know Mr. Austin in 2005 and 2006 while serving together in an Army-heavy combatant command as we conducted combat operations throughout the Middle East. We had what might be referred to today as an unequal power relationship. He was a two-star general. I was a major. He had spent years on Active Duty. I was a reservist. He was a soldier. I was a marine. I was just one of hundreds of field-grade infantry officers who had been recalled to Active Duty and deployed in the region during a challenging time for our Nation. Yet, when I asked for his time, Mr. Austin gave it. When I had a problem, he listened. When I asked for help on an important mission, he provided it.

A critical hallmark of exceptional leadership, especially for organizations like the Pentagon, is not just how one treats superiors but how one treats subordinates, those down the chain of command. What I saw was respect and integrity and someone who knew how to get things done in a difficult environment.

It is clear to me the core principles of Mr. Austin's life have been duty, honor, country. West Point has done its job. Now, that may sound quaint to some, but I think having individuals of impeccable character at the top of our government is more important than ever. Other than integrity, there is no singular requirement for the difficult job of Secretary of Defense, and as the former Director of the Joint Staff and as the former CENTCOM Commander, Mr. Austin certainly has insight on critical issues, such as interagency budget battles, working with allies, and congressional oversight.

Mr. Austin is also fully committed to the constitutional principle of civilian control of our military--something that those who serve in uniform typically understand and revere more than those who don't. In that regard, you may recall that, about 10 days ago, we had a hearing in the Committee on Armed Services on this very important topic, but I actually thought some of the witnesses had rather simplistic views of this important issue.

They had brought up topics and discussions of so-called ``military logic'' by those who wear the uniform versus ``political logic'' for those who don't wear the uniform.

So let me play devil's advocate for those who participated and watched that hearing.

The very nature of the confirmation hearing that we had with Mr. Austin just 2 days ago and, indeed, the very nature of the transfer of power that we saw yesterday here at the Capitol are evidence, in my view, that the civilian control of the military is not at risk in

America. I actually believe the related but opposite problem should be of more concern today, at this moment, and that problem is no military experience in the top ranks of our government. With the exception of Mr. Austin, no nominee on the incoming Biden administration's national security team has ever served in uniform. With regard to the entire Biden Cabinet, only one other nominee has any military experience at all. This is not wise.

If confirmed, I am sure I won't agree with all of Mr. Austin's decisions, but when the inevitable budget battles occur, it will be critical for our Nation's security and, very importantly, the military members and their families who serve to have a Secretary of Defense who understands firsthand the very real morale and readiness problems that result from drastic cuts to our military--something, unfortunately, I think many of my colleagues here in the Senate will be pushing for and even members of the Biden administration will be pushing for.

So let me conclude with this. Right now, a number of us are interviewing Cabinet members for confirmation for the incoming Biden administration. I anticipate opposing some, supporting others. Certainly, I anticipate opposing some if I believe they will hurt the working families of my State. But with regard to Mr. Austin, I am fully supporting his nomination.

We are living through difficult times--a pandemic, racial tensions, riots, turmoil at the top of the Pentagon, and rising dangers from China, Russia, and Iran. Mr. Austin's confirmation won't solve all of these problems, but it will help.

He represents the best of America--a man of integrity, humility, and character, with a wealth of relevant experience. Our allies will take comfort in his confirmation, and our adversaries will take pause. And as America's first African-American Secretary of Defense, he will be an inspiration to millions both in and out of uniform.

For all of these reasons, I strongly urge my colleagues to support Mr. Austin's confirmation and the waiver in Federal law that it requires.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, it is Wednesday. Now, normally it is Thursday when I come down here to talk about somebody who is making a huge difference in my State, somebody we refer to as the Alaskan of the Week, someone who is doing something for the community or the State or the country or maybe all of the above. I know we have a new set of pages, but I think it is commonly known that this is the most anticipated speech of the week by the pages. I see the heads nodding, so that is great.

You guys are learning well, early, so that is wonderful, and I know that the Presiding Officer really enjoys it as well.

I am going to talk today about Calvin Williams, whom everybody in Alaska knows as Cal, who is our Alaskan of the Week, who lives in Anchorage via Louisiana. I am going to talk a lot about Cal here and why he certainly deserves this great honor, but also when I give these remarks, I like to talk just a little bit about what is going on in Alaska at the time.

We have just celebrated the summer solstice, which in a lot of States isn't a big deal, but in Alaska, it is actually a huge deal. It is the longest day of the year, which was last week, and that really means something. You get the 12 midnight Sun energy, and everybody is out. There are celebrations throughout the State. Friends and neighbors gather at parties and community events well past 12 midnight. I had the opportunity to spend last weekend in Fairbanks, AK, where there was a 12 midnight Sun baseball game and a 12 midnight Sun 10K run. I got to participate in some of that. There was just great energy and a great feeling and a lot of sunlight all night.

Across the country and in Alaska, we also just celebrated Juneteenth, which marks the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Anchorage celebrated the weekend before last, and Cal Williams, our Alaskan of the Week, was there, as he has been there nearly every year since the first celebration in the 1980s. Cal is a staple at that event and has been at so many other events in Alaska over the decades where people get together, where he has been a community leader and has tried to do good things for our communities throughout the State. So let me tell you a little bit about Cal and how lucky we are to have him in the great State of Alaska.

He was born in 1941 in Monroe, LA. I know we have some Louisianans as pages here. That was the segregated South, and he was born 7 days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He is from a very patriotic family. His parents immediately joined the cause of fighting and supporting our Nation during World War II. His mother worked in the factories to help out the war effort, and his father joined the Army and was sent to the Pacific theater to defend America.

Basically, Cal was raised by his grandmother, who happened to live across the street from church and a K-12 Catholic school, built and run by the Franciscans to serve the African-American Catholic community in the area. Nobody in his family was Catholic, but it was the best school in the area, so that was where he went. The lessons he was taught at this school, the Little Flower Academy--to serve the less fortunate, to feed the hungry, to help all in need--have stayed with Cal forever and have really driven his sense of service.

The much beloved Sister Consuela, who was the longtime principal and homeroom teacher, made sure that he learned all this.

Sister Consuela was feared and respected. If you did

anything bad, if the Sister didn't see you [do something

bad], you knew that God did. I carry that with me today.

After high school, he attended Grambling State University--another all-Black school--where he pursued theater and singing. Anybody who knows Cal knows this is another thing that has stayed with him throughout his life.

