Floor Statements

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy for their leadership on this issue and for their strong support of the VA MISSION Act. I understand their concerns regarding funding, and agree that the important reforms included in this bill require resources. I am committed to working with you to find an appropriate solution as the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill moves to the Senate floor. Our veterans deserve no less.

Mr. President, before the Senator from Montana leaves, I wish to thank him for 3 years of dedicated service and the last 2 in particular as we put together the pieces of shrapnel--which was the original attempt to make Choice work--to be a streamlined program that is going to work for all of our veterans.

Jon Tester has been a magnificent ranking member and a magnificent leader. I appreciate very much the kind things he had to say about me, and I say ditto to you.

I also thank Chairman Phil Roe, of Tennessee, in the House of Representatives. He has been a stalwart.

The reason we are able to act today and tomorrow--as the House did last week--and pass a bill before Memorial Day is because both bodies have worked together, and the votes have been overwhelming. Our motion to invoke cloture this morning was 91 to 4. The House passed this 3 to 1 when they passed it in final passage. So obviously there was a lot of unanimity, but that should not be a disguise for the effort it took. It took a lot of effort to get to where we are and a lot of people doing that effort--a lot of Republicans, a lot of Democrats, a lot of staff. There was a tremendous amount of staff time. We went from doing the art of the impossible to making the art of the possible, with everybody working together, leaving our political weapons at the door, and putting our good heads together to make the Veterans' Administration system better for our veterans.

My speech is not going to be long because Senator Moran and Senator Tester have covered the types of examples the new Choice Program brings for all our veterans--a real choice, a real opportunity to make the private

sector a force multiplier for access to healthcare for our veterans but also make our healthcare system for our veterans accountable-- accountable to the most important people of all, and that is our veterans.

It does a few other things too. It creates a caregiver program for the Vietnam-era veterans. That hasn't been talked about much on the floor, but Patty Murray on our committee and Susan Collins from the Republican caucus in the Senate have for years tried to get caregiver benefits for Vietnam-era veterans and veterans of other wars which were not covered previously. With the passage of this bill, they will be covered for those basic essentials of life and necessities. They will have that covered for them, and we will get it done.

Those veterans who came home from a terrible war in Vietnam with many injuries we had never seen people survive before also need care we never thought we would have to pay for before, but we are doing it now with caregivers for that generation, which is my generation. I am proud to say that we are finally looking after them and are seeing to it that they are included and are working hard on doing so.

We have also made Choice accountable to the veterans, working for our veterans and making our VA better at a lower cost to the taxpayers than it would have been otherwise, were we providing that service solely by the VA. You get choices, you get quality, you get better service, and you get a better VA for our veterans.

There have been a lot of people who have made this happen. Senator John McCain originally introduced the idea of Choice 4 years ago. He founded it, and that is why his name is a part of the title of this bill. We could not have done this without John. He is a great American hero, a great colleague, and through our prayers and our blessings, we wish for him to recover as he is in Arizona.

I want to thank Joan Carr, my chief of staff; Trey Kilpatrick, my deputy chief; Jay Sulzman; Amanda Maddox; Ryan Evans; Sal Ortega; and Kristine Nichols. My staff has been phenomenal. They have done a great job. They put up with a lot. They have worked hard, and we got here because of them.

Also, I thank the other unsung heroes of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs who have helped Jon Tester and me and all our members to see to it that we covered every item, dotted every i, and crossed every t: Bob Henke, our staff director; Adam Reece, who deserves a special shout-out and who, the last couple of weeks, has done double duty and done a great job to get us to where we are today; Leslie Campbell; Maureen O'Neill; Jillian Workman; David Shearman; Camlin Moore; Thomas Coleman; John Ashley; Mitchell Sylvest; Heather Vachon; and Pauline Schmitt. We could not have done our job as elected officials were it not for those people who tirelessly worked long hours to see to it that we got it done.

Here we are in the U.S. Senate. I am speaking with my First Amendment rights. You are gathered in the Gallery today and watching this at home on C-SPAN because of the First Amendment, gathering because of the amendment that allows us to freely assemble without fear of retribution by the government. Our Bill of Rights are the rights we operate under, and we wouldn't have them at all were it not for our veterans.

Next Monday we will celebrate Memorial Day. We will give thanks for every veteran who sacrificed their life and gave the ultimate sacrifice for you and for me. It is not unreasonable to think back and say: You know, had our soldiers not done what they did in World War I and World War II, we might be speaking German or Japanese today rather than English. Because they fought for us in the two great World Wars, they secured and preserved our liberty and freedom, and we speak today as free Americans, and we enjoy the freedom that only democracy could give. That is what we owe our veterans. We owe them everything. Without them, we wouldn't have the protections we have today.

As Memorial Day approaches, I love to tell my favorite story about the great reminder I have of what Memorial Day is all about. It is all about a veteran, Roy C. Irwin, from the State of New Jersey. I have never met Roy; I never knew him. When I was in Margraten in the Netherlands at the U.S. cemetery where over 8,000 Americans are buried from the Battle of the Bulge, my wife and I spent an afternoon paying tribute and respect at the graves of our veterans and our soldiers. We walked down the road to look at the Stars of David and the crosses, paused for a minute at each headstone, and gave a prayer of thanks for the veterans who had sacrificed everything so that we could be there.

Then something happened to me that I have never forgotten, and it could happen to any one of you if you ever go to one of those cemeteries and visit. I came upon a headstone, a cross, and I stopped and read it. It said: Roy C. Irwin, New Jersey, private, died, killed in action 12/28/44. I froze in place; 12/28/44 was not just the day that Roy C. Irwin died in the Battle of the Bulge fighting for us. It was the day I was given birth by my mother in Piedmont Atlanta Hospital in GA.

