Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise to commend Harold ``Harry'' Sanders III for being named the 2022-2023 Georgia Logger of the Year.

A third-generation logger, Mr. Sanders serves as vice president of Sanders Logging Company based in Cochran, GA.

The Georgia Forestry Association--GFA--and Southeastern Wood Producers Association--SWPA--bestowed Mr. Sanders the award in recognition of his company's work and involvement in the community. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Mr. Sanders took over daily operations of the family business in 2014 after receiving his B.S. in forestry from the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.

As Georgia's U.S. Senator, I commend and congratulate Harold ``Harry'' Sanders III, the 2022-2023 Georgia Logger of the Year.

Mr. President, I rise to commend Grannies on Guard for their work to keep the Chattahoochee River Valley safe.

Grannies on Guard was cofounded in 2021 by Charlie Adams and Rasheeda Ali, who lost her grandson Jaleel Rasheed Ali to gun violence. Their organization works to create a positive community environment for children ages 5 to 12. Partnering with parents, schools, civic and faith-based organizations, Grannies on Guard helps provide an alternative to gangs and violence through monthly meetings and community events at no cost to families.

As Georgia's U.S. Senator, I commend Rasheeda Ali, Charlie Adams, and the Grannies on Guard team for their work in the Columbus community and for their commitment to our children.

Mr. President, the Senator from Vermont last week proposed to discharge the Foreign Relations Committee of S. Res. 504, his resolution to require the production by the Department of State of a report on Israel's human rights practices.

Senator Sanders' resolution is intended to serve the important purpose of ensuring robust Senate oversight of how U.S. security assistance has been deployed by the State of Israel in Gaza, where humanitarian conditions are catastrophic. However, Senator Sanders' measure as drafted is overbroad, with potentially significant unintended consequences.

Beyond its reporting requirements with respect to ongoing Israeli operations in Gaza, Senator Sanders' resolution requires within 30 days the affirmative certification by the Secretary of State that no individual unit of the Israel Defense Forces receiving U.S. security assistance over the past 5 years has committed any gross violations of human rights. The Department of State cannot feasibly undertake within 30 days the far-reaching analysis of IDF operations over half a decade that would be required to make such a certification.

The Department of State would therefore, in my view, be unable to comply with the reporting requirements in Senator Sanders' resolution, potentially triggering a mandatory cessation of U.S. security assistance to Israel before the Senate even had the opportunity to review its report.

Accordingly, I voted to table S. Res. 504.

Mr. President, thank you for the recognition this morning.

It is a pleasure to be with you, Mr. President, here this morning as we, together, represent the State of Georgia, an obligation that we both cherish, an obligation I cherish sharing with you. And it is a pleasure to be with you here, Mr. President, this morning to open the Senate, having heard such a moving prayer and such words of wisdom from Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple in Atlanta, GA.

Rabbi, on behalf of the U.S. Senate, we thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule tending to your congregation and providing light and inspiration to our constituents in Georgia to provide such wisdom and a blessing to those of us here in this Chamber who labor each day to do the work of the people and to advance the interests of the United States.

I thank you, Rabbi Berg, for your leadership at this moment of trial for Jewish Americans in Georgia, across the country, and for Jews around the world at this moment that frays the bonds between faith communities. I thank you for your interfaith leadership, for your consistent calls for solidarity, compassion, and mutual love and respect between all people of all faiths.

It is particularly fitting, Rabbi, that you joined us during Hanukkah. And, Mr. President, to have Rabbi Berg here as we approach the sixth night, during this moment when so many Jews feel such anxiety and fear amidst the overt expression of anti-Semitism such as we have not seen for a generation, we draw upon the Hanukkah story--one of endurance and resilience and survival--for inspiration, a story that can inspire all people of all faiths.

Finally, Mr. President, I would note, as you and I together represent the State of Georgia--for the first time in

its history represented by a Black man and a Jew--that to have Rabbi Berg here representing The Temple's civil rights commitments in history--The Temple, which in 1958, as you know, Mr. President, was bombed by White supremacists in an attempt at vengeance for Rabbi Jacob Rothschild's alliance with civil rights leaders and Dr. King in the American South--it is particularly powerful to have Rabbi Berg here with us this morning.