Then, like his patriotic mom and dad, he decided to enlist in the Air Force. He was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, where he worked on the Titan II Missile System--an elite position, something that he credits to the schooling he received at Little Flower.

When he got out of the Air Force, he made it back to Louisiana to take care of his father, who had gotten sick. This was during the height of the movement for civil rights--one of the greatest movements, of course, in our Nation's history, a lot of which took place here on this Senate floor. As he often does, Cal jumped in. He jumped in with both feet. He began working with CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality--one of the leading civil rights organizations in the early years of the civil rights movement. He and six other students were the first Black students to proudly integrate what was then called Northeast Louisiana State College.

Eventually, a friend who had moved to Alaska talked him into coming up to our great State. This was in 1965. Cal brought all of his intelligence, his theatrical and musical talents, his abiding deep faith, his fun, and his deep commitment to civil rights and community service to our State in 1965.

In some ways, it was a good time to be an activist in Alaska. Our State certainly isn't perfect. It is a State, though, that is very committed to equal rights and justice for all. Yet, just like everywhere in the country, we had our problems, and we had our challenges. As I mentioned, we certainly were not perfect in that realm, so Cal had work to do.

Initially, he was a dishwasher in the hospital by day and was a community activist by night. He helped to lobby the mayor's office in Anchorage to get paved roads and to bring electricity to predominantly African-American neighborhoods. He also helped bring people into the voting booths, which was so important.

The same friend who brought him to Alaska, Charles LeViege, started a newspaper that focused on the African-American community. He joined with the Alaska Native leadership to lobby for the landmark legislation that, again, took place on the Senate floor, here, in 1971--the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. He became the president of the Anchorage chapter of the NAACP, of which he is still a vice president to this very day.

I have only gotten to 1971, and you can see how much he has done.

In the 1970s, he had a little sojourn in Hollywood to fulfill a lifelong dream of being in the movies. He was. He got some gigs--a spot in a film with Angie Dickinson. The pages don't know who she is, but she was a great actress.

But like some people who leave Alaska, he missed it too much, so he decided to come back, and he did.

So over the years since he has been back, he has helped raise funds for an African-American economic development venture. The group built a building in the Fairview community of Anchorage, which is still there today. They had a social club on the top sponsored by the Alaska Black Caucus--a place to meet with executives and bank officers in a nice setting, community leaders.

He worked in television. He worked for the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, which has been key to helping people get home ownership.

All through these years, he clung to his roots and his faith. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and a faithful parishioner at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Anchorage, where he is the director of the church's Filipino gospel choir, which sounds like angels. ``When we sing,'' he said, ``we sing for the Lord.'' And no doubt, when they sing, the Lord is listening.

He visits prisons to read the Bible with inmates, sings every week to the patients at Providence Extended Care and every other week to our senior home, which we call the Pioneer Home in Alaska. The residents there love Cal's Elvis impersonations.

If you are in Alaska and happen to be there for Christmas, you should stop by Bean's Cafe, a place where the hungry go for a meal, and Cal will be there every Christmas wearing a Santa cap, singing for hours for everybody who comes in the door.

This is a gentleman who has done so much for his community and my State, and what is he most proud of? When asked, ``My greatest achievement was in 2017 when I received the St. Francis Stewardship Award from the Archdiocese of Anchorage,'' Cal said.

St. Francis was the patron saint of the Little Flower Academy. ``I have come full circle,'' he said. ``Sister Consuela would be proud of me.'' Then he adds: ``But nothing was ever enough for her.''

It is enough for all of us, though, Cal. I thank him for all he has done for Anchorage, for so many different communities, for Alaska, and as an example for our country--for his generosity, kindness, enthusiasm, faith, and faith-filled service throughout his life.

Congratulations to Cal for being our Alaskan of the Week.

Tribute to Thomas Mansour

Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that my office is saying goodbye to my very first Coast Guard fellow, recently promoted-- actually, promoted yesterday--to lieutenant commander, Thomas Mansour.

Thomas happens to be sitting right next to me here on the Senate floor. Tom is from Montgomery County, MD. He graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. We were lucky to have him join my office as a Coast Guard fellow for the last 2 years, and he has done great work.

I am going to brag about him a little bit here on the floor. I will probably embarrass him.

Among other things, he was instrumental in the 2018 Coast Guard Authorization Act. The subcommittee that I chair on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is in charge of the Coast Guard. We were the ones drafting that. It had many provisions in it for the whole Coast Guard, certainly many for Alaska and other parts of the country.

He also brought his expertise to the 2017 and 2018 Homeland Security budgets. His efforts helped secure landmark appropriations for the first Polar Security Cutter, an icebreaker for the Coast Guard, the first one in 40 years, and for critical infrastructure projects for the Coast Guard around Alaska and around the rest of the country.

Probably his signature initiative--and very, very hard work--was on a bill that we affectionately know in my office as the Save Our Seas Act, both the first one, which our offices worked closely on with Senator Whitehouse from Rhode Island and was signed by the President last fall to much fanfare in the Oval Office, and our Save Our Seas Act 2.0, which Senator Whitehouse and Senator Menendez and I rolled out in a press conference just this morning.

SOS 2.0, as we call it, is an innovative piece of legislation that really sets us on a promising path as a nation to tackle the serious problem of plastics, ocean debris, and trash that enter our oceans and harm fisheries, marine life, and possibly human life. This litter ends up on the shores of Alaska, all around America, and threatens the livelihoods of coastal communities throughout America.

Tom did yeoman's work to ensure that we introduced in the Senate today a comprehensive, substantive bill that all stakeholders-- Democrats, Republicans, the Trump administration, environmental groups, industry--are all working on together. Literally, all of the key stakeholders on this critical issue are pulling on the same oar.

He did incredible work on this bill. He is a great team player, someone I am proud of and we are going to miss.

Tom is getting married this summer to his fiance Meg, and they will be entering a whole new chapter in their lives. It will be an exciting one, I am sure. We wish them all the best.

I can't thank Tom enough for all of the work he has done for my State, for our country, and I ask that all of my colleagues in the Senate recognize the great work that he did. Just here on the spot, I might even make him an honorary Alaskan of the Week for the great job he has done.

Thank you for the opportunity to say a few words about Tom.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my Coast Guard fellow, Thomas Mansour, be granted Senate floor privileges until the end of the week.