There I was, standing at the foot of someone who had died on the day I was born. He gave his life so that I could enjoy mine.

Since that time, I have had 73\1/2\ years in which I have been able to be a free citizen of the United States of America, all because of lots of things but nothing more important than Roy C. Irwin and thousands like him who volunteered to fight for our country, to call on the forces of evil wherever they might be. They won our freedom, maintained our independence, and saw to it that you and I could be here today. I have always stopped to give thanks every Memorial Day for all of those who pledged and gave the ultimate sacrifice so that I could be here to make a sacrifice for you.

I look at our pages in the room today, and I think about my children and my grandchildren. I am so happy they had the opportunity to grow up in the United States of America and so happy you have the ability to serve here today in the United States of America. Remember this: You and I are both here because of one thing. This is a country full of brave volunteers who, when the bell tolls, answer the bell and go fight for America, fight for our freedom, fight for our peace, and fight for our liberty.

So strike one for liberty when we vote on the final passage of the VA MISSION Act. Vote for better healthcare for our veterans, the choices of our veterans, caregivers for our veterans who haven't had them in the past. Give thanks. And with your vote for that bill here, we will have to continue to pay our debt to those who sacrificed or offered to sacrifice the maximum sacrifice for us.

This is a great country for lots of reasons. You will never find anyone trying to break out of the United States of America. You always find them trying to break in. There is one big difference over any other; that is, those who have fought and died so that we could be free and American citizens forever.

May God bless our soldiers, may God bless our country, and may God bless the United States of America.

I yield back my time.

Mr. President, today I am proud to honor in the Record a dedicated Georgian who has elevated media political coverage and served as a true ambassador of the First Amendment.

It is not every day that a politician honors a journalist on the floor of the Senate, but when one who is as accomplished as Denis O'Hayer of Georgia announces his upcoming retirement, it is only right to recognize his 40 years of radio and TV work and achievements.

Denis O'Hayer will retire next month from Atlanta's National Public Radio affiliate, WABE, where he has hosted of a number of programs since he joined the station 2009. Since 2015, Denis has gotten the day started for countless Atlantans who tune in for his news updates on ``Morning Edition.'' The listenership for his program has more than doubled since he took the helm as host. His podcast, ``Political Breakfast,'' is a more recent hit and shows Denis's adaptability and one of the many reasons for his success in the field of broadcast journalism.

Denis began his work in the Atlanta media market in 1978 in radio with WGST and as a host with Public Broadcasting Atlanta after moving to the city from his radio career in Connecticut.

During his distinguished career, Denis has also worked in television as a freelance reporter with CNN and as a political reporter at Atlanta NBC affiliate WXIA-TV for 11 years.

The Atlanta Press Club, which is one of the largest and most active professional journalism associations in the country, has benefitted from Denis's leadership as president.

Denis, his distinguished WABE colleague Rose Scott, and their team earned an Edward R. Murrow award in 2012 for their television broadcast special focused on the fight against child sex trafficking in Atlanta called ``How to Stop the Candy Shop.''

The Georgia Association of Broadcasters named Denis Broadcaster of the Year in 2014, and in 2015, he was named to the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame.

Denis is respected by colleagues across the spectrum for the quality of his work, his professionalism, and the fact that he is a consummate gentleman. My staff has always praised Denis, and we have looked for ways to work together whenever possible.

Over the years, in addition to politics both local and national, Denis and I forged a friendship and respect for each other that went beyond work, regularly sharing reports about our families and discussing our shared enjoyment of travel.

I wish Denis the very best of luck in his retirement, and I am thankful that he will continue to contribute to Georgia politics as a commentator in the future. Our political discourse will be better for it.

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

Mr. President, the Senate is a great place. It is a great honor to be able to speak here, whether you are discussing your beliefs on an issue of major importance, honoring a friend, or, on rare occasions but all too often when you get to be my age, paying tribute to someone who has given so much and passed away.

Such happened in my State this past Monday, on the 16th of April, when John A. Williams died. He was 74 years old.

John Williams was a giant in every way in our State. He was a giant entrepreneur. He founded two great companies, one of them called Post Properties, the largest apartment REIT on the New York Stock Exchange. He started it in 1993 and built it to new heights.

Most recently, a few years ago, he started PAC, Preferred Apartment Communities, a REIT also, and he did the same with it--employing thousands of people, building thousands of units for housing in America.

He set the pace of housing in his career. I don't know how many people have noticed that in the suburbs of all major cities today, office parks and apartment complexes of any size are now some of the most beautifully landscaped places in the community. Thirty years ago, nobody planted a stick. Nobody planted a shrub. Nobody planted a flower.

John Williams became the largest importer of Holland bulbs in the United States of America. Every spring, tulips blossomed at Post Properties apartment buildings. In fact, he changed the advertising mode for apartments. Instead of calling them apartments, he called them apartment homes because he wanted his apartments and all the rental units to be looked upon by the people who lived there as their home. He sold that concept and built that concept and replicated it over and over, and it became the standard in Georgia. I have traveled the country, and it has become the standard all over the country in terms of apartment houses and landscaping for major commercial properties.

He was a great entrepreneur, building two great companies and helping thousands of other people in many other ways to build their companies.

He was a great father, a great husband, and a great family man. His wife Nancy is a wonderful ``first lady'' in our community. Parker, Sarah Brook, and Jay, his children, are all great contributors to our community. They all know how lucky they are to have had such a great father.