He leads, of course, the congregation where I was bar mitzvahed. We are grateful for Rabbi Berg's spiritual leadership.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today it is with great pleasure that I honor a dedicated Army noncommissioned officer, legislative liaison, and public servant. I wish to recognize SGM Tyrone C. Marshall for 2 years of exemplary service with the Senate Liaison Division and congratulate him on his selection to serve in the Pentagon as an operations sergeant major with the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs.

On this occasion, I recognize Sergeant Major Marshall's distinguished 25-year career spent serving the American people, whether here in the Halls of Congress or with his boots on the ground. A native of Ashbury Park, NJ, and a fourth-generation soldier, he enlisted in the Army in 1998, serving first as an administrative specialist for 7 years before transitioning to public affairs in 2005. Sergeant Major Marshall deployed to Iraq twice, serving first in 2005 with the 25th Infantry Division public affairs, Task Force Lightning, and later with Task Force Wings as Brigade PAO for 25th Combat Aviation Brigade in 2008.

In 2011, Sergeant Major Marshall began his first tour at the Pentagon as the senior public affairs NCO for the Defense Media Activity's Armed Forces Press Service, Pentagon Bureau, later designated DoD News. In this role, he served as the sole military adviser to a 20-person civilian news team supporting the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His service in this capacity demonstrates his steadfast commitment to the defense of the United States, whether on the ground or over the airwaves.

In 2015, Sergeant Major Marshall returned to the line as a platoon sergeant at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA. He then returned to the Pentagon as Public Affairs and media adviser to the 15th and 16th Sergeants Major of the Army and as an operations NCO.

In 2020, Sergeant Major Marshall arrived on Capitol Hill to serve as a defense fellow for Representative Elise

Stefanik of New York before his selection as a legislative liaison in the Senate Liaison Division. In each of these positions, his primary responsibility was to help continue and strengthen Army relationships across both Chambers of Congress. Over the past 2 years, Sergeant Major Marshall has done just that: He has been an indispensable resource and representative of the Army and traveled all over the world facilitating congressional and staff delegations.

He will now continue his distinguished Army career, once again returning to the Pentagon as an operations sergeant major. He will assume responsibility for his new position later this December.

I am personally thankful for his shared wisdom, service, and sacrifice. I am grateful to him for the help he provided my staff and me to better serve our Georgia Army families and communities. And on behalf of the U.S. Senate, I thank SGM Tyrone C. Marshall for his time here in the Senate as a legislative liaison and wish him, his wife Tammy, and his children Kya, Kaden, Tre'Yon, Elijah, and Tyrone all the best.

Mr. President, I rise to commend an extraordinary Georgian for her lifetime of service to the State of Georgia and to our entire country.

This month, Ms. Kim Riggins will retire as a congressional liaison in the Atlanta VA Regional Office's Congressional Unit, where she works to ensure Georgia's veterans and their families can access the benefits they have earned, and to coordinate that work with Georgia's congressional offices.

In 1979, Ms. Riggins enlisted in U.S. Navy, and she served on Active Duty from October 1979 until October 1983. While stationed at Fort Myers, VA, she met and married Charles Riggins, a soldier, in 1983. The couple had two sons, Charles Jr., an educator, and Terron, Active-Duty Army. Both are married and captains in the National Guard and Active Army, respectively.

Upon her discharge from Active Duty, Ms. Riggins joined the Navy Reserves and remained in the Reserves until 1994. In June 1994, Charles and Kim Riggins moved to Georgia. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, she was recalled to Active Duty and served from February 2002 until October 2003.

Ms. Riggins retired from the U.S. Naval Reserves in 2005, and in May 2008, she graduated magna cum laude from Clayton State University, earning a bachelor's degree in accounting with a minor in finance.

She began working at the Atlanta VA in August 2009 and was hired under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--ARRA--of 2009 as a veterans service representative, VSR. Ms. Riggins was part of the pre- development team from 2009 to 2012, where she was selected by the veterans service center Manager--VSCM--to be detailed to congressionals on the public contact team, where she has been serving Georgia's veterans for the past 11 years.

For her lifetime of service to our Nation in the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Navy Reserves, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, I commend Kim Riggins and congratulate her and her entire family on her retirement.

Mr. President, I rise to commend a Savannah, GA, nonprofit organization working to support our children and schools. Founded in 2008 by Molly Lieberman, Loop it Up Savannah is a nonprofit community art program that began as a children's knitting and crochet class at the West Broad Street YMCA. Since then, it has grown into a community-wide program, helping bring art forms to children and adults across Chatham County and the Savannah area.