Mr. President, I thank my good friend and colleague from Georgia, not just for the great lunch that he put on today but for his leadership and statesmanship.

I serve with him on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Talk about a committee that is actually getting things done--bipartisan things done for American veterans. He is chairman of that committee. He does a phenomenal job. He is a great leader in the Senate, and I thank him not just for the barbecue today but for his wonderful work for America and Georgia.

Mr. President, it is Thursday, and it is one of my favorite times of the week because it is the time that I take to come down to the floor. The new pages are on the floor, and I think you are going to start to see this as probably one of your favorite times as well because it is when I talk about what we call the Alaskan of the Week. It is an opportunity to highlight somebody in my State who has done something great for their community, the State, and the country, and to brag a little bit about Alaska.

Today I am going to talk about Jacob Adams from Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, AK. He has been a hero to so many in our State, including me--a giant of an individual who has spent his whole life in public service for his culture, for his community, for his State, and for his country.

Before I get started about Jake Adams, let me talk a little bit about what is going on in Alaska right now.

I know we all think we live in the best States. Each of us likes to come down and brag. That is a good thing. But in Alaska, we certainly have a lot of bragging rights on a whole host of issues and a whole host of areas in which we are very unique.

Right now, it is a beautiful time to be in Alaska. We want tourists and everyone watching on TV to come to our great State. Flowers are blooming, and salmon are running up our rivers. Hundreds of thousands-- soon, literally millions--of salmon will be running. According to our Alaska Department of Fish and Game, it is going to be a great season for our reds.

Of course, the sun is our familiar friend this time of year. In the northern part of my State, in Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the entire United States, it is not setting at all. The sun is not setting at all. Midnight sun, pure energy--it is amazing to experience. We experience it, but we want everyone else to come up and experience it.

Something else is going on in Alaska in villages in the northern part of the State around this time of year, a very unique and special cultural tradition. The spring whaling season in 11 communities on the North Slope is wrapping up. This spring, those 11 North Slope communities were able to land 24 whales, equaling somewhere between 300 and 400 tons of highly nutritious food for these wonderful communities. That whale meat is then shared in villages throughout the whaling communities. It is an incredible Alaska Native tradition that we are all in awe of.

We are now heading into Nalukataq season. This is when communities get together to celebrate this incredible bounty and harvest. It is a special day, a time of celebration and sharing. On this day, successful whaling crews share and feed the communities from morning until night-- whale, caribou soup, goose and duck soup, and fish is served to anyone and everyone who comes. It is really, really special.

The community also celebrates with a blanket toss, where people are tossed high into the air. The seal skins sewed together from the successful whale hunts are used for the blanket. It is another beautiful Alaska Native tradition that Natives and non-Natives in our State cherish.

There is a long list of people to thank for keeping this incredible whaling and Inupiaq culture and heritage alive in Alaska, but Jake Adams is certainly on the top of that list. He is a proud whaling captain himself and a founding member of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, which has been the primary force in making sure that our whaling communities continue to get the quotas they need from the International Whaling Commission to continue the practice and to feed their people and keep this amazing cultural heritage practice going.

It has not been easy, but they have fought for self-determination, and they have won repeatedly, including at a big IWC meeting in Brazil last year.

It is because of Jake Adams' incredible leadership that this tradition is so far advanced and revered in Alaska, and, I would say, around the world. Jake has done that and so much more for his community and for people all

across the great State of Alaska. In one word, he is a legend--a true legend--for Alaska, and I am proud to have him as a friend.

Jake's accomplishments are too long to list here, but let me spend a few minutes highlighting just a few of those accomplishments. Let me start with his background.

He was born to Baxter and Rebecca Adams in Utqiagvik in 1946. He was raised in the tradition of the Inupiaq people--respecting their elders and revering the land and resources for his spiritual, physical, and emotional sustenance.

Like so many Alaska Natives, as a boy he was sent away to school--far away--to a school in Alaska called Mt. Edgecumbe. It is thousands of miles away, and it is a boarding school that was run by BIA. Then, he went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, until he got his first job with BIA.

All of this was at a time of great change for the whole State of Alaska and, particularly, for the Alaska Native people. While Jake was still a young man, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or what we call ANCSA, was being debated in the halls of Congress and right here on the floor of the Senate. This ended up being one of the largest lands settlements anywhere in the world--literally, in the history of the world. It was right here in the U.S. Senate. The story around the passage of ANCSA in 1971, after decades of struggle, is certainly one for the ages.

Jake Adams, among so many others, was highly involved in the passage of this landmark legislation for Alaska, and he was even more involved in the implementation of ANCSA, which set up shareholder-owned businesses with land for the Alaska Native people, what we call regional and village corporations, throughout the State. Stories abound of him and other Native leaders knocking on doors throughout the region, making sure that people were signed up as shareholders of these new corporations.

When he was only 21, Jake was elected to the Barrow City Council, and he began his long decades of public service for Alaska and for his people. He then served as mayor of the city from 1971 through 1977. Then, the North Slope Borough was incorporated, the borough on the north part of Alaska--bigger than California. That was established, and he was a leader for the North Slope Borough in our State.

The Alaska Native corporation on the North Slope, the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation--or, as we call it in Alaska, ASRC--is one of the great business success stories in our State and, I would say, in America. Many people credit the work that Jake did at ASRC for making it so successful. He worked closely with many other great leaders at ASRC and on the North Slope.

Oliver Leavitt certainly is another great leader. In fact, the North Slope Borough and the ASRC are organizations that have produced really wonderful leaders for Alaska: Crawford Patkotak, Rex Rock, Tara Sweeney, and Richard Glenn.

But I am digressing here a little bit. Let's get back to Jake.

He was on the board of ASRC from the very beginning and is still on the board today, over 40 years. He was involved in the selection of nearly 5 million acres of land for that corporation under the law passed by the Senate and the House, with limited time and limited funds to do this. But he is a wise man, and ASRC selected well. ASRC land is rich in natural resources and abundant in wildlife. Jake has always been a strong proponent of making sure those resources and that wildlife form the basis for economic development and a sustainable way of life. ``Our lands are the basis for all of our culture and all our wealth,'' he likes to say.

Eventually, Jake became the president and CEO of ASRC. Under his leadership, ASRC has grown and diversified in terms of one of the top corporations, certainly in Alaska and, I would say, in the country, with thousands of employees, not just in Alaska, but all over.