He was a great sportsman. When I say a great sportsman, I mean a great sportsman. He built Ranger, a replica of the 1937 America's Cup winner, one of the biggest yachts in the world, and sailed the world on that yacht and won races all around.

Also as a sportsman, he was a minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons. He invested with Arthur Blank in the Atlanta Falcons. They almost got to the Super Bowl--they got to the Super Bowl; they just couldn't finish the drill with the Patriots. One day we are going to figure out a way to do that, and I hope, in memory of John, we will be able to do it for him.

John was a community man. Who have you ever heard of in your lifetime who, in the same lifetime, was president of two different competing chambers of commerce, next door to each other? He was twice the president of

the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce. While running Post Properties and PAC communities, while doing all of the things he did with his family, while racing his boat and owning the Falcons, he built two great chambers of commerce and sought others to come to the communities where he was prospering and helped build their businesses. Then he became president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. The Atlanta and DeKalb County Chambers of Commerce are the one and two largest chambers in our State. Instead of fighting each other, he brought them together.

He was a builder, he was a giant, but also a broker of common interests. He found the good in every opportunity and tried to sell the good and forget about the bad. He tried to bring out the best in everybody. I never made a deal with John Williams or saw a deal that he had made--I never saw anybody leave the closing table who didn't feel good. His knack was to be sure that if you left the closing table and you had a check, you felt good about it, and if you had just written a check, you felt good about it. He wasn't a win-lose person, he was a win-win person, and that is why he was such a great businessman and such a great entrepreneur.

He was a great friend and a giant of a friend to me. I met him 50 years ago next month.

This may sound funny, but it is a great story. He worked for the Georgia Power Company, and I worked for a small real estate company called Northside Realty Associates. Our first two jobs--his with Georgia Power and mine with Northside--were to hold open the total electric house of the year in 1967. That meant that we drew the last straw, and every night, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., we held the houses open in hopes that someone would come to look at them. The electric utilities hoped someone would build a totally electric house. It was a marketing tool. It was the first time they had ever done it, and we enjoyed doing it and I got to know John.

I remember the nights when John talked about what he wanted to be, how he wanted to build a company, how he wanted to be an entrepreneur, how he wanted to be a real estate developer, and how he wanted to make things better. We got to be good friends. In fact, I sold him a 4-acre piece of land where he built the house he lived in for years before he built the home he was in today. I participated with him in another real estate transaction he did and helped him with some of the properties he put together. I always found him to be a win-win guy.

He was my friend, he was my supporter, and he was my confidante. He was also my greatest critic. Every politician in America should be lucky enough to have a John Williams, because John will tell you what you want to hear, but he tells you what you don't want to hear. When you are on the wrong track, he will straighten you out.

Sure, he could write checks all day long. But the Presiding Officer and I know that it is not just the checks that they write. It is the advice they give, and it is the passions they have. When you find somebody who has a passion for their family, a passion for building businesses, a passion for their community, and a passion for everything that is good about America, you have found somebody you want to keep close to you. For 50 years, I stayed close to John Williams.

When I got the news about John Williams before I boarded a plane on Monday to come up here, I started crying--that is how close he was to me--but so did everybody else I ran into that day or have talked to on the phone since being back home. Everybody misses John and was shocked by his going. But realizing the troubles and the difficulties that he had had in recent years--back surgeries and things of that nature--and realizing, like all of us do at that age, when you are 74, which I am, that you know time is running out. You just don't know how fast it is running out. But it is a good example of how you always want to be ready whenever that day comes and know the legacy you left was a better legacy than the one you inherited.

John was a man of modest means at his birth. When he graduated from high school in the public schools of Georgia and went to the Georgia Institute of Technology--better known as Georgia Tech--he graduated with debt and a modest means but with great values and great principles.

The story about the flowers was all because of his mom, who wanted to landscape everything and make it look pretty and beautiful--proof that it didn't take a lot of money to make things look good; it took a lot of heart.

I am sad today, and all of Georgia is sad today, and they will be even sadder on Monday when we say good-bye to John Williams. But all of us should hope and all of us should pray that all of us have the time in our lives to know somebody as good, as decent, as honorable, and as compassionate for their community and as a lover of their country as John A. Williams of Atlanta, GA, my good friend.

God bless you, John, and God bless the United States of America.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, on the 23rd day of March, 2018, just a little over 2 weeks ago, Zell Bryan Miller of the State of Georgia-- former Member of this body, former Governor of the State of Georgia, former State senator in the State of Georgia, former chairman of the Democratic Party in the State of Georgia--who contributed immensely to his State, passed away at his beloved home in Young Harris, GA, in Towns County.

I am here to pay tribute to Zell and his life and his contributions to our country, both for a purposeful reason, as far as a fellow Member, but also for a very personal reason for me, because he is an individual I met through politics, became one of my best friends through politics, and probably had more influence personally on my life than anybody else I know in public service.

As I said, Zell died in Young Harris, GA, the home of Young Harris College. Zell Miller was, first of all, a teacher and a writer. He wrote over 10 books. He taught. He was educated at the University of Georgia. He taught at Young Harris College. He always taught throughout his career. Even as Governor and Lieutenant Governor, he was an instructor and a teacher. He was professorial, but he was tough as nails. There was only one way to do it and that was the Zell way, he used to say, and he knew how to get it done.

He was for four terms the Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. He then ran for Governor in 1990. I happened to be his opponent in 1990, and I will get to that in just a minute. He won that election. It was pretty close. It has gotten a lot closer since then. Pretty soon, when I have grandchildren, I am going to tell them all I won. So far, that is not the case. But he won, and he was elected twice to be Governor of Georgia.