He was able to do all of this while still doing subsistence hunting and raising a family of six with his wonderful wife Lucille. He often conducted business on his boat, in the North Slope and overseas, while whaling. Not many business leaders in America can say that.

Jake once told a reporter:

The land and a sense of place remain extremely important to

our people.

We truly do exist in two worlds. . . . Our culture and the

value of traditions are part of our life every day, even as

we pursue more Western business type of activities.

He has done so much more for Alaska, for his people, for our people: supporting the Native sobriety movement and working to eradicate illegal drugs from Native villages. He has been involved with the volunteer search and rescue organization and is a huge advocate for education.

In honor of Jake's commitment to education, the ASRC's Alaska Educational Foundation created a scholarship award in his name. The ``Anagi Leadership Award'' is given each year to a student, providing up to $24,000 for tuition, fees, and college expenses.

At his retirement ceremony from executive leadership of ASRC in 2006, the people of the North Slope Borough literally cried. He is that well respected. For his many accomplishments last year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Jake Adams is a man of wisdom. I have a story. When I was attorney general, 10 years ago, I was dealing with a particularly difficult situation. When I worked out what I thought was a good resolution, I flew to Utqiagvik to meet with Jake to ask him if he agreed and, importantly, if the community agreed. I explained the situation. Importantly, when I asked him what he thought, he said he thought it would be a just resolution and he would be supportive of it. That meant so much to me, as Alaska's attorney general, getting his advice and his wisdom.

Jake Adams is a man of few words, but when he speaks, it is powerful and people listen. He is a man of deep, deep wisdom. Ask anyone who knows him, and they will talk about his wisdom, his natural leadership, his humility, and his abiding love of the land, the people, Alaska, and his family, which now includes 13 grandchildren.

A few years ago at a celebration in his honor, John Hopson, Jr., another great Alaska Native leader from the North Slope, talked about how much Jake had contributed to his community and Alaska.

He said:

Jake has also bridged the world between traditional whaling

captain and corporate leader. A highly successful whaling

captain, he has also provided guidance to our North Slope

Borough and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation as they matured

as institutions. He has filled these roles with deep resolve,

wisdom, and great foresight. And always, he has acted with

the highest honor toward his family and his community.

Well said, John Hopson, Jr., about Jake Adam.

Jake, thank you for all you have done for us, for your community, and for all Alaskans. Thank you for your decades of service to Alaska and your leadership.

Thank you, Lucille, for sharing him with us.

Congratulations, again, on being our Alaskan of the Week.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, this week we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Special Olympics Alaska, an organization that has done so much for so many Alaskans living with intellectual disabilities in my State and across the globe.

The rise of the Special Olympics is one of the world's great stories. It demonstrates both on the political and personal fronts what can happen when a group of people get together to ensure that everyone has the ability to participate in sports and, furthermore, develop skills and friendships that will last them a lifetime.

The story of Special Olympics dates back to the 1960s, when one woman, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, decided to make a difference. Mrs. Shriver had a sister, Rosemary, who had an intellectual disability and with whom she was very close. She knew that Rosemary's disability shouldn't hold her or anybody else back from competing in sports and fulfilling her dreams.

In the summer of 1968 in Chicago, Eunice Shriver opened the first national games for Special Olympics. One thousand athletes from 26 States and Canada competed in track & field and swimming. Jump forward to today. Because of Mrs. Shriver's vision and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities, there are now nearly 5 million Special Olympics' athletes around the world, and as many as 80,000 competitions are held every year, including in the great State of Alaska.

In 2001, Alaska hosted the Special Olympics World Winter Games. Mrs. Shriver said it was the best World Winter Games in Special Olympics history. That success was only possible because of the hard working staff, board, volunteers, and athletes from the Special Olympics Alaska organization and the complete support of a caring, engaged community.

Special Olympics Alaska will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend in conjunction with the Special Olympics Alaska Summer Games. Hundreds of athletes and unified partners from across the State will gather in Anchorage for 3 days of competition. They have been dedicated to their training in aquatics, basketball, gymnastics, powerlifting, and track & field, and this weekend will strive for their personal best and, no doubt, have a lot of fun. There is no better place to see the joy of competition and pure sportsmanship than at a Special Olympics event.

My family is proud to be part of a community that supports our Special Olympics athletes and, to brag a little, part of a State with a world-class training center and program that is the envy of many other States and nations. Special Olympics Alaska's success would not be possible without the dedicated support of so many Alaska families and the passion our athletes have for sports and this organization. Our athletes inspire all of us. They show us the true meaning of grit, determination, and perseverance. Our athletes know, more than any of us, what Vince Lombardi meant when he said, ``It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up.''

Congratulations again to all the athletes, staff, board, and volunteers of Special Olympics Alaska for an incredible 50 years of serving the community.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Lt. Gen. Samuel A. Greaves, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, on the advent of his retirement from the U.S. Air Force after 37 years of military service to this great country.

General Greaves' long and storied career began when he was commissioned in 1982 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Program after he graduated from Cornell University. Throughout his service, he has held a variety of assignments in operational, acquisition, and staff units, including assignments at Headquarters Air Combat Command; the National Reconnaissance Office; and on the Air Staff. He commanded the 45th Launch Group at Patrick AFB, Florida, the Launch and Range Systems Wing, the Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, also served as vice commander, Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB. He later served as the director, strategic plans, programs and analyses, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colorado, and then was assigned as the deputy director, Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Prior to his current assignment, he was the commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California.

His operational experience is exceptional and includes work on the space shuttle, Titan, Atlas and Delta space-launch systems. He currently wears the Command Space Badge, a joint Air Force and Army award for training, experience, and assignments in space warning, satellite command and control, missile operations, space surveillance, and/or space lift.

During his tour, the Agency and the Department of Defense made significant progress in addressing current and emerging ballistic missile threats by fielding, upgrading, and improving missile defenses to provide U.S. military commanders a highly effective ballistic missile defense capability to defend the United States and its deployed troops, U.S. allies, and friends around the world. He also laid the groundwork for the Agency's pursuit of technologies and systems to track and defeat hypersonic glide vehicle threats. General Greaves implemented a clear strategy focusing on maintaining the reliability of the Ballistic Missile Defense System, BMDS, to build warfighter confidence, increasing capability and capacity of fielded missile defense systems, and making measured investments to address the advanced threat.

While serving as the director, Missile Defense Agency, General Greaves demonstrated superior leadership, extraordinary dedication, and exceptional professionalism as the key interface between MDA and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Combatant Commands, Services and Military Departments, the Department of State, and international partners. He also

worked very closely with the administration and Congress to support significant improvements to the Nation's missile defense programs and plans in 2017, known as the missile defeat and defense enhancements, that resulted in Congress increasing the Missile Defense Agency's budget request for fiscal year 2018 from $7.8 billion to over $11.5 billion, which represents both the largest single year increase and total budget in MDA's history.

General Greaves placed a high priority on increasing the ground-based midcourse defense's, GMD, fleet reliability and confidence by upgrading fielded GBIs, implementing improvements in new production GBIs, and incorporating reliability, producibility and sustainability improvements in future GBI designs. General Greaves oversaw GMD ground system modernization, to include delivery of Ground System 7A, which removed obsolete equipment from the kill chain, eliminated cyber defense vulnerabilities, and improved redundancy for the warfighter. He also pressed forward with key reliability improvements, including the development of the redesigned kill vehicle, RKV, and upgrading of the GMD Communications Network, and launch support equipment.

General Greaves also successfully completed the expansion of the Nation's deployed GBI fleet to 44 interceptors in 2017, known as 44 by 17, which resulted in a nearly 50 percent increase in the number of deployed interceptors available for use by the warfighter.

Moreover, in response to the growing North Korean ICBM threat, in December 2017, General Greaves began executing Department and congressional guidance in the missile defeat and defense enhancements plan to further expand the GBI fleet to a total of 64 deployed GBIs by 2023 through the rapid and efficient construction of a new, fourth missile field at Fort Greely, AK, which will add 20 additional operational silos to the GMD system.

If this were not enough, he oversaw multiple successful flight tests. This includes flight test ground-based midcourse test 11, FTG-11, a GBI salvo test against a complex, threat representative ICBM-class target. This intercept flight test was so successful that the director for the Department Operational Test and Evaluation, DOT&E, Agency directed DOT&E staff to refer to FTG-11 as the first operational flight test of the ground-based midcourse defense system. FTM-45, also conducted under his direction, demonstrated an Aegis BMD organic engagement using a SM- 3 Blk IIA against a MRBM, a key milestone for the SM-3 Block IIA return to flight. In addition, he directed the flight test integrated 3, FTI- 03, an operational live fire test demonstrating the engage-on-remote capability of the Aegis Weapon System to track and intercept an IRBM target with an Aegis Ashore-launched SM-3 Block IIA interceptor. This test demonstrated the effectiveness of the European phased adaptive approach phase 3 architecture and supports a critical acquisition milestone for the SM-3 Block IIA missile program.

General Greaves also laid the foundation for the Long Range Discrimination Radar, Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii, Pacific Radar, and other discrimination improvements to improve homeland defense against emerging threats. He further advanced the development of two-stage booster capability to provide additional homeland defense battle-space capability by enabling shorter engagement times without the expense of a separate development program. He also continued improvements in the command and control, battle management and communication infrastructure, which provides persistent acquisition, tracking, cueing, discrimination, and fire-control quality data to Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD), GMD, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, THAAD, Patriot, and coalition partners to support homeland and regional missile defense.

General Greaves was further responsible for major BMDS capability enhancements and asset deployments around the globe. He guided program plans to strengthen regional defenses by continuing deliveries of Standard Missile-3, SM-3, Block IBs, for use on Aegis BMD ships and at Aegis Ashore-Romania, and THAAD interceptors. After fielding the THAAD Battery to South Korea, in late 2017, the commander of United States Forces Korea requested tighter coupling between THAAD and Patriot units in theater. General Greaves worked with Army PEO Missiles and Space on proposed solutions to address the request and improve regional ballistic missile defense. He also pushed for the development of a future THAAD system, including development of a remote launcher capability, integration of Patriot MSE interceptor and launcher into the THAAD Weapon System, and improved interoperability by enabling Patriot Launch-on-Remote (THAAD).

He also continued advancement of the Aegis BMD system in collaboration with the Navy to counter growing and more complex threats, including improvements in system and missile reliability as well as increases in Aegis BMD engagement capacity and lethality, including work on the Aegis Weapon System, Aegis Ashore-Poland, the SM- 3 IIA program, and Sea Based Terminal defense. General Greaves kept the Agency on track to deliver the initial SM-3 Block IIA missiles developed in cooperation with Japan to support European phased adaptive approach, EPAA, phase 3. He oversaw the construction of the Aegis Ashore system in Poland in support of EPAA Phase 3 to improve European NATO defenses against medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which is expected to be delivered in 2020.

General Greaves has been a tireless advocate for the development and deployment of a critically needed space sensor layer for hypersonic and missile defense, the need for which can be best summed by the general himself when he said: ``If you can't see it, you can't shoot it.'' As a result of his efforts, the Congress continually funded the MDA to develop such a capability. In 2019, the general partnered with DARPA and the Air Force on the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Program, which is now working with industry to reduce the key risks for this space sensor layer.

He also successfully completed the development and deployment of a network of sensor payloads hosted on commercial satellites, called Space-based Kill Assessment, or SKA. This program will collect data on missile intercepts, and inform the post-intercept assessment by the warfighter. This capability will provide the warfighter the option to adjust their shot doctrine to more efficiently manage interceptor inventory, thereby dramatically increasing the number of threats the system can engage for the defense of the homeland. In fact, when warfighters took part in simulations involving SKA they were so highly impressed by this new capability they requested it be made operational sooner than MDA had planned. The SKA program has been so impressive that the Department recently recognized MDA, under General Greaves leadership, for its acquisition success by presenting it with the Packard Award for Acquisition Excellence for the development of SKA.

General Greaves demonstrated his commitment to expand work with U.S. international partners, to include conducting joint analyses to support partner missile defense acquisition decisions, cooperative research and development projects, deploying BMD assets, foreign military sales, FMS, and coproduction efforts. Under General Greave's leadership, the Agency executed an historic FMS case with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for seven THAAD batteries and accompanying launchers, radars, and interceptors. In addition, he continued work on the co-development with Japan of the SM-3 Block IIA missile that will be deployed to the operational Aegis Ashore missile defense sites in Romania and Poland.