As Governor of Georgia, he embraced education as a major issue. As I said, he was a teacher and was all about teaching. He did something that nobody had ever done and in numbers that were very impressive. He created what is known as the HOPE Scholarship, funded by the Georgia Lottery. A lot of lotteries have been passed and a lot of liquor referendums have been passed by promising people that the money was going to go to education, but it never really did. In Georgia, the way it was done is that it came out of the debates that he and I had in our race for Governor. We finally passed a constitutional amendment to allow legal gambling in Georgia and then passed the HOPE Scholarship, which was where the money went. We tied up all the money made from the lottery separately for three things: college scholarships for eligible Georgia students, 4-year-old voluntary prekindergarten for Georgia pre- Ks to the age of 4, and technology and innovation and wiring and infrastructure in our public schools.

The election was in 1990. He was elected in 1990 as the Governor of Georgia. He served two terms, but by the end of the decade, the lottery had passed. Since its passage, 1.8 million Georgia children have gotten their college education--1.8 million--and 1.6 million Georgia 4-year- olds have gone to prekindergarten voluntarily. Georgia's public schools are wired. They are on the internet. We deliver content through distance learning. It is at the leading edge of technology in public education of any State in the country.

Now, politicians can take credit for a lot of things, but I don't know of anybody who can take credit for 1.8 million college degrees, 1.4 million prekindergarten programs, wiring schools for the information technology of the 21st century, and doing it all based on a personal effort and commitment to see to it that the more we are educated, the better the State will be.

I said that Zell was an author. He was an author and a marine. He served in the Marine Corps from 1953 to 1956. He wrote a number of books about the Marine Corps. He wrote a number of articles about the Marine Corps. He wrote one book called ``Corps Values.'' The values he learned in the Marine Corps he used throughout his life in education, as Governor, as a father, and as a family man.

Zell's wife is Shirley Miller. Shirley is a wonderful lady, and I got to be with her a little bit 2 weeks ago during the services. Zell and Shirley are Georgia's forever first family, not just because they were Governor and first lady together and Lieutenant Governor and first lady together but also because Shirley was a partner with Zell. She wasn't just his wife. Shirley worked tirelessly for Zell and for the State of Georgia, and to this day, she works tirelessly for our State. During Zell's more difficult years--over the last few years having the difficulties he had healthwise--Shirley was there to be with Zell every single day.

Zell Miller came to the Congress of the United States in a very unique way. Paul Coverdell, who had the seat that I hold today, died. Paul was a Republican. He was in his second term as a Republican. Roy Barnes was the Governor of Georgia, a Democrat, and when Paul Coverdell died, Roy Barnes called Zell up, who was then the immediate past Governor, and said: Zell, I need you to go to Washington and serve for me because the body is getting pretty close politically up there. We need to make sure a Democrat is in that place to replace Paul.

I wasn't involved in the conversation because I was hoping they were going to call me up, which I will get to in a minute. They didn't, but they did later. But they hadn't done it at that time. Roy said to Paul: You just have to do it for me, Governor Miller. You have to make sure that Georgia stays Democratic.

Zell went on public television and said: I want to accept this appointment to the U.S. Senate to fill this seat, but I am going to vote like Paul Coverdell.

He knew how important Paul's service had been in the State. He knew the conservative movement had taken the State and was moving in that direction. Zell was a man of conscience and principle who recognized the importance of the U.S. Senate seat, but, more importantly, he recognized the wishes of the voters. He told Roy Barnes, he told me, and he told everybody in the State: I am going to take it, but I will vote like Paul Coverdell.

When that 4 years was up of finishing that term of Paul Coverdell, Zell Miller decided not to run again. I was in the U.S. House at that time, and he ran a press conference here in Washington to say: I will not seek reelection. That was in 2003.

I got on the phone, called my wife, and said: I am going to go see Zell. If he is not going to run, I am going to run for that seat. That would be a good way to end my career and make a contribution to my State.

I called Zell, and I said: Governor, can I come to see you this weekend in Young Harris.

He said: Yes, come on.

So I got in my pickup truck, which is a good way to drive in North Georgia, where a pickup truck is a standard operating vehicle. It was kind of a snowflake morning in North Georgia and the North Georgia mountains in Young Harris. I sat down with Zell at the fireplace, with Woodrow and Gus, the two dogs, talking about politics. Finally, I got around to the subject of saying: Well, Zell, the reason I am here is that you announced that you are not going to run for reelection. I want to know if you have any issue with my running to replace you.

He said: Put your shoes on, son. You can win that seat. Let me know what I can do to help you.

I have never forgotten the encouragement, never forgotten what he said, and never forgotten the challenge I felt I had to thank the guy who had beaten me for Governor in 1990--to make a

statement like that when I was going to seek to replace him in the U.S. Senate 24 years later. It made a lot of difference to me in my life.

Zell was a unique individual, and there has never been one like him. He was a Democrat the day he was born, and he was a Democrat the day he died.

A lot of people remember he wrote a book, ``A National Party No More,'' which made a lot of Democrats mad. He spoke at the Democratic National Convention and made a lot of Republicans mad, and then he spoke at the Republican National Convention--the only elected person in history to deliver the keynote address at both national conventions, Republican and Democratic--not in the same year but in the same decade.

Zell said what he thought, he thought what he said was right, and he delivered on everything he ever said, and if he ever was wrong, he apologized. In his latter years, he appointed many of his former opponents to offices of importance in our State.

For me, this is the first time I can publicly say thank you to Zell Miller. I know he is looking down, and I hope he is listening to what I am about to say.