His exceptional leadership style influenced an organization of over 10,000 personnel across 13 time zones. These distinctive accomplishments of General Greaves are monumental. As he and his wife Patricia prepare for retirement, I want to thank them for their service to the United States of America--General Greaves and Patricia--Bravo Zulu.

Mr. President, I am down here on the floor to do what I typically do on Thursday, which is talk about an Alaskan who is making a big difference in my State, somebody I refer to as the Alaskan of the Week.

But, you know, this is the Senate and we have debates, and we are respectful in our debates, and there is no one in the Senate I respect more than my friend from Delaware, Senator Carper--his service in Vietnam and as a captain in the Navy. When he speaks, I listen, and I have respect. But I actually thought, very briefly--it wasn't what I was planning on doing, but I was just listening to someone I respect--I thought I would offer a bit of a counter view for those watching in the Gallery or on TV on what he just talked about.

It is a really important issue, but I just happen to respectfully disagree with most--not everything, but most--of what my colleague just mentioned. So I am just going to touch on that before I talk about an Alaskan who is doing great work.

Just listening to my colleague talk about President Trump's turning his back on Iran, the sanctions that we placed on Iran, which we all voted for here in the Senate, are antagonizing Iran. Foreign Minister Zarif is a moderate. Well, let me just touch on that. I think there is this new narrative that is starting to come out from my colleagues, and, again, I have a lot of respect for my good friend from Delaware, but about this kind of blame America first, blame Trump, as if the generals and admirals weren't advising him, and that Iran is some kind of this new innocent moderate that we are turning our back on and we are sanctioning them and antagonizing them. With all due respect to my colleague on the other of the aisle, this couldn't be further from the truth. Iran is no innocent. Iran is no innocent at all.

Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world and has been for decades. As for the JCPOA, which my colleague is lamenting, I read that. I certainly dug into that. I have been involved in our broader Iran isolation policy for many years. That was the first major foreign policy national security agreement in U.S. history that had a bipartisan majority of Senators and a bipartisan majority of House Members who were against it--against it, not for it. That did not have support in this body--certainly not in the Senate, not in the House, and not from the American people.

So as for this myth that somehow this was this great agreement, it wasn't. It was a giveaway--billions to the largest state sponsor of terrorism, where in 10 years they are free to go develop nuclear weapons. This was not a good agreement, and this body said so. A bipartisan majority in the House and the Senate disagreed with President Obama. A partisan minority in the House and Senate, for the first time in U.S. history, on a national security agreement of this magnitude, somehow passed it.

So there is this myth that this was supported by Congress. It wasn't. Democrats and Republicans opposed it--the majority in both Houses. And by the American people, it certainly wasn't.

Remember, this is the country that, after the deal and during the deal, continued to say what? We want to wipe Israel off the map. It is not a really nice, innocent nation saying that: We want to wipe Israel off the map. They continue to say that.

Here is the final thing. In my 4 years in the Senate, I have only heard one other U.S. Senator--Senator Cotton from Arkansas--even talk about this issue.

Starting in 2004, 2005, I was a staff officer, as a marine, to the commander of U.S. Central Command, and there was top-secret information that started to show in the region--and we were out there a lot, the Middle East--that the Iranians were supplying the Iraqi Shia militia with very sophisticated improvised explosive devices that were killing our soldiers and our marines and our sailors. The Iranians, of course, denied it. They were lying.

It all came out to be true. These were infrared tripwires, explosively formed projectiles that could punch through anything-- Abrams tanks, humvees--and if you were an American soldier and you got hit by one of these, you were pretty much dead.

I asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in an open Armed Services Committee hearing how many American military members were killed by these Iranian IEDs, and over 2,000 was his answer--2,000. I have never heard any of my colleagues talk about that.

So the notion that Foreign Minister Zarif was a moderate when he was negotiating with Secretary Kerry is belied by the facts. This Foreign minister literally had the blood of American soldiers on his hands.

So I take these issues very seriously, like my colleague from Delaware does.

There is this notion that our allies were all for the JCPOA. They weren't. Some of our most important allies--Israel, the Gulf Arab States, which we have been allies with for decades--were adamantly opposed, and they are the closest to Iran.

So this notion that we are going to blame the administration--by the way, we keep talking about President Trump. He is getting advice from seasoned generals and admirals to reinforce our military presence in the region because they see threats.

In the media right now, there is this narrative that the President is trying to drum up a war. What about the generals? What about General Dunford, a very well respected marine and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs? Are they doing this?

I just came from reading some of the intel in the SCIF that is prompting this discussion. Of course, I can't talk about it, but I support what the administration is doing with regard to reinforcing our military capabilities in the region, and this is the reason: It sends a message to Iran that if they are going to try to do what they did in 2004, 2005, and 2006, which is kill and wound thousands of our military members, we are going to have the capability to make them pay.

I don't like seeing anyone coming through Dover Air Force Base, either, but over 2,000 of our troops were killed and wounded by these leaders of the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. The notion that somehow they are some kind of innocent country that we are antagonizing or ``turning our back on'' is not accurate. So watch out for the new narrative that the Iranians are the innocents and that somehow we are being provocative. What is provocative is killing our troops, which they have a long history of doing--in Lebanon, the marines--and we need to send a signal that if they are going to look at doing this again or trying to or trying to kill our diplomats, it is not going to be so easy this time.

I support what is happening there, and I hope my colleagues will.

We are going to get a briefing by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the CIA next week on this, which I think is appropriate. Let's remember who the real bad guys are. We are Americans. Yes, we have political differences, but somehow, if we start to make this narrative that Iran is the innocent and somehow the Trump guys--John Bolton, for example--are some kind of evil people--come on. Come on, really? The largest state sponsor of terrorism, responsible for killing and maiming and wounding thousands of American soldiers, the best and brightest in our country, and we are the bad guys? I don't think so.

So watch out for that narrative. I certainly hope it is not going to be something my colleagues on the other side of the aisle start getting out there. It is already in the media. You have the former negotiator for President Obama making these statements that, somehow, poor Iran; all-bad America. I am not a big ``blame America first'' member, and I think we need to be really careful when we talk about trying to demonize our generals, admirals, and national security advisers and make the Iranians look like they are some kind of innocents when they are not.

I wish more of my colleagues would talk about the number of dead military members killed and wounded by the Quds Force in Iran, because they never do. No one here ever talks about it. Amnesia.

(Thereupon, Mr. Scott of Florida assumed the Chair.)