When he beat me in 1990 and when I ran to replace Sam Nunn when Sam stepped down in 1996 and lost that seat as well, I thought I was through with public service. I had made my best effort and done as well as I could serving in the legislature but couldn't make it to that higher place.

After I had run for Sam Nunn's seat, about 2 months after the race was over, Zell called me up, in August 1996, and said: Johnny, I have a problem. I have a Republican State school superintendent and a Democratic legislature, and they are fighting like hell, and I can't solve the problem. But if I name you as school board chairman, then you can come over here and balance this out, get the politics out of it, and help to solve the problem.

Governor, I appreciate that, but I know what happens on a school board: You have 11 members on the board. I am chairman, and there are 10 other people who vote. You can't change 10 people's minds unless you know who those 10 people are.

He said: You tell me who else to appoint. I will fire the others and appoint the new people. Come over to the mansion.

So I went over to the mansion, and we sat there with his operator at the telephone desk and for 2 hours called people I knew I could trust and believed in to help me with public education. I asked them to serve with me on the State board of education, take it over, clean up the mess which had taken place and which Zell acknowledged thoroughly.

I accepted, he made the appointment, and over 2 years, we had a remarkable time period. In large measure because I thought my political career was over, I didn't think about what I was doing as much politically as I thought practically for kids. Zell wanted very much to see public education as the apex of his career, and so he wanted to make sure in that second term, it was. I accepted. He worked hard. We joined together, and we--to this day--had a great period of time for public education in our State in terms of improvement, cashing in on the HOPE scholarship, and doing all the things that we did later on.

I could go on and on, but I will just say this: I have worked with a lot of people, and I have known a lot of people. I have never known a better one than Zell Miller. I have never known anyone more true to their word, more solid to be counted on, who accepted their oath of office and every responsibility that went with it, who would say they were sorry when they needed to say they were sorry and would fight like hell when they needed to fight like hell and would never take no for an answer if they wanted you to do the right thing for the State of Georgia.

For me on this night in Washington, DC, having gone to the funeral of my dear friend Zell Miller, having shared with his family and many others who loved him as I have over the years during those 2 days in Atlanta, let me close by saying that one of Georgia's greatest citizens and probably our greatest Governor, Georgia's first family in perpetuity, Zell and Shirley Miller, will be missed greatly by our State and will be missed greatly by me. I thank God I had the opportunity to know Zell Bryan Miller and learn from him in the best way you can, and that is by working for him.

God bless you, Zell. Thank you for what you did on behalf of the people of Georgia. God bless you and the United States of America.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, it is an honor for me to come to the floor of the Senate and talk for a minute about my friend Thad Cochran. I know everybody has probably said everything that needs to be said; just everybody hasn't said it yet. Kind of in the vein of what Senator Blunt said, everybody says the same thing about Senator Cochran: He is gracious, smart, gentle, effective, and a great colleague.

I want to tell my colleagues about Thad Cochran. When I came to the Senate 14 years ago, I had served in every legislative body I could be elected to where I live. I served in the Georgia House, the Georgia Senate, the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate--all representative legislative bodies. In each one of them, I got some advice.

My first year in the Georgia House, 41 years ago, I got some very good advice. A good friend of mine said: Johnny, I will tell you what you do. The first year you are here, don't say a word. Just watch everybody talk. Watch what everybody else does. Look at people you would like to be like, and for the remainder of your career, be like that person, because in the end, this business is about relationships and effectiveness, not about bluster and bragging.

I did pick out a guy; his name was Carl Harrison. Carl Harrison has since passed away, but he was one of the best friends I have ever had in life. I watched him in the Georgia Legislature, and I patterned myself after Carl Harrison, and the success I had was because I followed a great leader like him.

When I got to the U.S. Senate, I knew I needed leadership. I knew I needed to find a book or something to tell me how to be a good Senator. I remembered Carl. I said: You know, I am going to sit in this body. I have 6 years in this term. Surely I can take a few months for the first year and kind of figure things out.

So I started watching. I could see the characteristics and the quality of each and every individual in the Senate, and everybody offers unique gifts that they have given to this body. I kept watching Thad Cochran. He was respected. He always had time for you. He never let you know he had been here a lot longer than you ever thought about being here, maybe even longer than you had been born. He listened to you, and if you asked him a question, he gave you an answer.

So I called my wife and I said: Sweetheart, when we come back to Washington next week, I want to take Thad Cochran to dinner because I have decided he is the guy I would like to be most like.

I am not making this up; this is exactly what happened.

So we went to Ocean Air. Thad, I don't know if you remember that night. It was pretty crowded. Thad is not a loud guy, but when Thad walks in a room, it gets a little bit quieter because everybody knows wisdom has arrived. My wife and I enjoyed that dinner that night, and we became great friends.

We had a number of issues on which we engaged each other over the course of the years, and on all of them, I think we were on the same side--except catfish. I think I got it wrong on catfish, and I apologize for that, but I tried to redeem myself.

The highest compliment I can pay is to say that I wanted to be just like Thad Cochran. So in the 13 years since that dinner at Ocean Air and in everything I have done and tried to do in the Senate, I have tried to be like Thad Cochran.

Mark Twain once wrote: When confronted with a difficult decision, do what is right. You will surprise a few, but you will amaze the rest.

When we have tough decisions to make, when somebody has to cut to the

chase and point you in the right direction to get the job done, it is Thad Cochran whom you want in your foxhole. He is the perfect example for me of a noble life and a noble leader.

I have a favorite poem. It is in a book called ``Leaves of Gold'' from the Methodist Church. I think that poem applies to Thad Cochran better than any words I can say. The poem goes like this:

I'd rather see a good person

Than hear about one any day.

I'd rather have a good person walk with me

Than merely show the way.

For my eyes are better pupils

And more willing than my ear.

And fine counsel is confusing

But example is always clear.

And the best of all the people

Are the ones that live their creeds.

For to see the good in action

Is what everybody needs.

While I'll be very glad to do it

If you'll let me see it done;

But I can watch your hands in action,

But your tongue too fast may run.

But the lectures you deliver

May be very wise and very true;

But I'd rather get my lecture

By observing what you do.

For I may misunderstand you

And the high advice you give;

But there's no misunderstanding

The way you act and the way you live.

Thad, you have blessed us all by the way you act, the way you live, and by the example you set. May God bless you and your family. I wish you the best. And may you always come back, because if you ever need me, I will be right here for you because you have always been there for me. God bless you.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, it is an honor and a privilege today to pay tribute to a great Georgian who has dedicated a lifetime of service to our State ahead of his 90th birthday on April 11, 2018.

Mr. Emory Schwall is an outstanding Georgia attorney who has practiced law in our State for 68 years. In 1950, at the age of 21, he was admitted to the Georgia Bar after attending the Emory School of Law and graduating from the Woodrow Wilson Law School in Atlanta.

Emory Schwall has served as special assistant attorney general for the State of Georgia representing the insurance commissioner. He is a certified estate planner and mediator, a member of Atlanta Estate Planning Council, the Atlanta Bar Association, the Georgia Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He also is a member of the Emory Law School Council.

As impressive as Emory Schwall's professional legal career has been, his impact on one of Georgia's finest not-for-profit hospitals is probably one of the areas of work of which he is most proud. The Shepherd Center in Atlanta specializes in medical treatment, research, and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions. Founded in 1975, the Shepherd Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the Nation, and it has grown from a six-bed rehabilitation unit to a world- renowned, 152-bed hospital that treats more than 8,500 patients each year.

Emory Schwall has been active with the Shepherd Center since its inception, helping it obtain grants and bequests, and he has led capital campaigns and other initiatives that have helped its growth. He served on the original board of directors for the Shepherd Center Foundation. He has also served as vice president and as a director of Shepherd Center, Inc., from 1987 until 2017.

Emory Schwall has also served his church Trinity Presbyterian Church since 1956, not only as a parishioner, but also as a deacon, an elder, and as chair of its finance committee.

An appreciation for the preservation of history led him, as president of the Atlanta Medical Heritage, to donate the Academy of Medicine building, a designated historical landmark in Atlanta, to the Georgia Tech Foundation to ensure funds for the restoration and preservation of the building.

Further, Atlanta's Piedmont Hospital has benefitted from Emory Schwall's generosity and service, including serving as an active member of the Friends of Piedmont Hospital charitable arm.

Emory Schwall also is active with national charitable and civic organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Arthritis Foundation.

His dedication to service earned him the ``Greater Good Award'' from the Georgia Planned Giving Council in 2009. This annual award is presented to an individual whose career is currently focused on advising individuals, attorneys, financial planners, insurance counselors, trust officers, accountants, and other financial advisers for obtaining charitable contributions, and a ``Greater Good Award'' recipient must have served to increase the quantity and quality of planned gifts to charities in Georgia.

Emory Schwall is truly a great Georgian, and I am fortunate to call him my friend. He, along with his wife, the late Peggy McCready Schwall, shared a love of service to others. Their three sons and four grandsons are proud to have such wonderful examples to follow, and as we celebrate his 90th birthday, I hope Emory enjoys many more years in our State and with his family.

Mr. President, I rise out of a great sense of pride to exercise one of my responsibilities in the U.S. Senate to speak on behalf of Tripp Self, a judge from the Georgia courts, who has been nominated to become a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The vote will take place not too long from now, and I encourage every Senator to cast his vote for Judge Self. He is the whole package.

He has a wonderful wife and family and four great children. He worked in the private sector for years and accomplished many things in the private sector. He went to the University of Georgia School of Law and graduated cum laude and summa cum laude from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and went on to have a distinguished private career. He then served as a superior court judge on the Macon Judicial Circuit for the State of Georgia. In that job with the superior court, he did something that I am very close to. He is an entrepreneur because he started the Veterans Treatment Court for the Middle District of Georgia and for that judicial circuit.

The Veterans Treatment Court, as all of you know, is a court that is formed to help veterans who stray from the law or who have difficulties when they come home either because of PTSD or TBI. It helps them with the struggles of battle that they have had and with whatever problems they may have had from representing us on the battlefield. They trip and they fall, and they need somebody to help get them up. We want to make them do the right thing but also help them get themselves brushed off, look forward to careers, and help them get that step forward. We do that with teenagers with what are called CASAs, Court Appointed Special Advocates. We turn people around who otherwise might go to jail--young kids. The Veterans Treatment Court takes those who have risked paying the ultimate sacrifice--that of their lives for you and for me and for everybody else--who might have fallen off just a little bit. When we get them back into the judicial system, we get them straightened out, and we move them forward so they have better lives and rewarding careers of their own--thanking them for all of the things they have done for us as veterans.

As the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee of the U.S. Senate and as one who recognizes the value of the court system for all of the things it does to administer justice, I am particularly proud to have a judge who has used his entrepreneurial skills to deal with a problem our society has in the legal sense and in the court sense and to see to it that our veterans are getting the help they need and that our communities are getting the representation they need.

I am also a football fan. I know calling football games is tough, just as making judicial decisions is tough. Tripp Self officiates NCAA football in the Southern Conference. Two years ago, he was selected to do the 2017 FCS national championship game, which is a testament to his ability to call balls and strikes on the field.