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I am going to be on the floor with some of my colleagues in the next hour.

I thank my colleague from Iowa, Senator Ernst--Lieutenant Colonel Ernst, by the way, of the Iowa National Guard--for organizing the series of discussions we are going to have in the next couple of minutes on the Senate floor that will focus on Military Appreciation Month. I think we are all going to talk about how wonderful our military is, and we will probably do a little bit of bragging about our different States and how we support and appreciate our military so much.

I like to come down on the floor and talk in superlatives about my State, the great State of Alaska. It is true that most Senators love to talk about their States in all of their superlatives, which is good. We are proud States. We each think we live in the best State in the country. We all believe that. I happen to think my State is the best State in the country.

In talking about our military and its support and Military Appreciation Month, we certainly have a large military presence in Alaska. We have about 32 military facilities and 5 major installations. Roughly, 10 percent of the population is either in the military or is a family member of someone who is in the military.

I like to say that Alaska actually constitutes three pillars of our Nation's military might. Whether the attacks be from Kim Jong Un or the Iranians, we are the cornerstone of missile defense, which are the missiles and the radar that protect the entire country from attacks. This all resides in Alaska. We are the hub air combat power for the Asia-Pacific and the Arctic, and we will have over 100 fifth-generation fighters--F-22s, F-35s--by the end of next year. We are also a vital platform for some of America's best trained troops to be deployed anywhere around the world because of our strategic location. Alaska also boasts the largest number of veterans per capita of any State in the country. These are the facts, and they are all good.

What is so unique about Alaska--and, I would say, as in most States-- is how proud we are of our military and how much the communities of Alaska--big communities, small communities--support the men and women who serve in the military. It is almost a part of our DNA in Alaska. Let me just give you one example.

I was in a group of community leaders in Delta Junction, which is in Alaska's interior. It is actually near Fort Greely, where we have our missile defense fields. It is right on the outskirts of what is called the JPARC, which is the biggest air training range in the entire United States. The airspace is actually the size of Florida. There is great training, and we have Red Flag exercises. Our men and women in the Air Force, in particular, do some wonderful training there.

We were in this community meeting, and some Air Force pilot was flying low and fast. He probably broke the sound barrier because there was a giant sonic boom. It shook the whole building. It shook the whole meeting room. Now, I would say, in most States, that would probably result in having people complain and call their Congressmen and Senators in their being mad about what the military would be doing-- shaking the buildings with sonic booms because they would be breaking the speed of sound as they would be training. Yet the mayor of Delta just looked at me and said, ``The sound of freedom.'' There were no complaints, just support.

Let me give another example.

In so many of our smaller Native communities--Native villages--across Alaska, one sees what I refer to as special patriotism. Alaska Natives and the lower 48 American Indians serve in the military at higher rates than any ethnic group in the country. That is a special patriotism because--let's face it--these great American patriots weren't always supported by their government when they came home after fighting in World War II or in Vietnam.

As a matter of fact, there was a documentary that was produced about the community of Hoonah, AK, which is in Southeast Alaska. The film was called ``Hunting and Wartime.'' It was about the fact that almost every single male high school senior in the late 1960s in these small communities went off to fight in Vietnam--almost every one of them.

That is special patriotism. This support for the military isn't a recent phenomenon in Alaska. In 1942, during World War II, Alaskans oversubscribed their war bond quota by 300 percent, which surpassed that of every State in the Union.

So many Senators--Democratic and Republican--are going to come down to the floor and talk about our Military Appreciation Month, as they should. There is some talk in the country about the 1 percent and the less than 1 percent. Well, the 1 percent I really care about is the less than 1 percent of young men and women who still, today, raise their right hands to support and defend the Constitution and to defend our liberty, knowing it could even cost them their lives by their joining the U.S. military.

We all have wonderful veterans and wonderful men and women in the military whom we support in the U.S. Senate. I tell my constituents that the one thing we are focused on doing is making sure, when you send your son or daughter to join the military, that it is the top military in the world, the most ready military in the world, and the most capable military in the world.

One thing we are doing is reversing a dangerous trend. From 2010 to 2015, defense spending for the U.S. military was cut by almost 25 percent during the second term of the Obama administration--25 percent--and readiness plummeted. We are changing that because no man or woman in this country who volunteers to support and defend the Constitution by joining the military should be joining a military that is not at the highest level of readiness and lethal in terms of its getting the job done. So I am going to pass this on to some of my colleagues here. As the Senator from a State where communities support our military so much, I just want to thank all the members, regardless of where you live, for the great work you do and to let you know that the Senate supports you with all its heart and soul.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I would like to take a moment today to recognize and congratulate an incredible group of young Alaskans on their victory in the 2019 USA Hockey National Championship. On April 8, 2019, the Anchorage North Stars beat the McKinney North Stars of Texas 4-3 to win the Youth Tier II 16U National Championship.

USA Hockey is the major governing body for ice hockey in the United States. There are almost 600,000 players across the various age groups. Make no mistake; the best youth hockey players in the country were competing in this tournament, which makes the North Stars' victory all the more significant.

The Anchorage North Stars traveled nearly 4,000 miles to compete with 11 other teams for the title. Early on in the tournament, during round- robin play, the Anchorage North Stars lost to the McKinney North Stars in a hard-fought 3-2 battle. However, like many great sports stories, the Anchorage North Stars found redemption.

Late in the championship game, the teams were tied 3-3, but Hayden Fox, who had already scored one goal in the third period, scored the game-winning goal for the Anchorage North Stars with less than a minute left on the clock. The Anchorage North Stars held their lead and came home with a national championship, the first for an Alaska youth hockey team since the mid-90's.

Hockey is a way of life for many Alaskan families. Many of these players have been in the sport since they were young kids. The North Stars' victory is a testament to the years of hard work and commitment by each and every player and coach, not to mention all the support from parents and other family members who were there from the beginning providing support, driving the players to and from practice, and cheering them on to victory. This achievement was a long time in the making, and I think it is important to recognize that kind of dedication.

Throughout the season, the North Stars adhered to two mottos--``Let's Leave No Doubt'' and ``Together We Can.'' This spirit of confidence and comradeship took the North Stars all the way to the final round, and they showed the entire country what kind of team they are. They performed at the highest level on the biggest stage, and I think it is safe to say that there is no one doubting them now.