He is a pretty good shot too. He is a turkey hunter and likes to turkey hunt and likes the outdoors.

Most importantly, he loves the United States of America. He respects and loves the law for what it does. We are a nation of laws and not of men. He does everything in his capacity as an individual and as one on the bench to see to it that our country is a better country and our State is a better State--the State I represent, Georgia.

When each Senator turns to vote in a few minutes on the confirmations of the three judges that will come before us today, when it comes to Judge Tripp Self, of Georgia, may each cast a vote proudly for someone who is a legal entrepreneur for veterans, one who has served with distinction in the State as a private sector practicing attorney and on the bench already, and one who will serve the United States of America very well in the years to come.

I commend him and his family for being willing to take on this responsibility, and I thank the President of the United States for the wisdom to make this appointment.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, as the senior Senator from Georgia, it is my honor to pay tribute to South Georgia on its selection as a ``2018 Great American Defense Community'' by the Association of Defense Communities.

Since 1941, this region of my State has been the proud home of Moody Air Force Base and some of the best airmen in the world.

I congratulate the outstanding South Georgia Military Affairs Council, which is led by local chambers of commerce in Berrien, Cook, Lanier, and Lowndes Counties, and the many community members who work to support Moody Air Force Base. They take great pride in this installation, and they understand how important the brave men and women who are based there are to our national security and to America.

The Great American Defense Communities Program honoring these special volunteers recognizes the overall support that communities and regions in the U.S. provide to service members and military families to help ensure the highest quality of life possible. Selection for this honor is based on community building and integration, support and collaboration, educational and employment opportunities, and veteran and family support.

I have seen firsthand how strongly the airmen and families associated with Moody Air Force Base are supported and appreciated by the South Georgia community. It is much more than simply a place to live. For our military members serving at Moody, their community is a place to call home. It is family.

Moody Air Force Base is the home to the 23rd Wing ``Flying Tigers,'' which consists of the 23rd Fighter Group, the Air Force's largest A-10 fighter group, the 347th Rescue Group, and the Avon Park Air Force Range, among others. From close air support to combat search and rescue, the dedicated airmen of Moody Air Force Base play a critical role in our national defense and our ability to project power around the globe.

Throughout Georgia, we are fortunate to be home to welcoming communities for the servicemembers who are stationed at military bases across our State. South Georgia is a wonderful example of this spirit of service and patriotism. I congratulate this region and Moody Air Force Base on this distinct honor.

Mr. President, today America and the world have lost a great man in Billy Graham. As Senator Thune said in his own remarks quoting Billy Graham, don't grieve for Billy Graham--he has not gone anywhere except to be at the right hand of his Father Almighty at home in Heaven. He has left us, but he is in Heaven.

For his entire life, 99 years, he witnessed on behalf of that place called Heaven and his Father to try to take his message around the world and to people around the world.

I spend a lot of time working with young people, and when I do, many times I work with them in my church. I taught Sunday school for 30 years. That is a hard challenge sometimes, trying to figure out what it is you are going to do to get through to people, especially young people, but I learned from Billy Graham that the best way to teach people about God is to witness for God. Billy Graham was the preeminent witness for faith, if there ever were one.

We all could turn on the TV tonight and find a televangelist who, for a $25

donation, will send you a Bible and a cross and tell you that you are saved. That is not true. You may be saved from him, but you haven't been saved with Jesus.

Billy Graham lived the kind of life that teaches all of us that we should respect and understand and honor what Jesus Christ stands for and what Christianity means, and we should live our lives as an example to others of what it is like to be a Christian.

In the sadness of the loss of Billy Graham, I am reminded of the Book of Thessalonians and Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, where in two of the shortest verses in the Bible, he says:

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.

In terms of Billy Graham's life, I think we are in that period of time right now. We should rejoice for the great service that he gave to all of us, the great messages he brought in his crusades around the world, and we should pray without ceasing that the world will continue to be blessed by God and by great people like Billy Graham and those who would follow him and, in our small way, if we will do the witnessing we need to do to see to it that we are disciples of that faith and for Jesus Christ.

For me, coming to the floor today, I have an important task, because witnessing and evangelism is about other people taking the message for other folks.

Mr. President, back in my home State of Georgia, in my neighborhood in east Cobb County, there is a man by the name of Henry Holley. In my few minutes left, I want to honor Henry Holley because he is an interesting individual.

Although there is no such thing as a former marine, he was a U.S. marine for 22 years. He met Dr. Graham at a crusade. He volunteered to help him in his off-duty time and so impressed Dr. Graham that Billy Graham asked him to join his crusades.

He said: I can't do it right now. I have 2 more years in my commitment.

Billy Graham said: If you come to me at the end of those 2 years, I will put you on my team.

Forty-eight years ago, Henry Holley joined the team of Billy Graham. He became his Asian representative. In fact, today Henry Holley is the last of the original Billy Graham team who is left alive on this Earth. Henry is 90 years old, living in east Cobb County, and witnessing every single day all that he learned from Billy Graham and what Billy Graham's crusades meant to him.

They set up crusades in Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, South Korea, and all over the world. Henry Holley has been in and out of North Korea more than anybody in this country. He goes there with Samaritan's Purse to help people who are oppressed, taking to them the message of Jesus Christ, working and doing everything he can to improve the plight of those people who are oppressed and depressed by a rogue regime.

Henry Holley is one of the finest people I have ever known. I know when Dr. Graham passed away, Henry was not sad but happy because he has always talked about knowing that ultimately Billy Graham's place in Heaven would be his just reward. Henry could not wait until he could join Billy Graham there so they could be together at the end.

So I know Henry is probably watching, or if he isn't watching, somebody will tell him about my mentioning his name. I am doing it to honor Henry but also to honor Billy Graham, because the one-on-one passing of the Word from me to someone else, from Henry Holley to someone else, from Dr. Graham to someone else, is the way Christianity was built over the decades and over the years and will continue to be preserved in the years to come.

So as we honor in the U.S. Senate and in the United States of America a great man, a great leader, a man of God, and a servant of God, I am just so thankful I had the opportunity to be in this Chamber on the day we honored Billy Graham and his life. I am so happy I had the ability and the opportunity to know his servant, Henry Holley, and be one of those along the way whom Henry helped to live a more responsible and loving life.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I wish to ask that before the remarks that I plan to make now are made and memorialized by the reporter, I be able to say to my friend from Florida, on behalf of the people of Georgia, who stopped me in the halls and corridors, at the grocery stores, the churches--everywhere we went--what happened in Florida was an attack everywhere in America, not just in Florida. The tragedy of school shootings has magnified itself, so much so that every one of us feels it more than anybody realizes.

I want to share with you the prayers, the hopes, and concern of the people of Georgia. It is a pleasure to work together with you and the other Members of the Senate so that we can find common ground as we move forward to address this situation. Having just been home, and being with the citizens I represent, I can say that the first and foremost item on the minds of every citizen of Georgia is the tragedy that took place in Florida. Our hearts and prayers go out to you and all the families and all those who survived the terrible tragedy.

I thank the Senator from Florida.

Mr. President, I rise today with a great sense of pride and honor to commend to my fellow Senators Elizabeth ``Lisa'' Branch, who has been nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit of the United States of America by President Trump.

There are significant reasons why I am so excited to do this. I am going to save the most significant for last. One of the things I am so proud of in our constitutional responsibility of advice and consent for the appointments of the administration is that, every time, we appoint someone who is the right person at the right time and the right place, and Lisa is certainly that for the court of appeals and for the bench of the United States of America and the Eleventh Circuit.

Lisa was a partner in the commercial litigation practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, a limited liability partnership in Atlanta, where she began her legal career in 1996. She moved on to work in the George W. Bush administration from 2004 to 2008 as the Counselor to the Administrator of the Office

of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and, for 1 year, as the Associate General Counsel for Rules and Legislation at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She served for 2 years as a law clerk to Judge J. Owen Forrester of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. She received her BA degree from Davidson College in North Carolina--an outstanding institution--and her law degree from Emory University, which is one of the most renowned law schools in the United States of America.

She is a great lady and a great lawyer. She was named to the Court of Appeals in Georgia by Gov. Nathan Deal, the current Governor of the State, and will serve us in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals with honor and privilege in the United States of America.

Most importantly, on a personal note, as I make these remarks, I am sure my father, Ed Isakson, and his best friend, Harold Russell, who is the Russell of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, are looking down from Heaven on this occasion today and recognizing it for the following reason:

When Lisa went with Smith, Gambrell & Russell, she went to work with a firm that represented my father and his company--a firm that represented me. She is not unknown to me as a person, as a lawyer, as a litigator. She is a great individual in our State and has provided a great service to our State. She will be a great judge for the United States of America. She also worked with Harold Russell, who was my dad's best friend, and Harold represented my father for years in business.

I know today, in Heaven, they are looking down during this special occasion of an outstanding Georgia jurist who is renowned in our State and is about to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be on the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

I commend to my colleagues in the Senate Elizabeth ``Lisa'' Branch to be confirmed, and I urge their favorable votes to see to it that takes place.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I yield back all time on our side and ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion be voted on.

Mr. President, today I am proud to honor in the Record a dedicated Georgian who has devoted his life's work to our State.

Mr. Kelly McCutchen has spent the last 25 years of his career guiding the direction of one of Georgia's respected think tanks, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. Most recently, Kelly served as CEO of the organization. Prior to taking the helm in 2010, he was the organization's vice president, and he remains as a member of its board of trustees.

At the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Kelly helped create the Civic Renewal Project that highlights the work of outstanding community-based organizations, the No Excuses program to recognize and study high-achieving, high-poverty public schools, and the foundation's award-winning statewide report cards on education, crime, and taxes.

In January 2018, the foundation was named one of the best independent think tanks in the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. During his tenure, the foundation was also named No. 1 for ``highest integrity'' and No. 3 for ``most knowledgeable among business organizations or State associations in Georgia'' by James magazine in 2004.

A proud third-generation high honors graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Kelly has also served on the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. He is a founder and served as governing board chair of Tech High, a math, science, and technology focused public charter school in Atlanta.

At the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Kelly served on the education policy committee and the healthcare policy committee.

He chaired the board of the Healthcare Institute for Neuro-Recovery and Innovation Foundation and has also served on the Georgia Science and Technology Executive Committee and on the public policy committee for Metro Atlanta United Way. In addition, he is a policy adviser for the Technology Association of Georgia.

His service to our State has also been seen on the boards of Leadership Georgia and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute.

Of particular significance to me as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Kelly cofounded the Georgia Warrior Alliance, a nonprofit with the mission to make Georgia the national leader in programs supporting military veterans and their families.

Kelly's wife, Mary Kay Davis McCutchen, has been a dedicated companion and chief supporter of his work and civic engagement. Their son Kelly and daughter Caroline are college students who have wonderful role models to follow in their very special parents.

Kelly McCutchen is a Georgian whom I am proud to know and to call a friend. I applaud his service and wish him the very best as he continues his service to our State in his new role as executive director of the High Impact Network of Responsible Innovators.