Mr. President, it is Thursday afternoon, and it is one of the times that I enjoy the most in the Senate because it is the time I get to come down on the Senate floor and talk about my State, talk about the people in my State, and talk about the people who make Alaska a great and unique State in our wonderful country.

It is the time when we talk about the person I refer to as the Alaskan of the Week. It is someone who has helped to make their community or Alaska or America--or sometimes all of the above--a better place. I think it is the pages' favorite time, too, because they get to learn about Alaska and hear all of the unique aspects that make Alaska such a great, wonderful, and unique State.

To those listening in the Gallery or on TV, I always make a plug. It is also a time to pitch Alaska for our visitors. Come on up. You will have the trip of a lifetime guaranteed. Don't put it off. It is time to book your trip to the great State of Alaska.

Today I am going to recognize an extraordinary teacher, Danielle Riha, whom I just had the privilege of meeting right here off the Senate floor, and who is in the Gallery right now. We are excited that she is hear watching. She teaches at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School in Anchorage. That is a pre-K through eighth grade charter school. She is our Alaskan of the Week.

You might say: What is she doing? Why is she in town?

She is in town because she was chosen to be the 2019 Alaska Teacher of the Year. She is so impressive in her profession and her teaching is so impactful on her students that she was one of four finalists in America--across the country--to be chosen for the National Teacher of the Year award for the whole country.

What does that mean?

In other words, she is viewed by her peers, by her students, and by others as one of the top four teachers in the United States of America--our Alaskan teacher of the year. We are so proud of her.

We have thousands of teachers in my State, just as you do in yours, who do such great work, day in and day out, to make sure that our next generation is not only educated on the facts and things like math and history but that they also understand, in the words of the great leader Nelson Mandela, that ``education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.'' That is true, and that is why our teachers in Alaska and in America are so important.

Danielle Riha is teaching our youth so that they can go out and change the world. She and all the teachers in Alaska and in America have one of the most important jobs for our Nation and one of the most difficult jobs for our Nation. We certainly salute and honor them all, particularly this week, as so many of the top teachers in the country have been in town.

Why is Danielle good at what she does? Why did she get this award? Why is she viewed as one of the top four teachers in America? Why has she touched so many students in Alaska? How did she make her way into this profession?

Let's talk about that. Let me start with the last question first.

She came to Alaska in 1995 when she was a college student at North Texas University. She came to a part of Alaska called Unalaska--which is way out in the Aleutian Island chain--to fish and to help pay to finish college, where she had plans to become a physical therapist. That is a great profession as well. Like a lot of people, she came up to Alaska maybe for a little adventure, and maybe she was only planning on staying 6 months. Then, one day, the principal of the school in Unalaska approached her when she was playing basketball and said: Have you ever thought about being a teacher? How about a substitute teacher?

Well, that was the beginning of the love affair she had with teaching, with the classroom, and with her ability to really connect with kids, particularly kids with difficult emotional challenges.

She finished her education degree at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. Then, she taught for 7 years in two small villages in Southwest Alaska. While there, she helped to develop the curriculum that was culturally appropriate for her students, most of whom were Alaska Natives. She was then recruited to teach at the school where she now teaches, the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School, and she was one of the original teachers to start up this great new teaching and education venture in 2008.

Let me read from her Teacher of the Year application form:

Imagine you are a 7th grade student living in a rural,

Yup'ik speaking, Alaskan community.

By the way, we have many communities in our State where English is not the first language and where the Alaska Native languages are the first languages.

Back to the application:

The only way to get to your village is by small plane or

boat in the summer and snowmachine in the winter. You have

never been to a city or had life experiences that include

seeing an elevator, stores, restaurants, or roads [even

outside your community].

Your family survives by subsistence hunting and gathering

from the land of their ancestors.

By the way, that is how thousands of Alaskans survive to this day.

Now imagine yourself in math class considering a word

problem that takes place in California and involves distance,

rollerblades, a convenience store, and a curb.

That is in the application. What this is getting at is that there are things so many Americans think are common for education that in certain communities in Alaska, and I am sure in other places, aren't common. It is difficult to teach when everything is assumed to be the same when it is not. You can imagine how confusing that might be. These are the kinds of educational challenges that Alaskan students, particularly in our most rural communities, face every single day.

What did Miss Riha do to help with the confusion? Working with Alaskan Native elders, she helped to create what she calls the Kayak Module, which uses culturally relevant material to teach math, science, social studies, and language arts.

Let me give you an example of how she uses the module to teach math and science. The students are given blocks of clay and put into groups. Each group then designs a kayak of different shapes and different weights. They are tested for speed, water disbursements, and capacity. Data is collected. Hypotheses and mathematical calculations are made, and the students learn from using these examples that are actually examples from their own lives, and they love doing so.

This can work across cultures. Think about it. Alaska Native students who are on rivers or who are on the ocean, or Samoan students, many of whom live like in the example--all of these kinds of students have boats in their culture. They understand that.

``As an educator,'' Danielle said, ``nothing feels better than allowing students the opportunities to bridge what they already know culturally to new content, and to teach them to have a voice for themselves.'' This helps them learn. Isn't that a simple, but insightful approach to teaching?

I think you are all getting the picture of why she was considered one of the top four teachers in America. She and the whole school are also devoted to ensuring that the students go to school in a very safe place and where the students feel welcome. For example, one student who wrote a letter in support of her for her Teacher of the Year nomination talked about how she was worried about being bullied because she came from a different culture. She was Muslim. Because of that, she started to feel that she was falling behind in reading and math. This student wrote:

[Miss Riha] helped me be bold enough to teach others about

my culture in a way that made me feel proud of who I am.

Needless to say, I caught up in my math and reading within

one year because of her leadership, and now I love learning.

That is from one of her students. That student is now studying to become a dental hygienist at the University of Anchorage. She and Miss Riha still stay in touch. As you know, we all have that teacher--maybe one, maybe two, maybe several, but that one teacher--who made a difference in our lives, who encouraged us, who believed in us when maybe no one else did and who helped us through hard times by passing on the joy of learning, by passing on the passion of learning.

Danielle and thousands of other teachers across my State, and millions across our great Nation, wake up every day to do that as their mission, to take on one of the most important things any of us can do, and that is educating our youth.

Danielle, congratulations for being Alaska's Teacher of the Year, for being one of the top four teachers in the United States of America, and, importantly, thank you and congratulations on being our Alaskan of the Week.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.