Partnering with schools, community centers, museums, and local businesses, Ms. Lieberman and Loop It Up Savannah work to provide creative art experiences and connect resources to children and families throughout Savannah. Loop It Up Savannah's programming includes visual and performing arts, early literacy programming, school garden projects, yoga and mindfulness-based practice, and STEAM Programming throughout Savannah and Chatham County. These events, programs, and workshops help build strong relationships, greater academic successes, and a more connected community.

I commend Molly Lieberman and the entire Loop it Up Savannah team for their work in the Savannah community and their commitment to our children.

Mr. OSSOFF. Mr. President, I rise to commend Sun Park, the 26th president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce GA-ATL, for his exceptional leadership and commitment to the Korean American business community in Georgia.

This weekend, the Korean American Chamber of Commerce GA-ATL inaugurated its 27th president and celebrated Mr. Park's service. Mr. Park immigrated to the United States from the Republic of Korea in 2004 and started a small business in Duluth, GA. In January 2022, Mr. Park was sworn in as the 26th president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce GA-ATL. Under Mr. Park's leadership, the chamber has flourished and continues to be a beacon of innovation and collaboration.

Mr. Park has been instrumental in supporting Korean American small business owners, and he has worked to deepen cooperation and ties with other

communities in metro Atlanta. Under Mr. Park's presidency, the chamber has successfully hosted expos every March and October, which have been vital in serving Korean companies, providing essential resources, and connecting them to U.S.-based buyers. This initiative has played a crucial role in helping Korean companies establish and thrive in the U.S. market.

I commend Mr. Sun Park for his leadership and service to Georgia's Korean American community as the 26th president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce GA-ATL.

Mr. President, I rise to commend Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany for receiving the Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence in June 2023.

This award is presented in recognition of outstanding and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations. In May 2022, the base announced it had become the first DOD installation to reach electric Net Zero. Partnering with Georgia Power, MCLB Albany was awarded funding via the electrical vehicle Make Ready Program. The effort consists of 21 charge points at nine locations across the installation and includes underlying infrastructure to allow for future growth.

In March 2022, MCLB Albany opened the first hybrid dining facility to feed both Active Duty and civilians, emphasizing nutritional density while maintaining compliance with the Military Dietary Reference Intake. The base is also recognized as a Military Community of Excellence through various partnerships with industry, schools, local, State, and Federal leaders.

As Georgia's U.S. Senator, I commend Col. Matthew McKinney, U.S. Marine Corps, and all who serve and work at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany for their outstanding and innovative efforts to support Department of Defense missions.

Mr. President, when Hamas gunmen stormed into towns and kibbutzim in southern Israel and massacred over 1,000 Israeli civilians--killing families, raping women, abducting babies, torturing and beheading Jews--in the very state that was established after the Holocaust to be their sanctuary, the overwhelming majority of Americans were and still are united in our grief, outrage, and solidarity with the Israeli people. For Jews, these events call to mind the Einsatzgruppen SS, the Nazi death squads who hunted and massacred our relatives across Eastern Europe 80 years ago.

The slaughter of Jews at such scale and with such cruelty reopened deep Jewish wounds suffered throughout our history. Salt in those wounds was the minimization and even celebration of this massacre by a few, including a few in the United States who attempted to excuse such atrocities as a righteous comeuppance for Israeli policies or the inevitable consequence of Israel's very existence.

That moment required moral clarity. No matter one's objections to Israeli policy or one's perspective on history, there is no justification and can be no apology for the deliberate massacre and torture and abduction of civilians. There is no excuse, there is no context, historical or political, that mitigates the crime.

It is clear that under such circumstances, Israel has an obligation to protect its citizens and a right to do so with force, and this, too, requires moral clarity. No government could be expected to tolerate such an attack and such a threat without taking decisive action to defend itself and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Mr. President, now 5 weeks since the October 7 massacre, Israel's military response, which is substantially armed by the United States, directly impacts the lives of millions of people, the future of the Middle East, and America's national security, and it is therefore a necessary subject of scrutiny by the U.S. Senate. So the Senate must acknowledge that conditions for civilians in Gaza are catastrophic and that this unfolding humanitarian catastrophe is both an immense tragedy and a threat to our national security.

Hamas imbeds its military capabilities within Gaza's civilian infrastructure. It hides behind and beneath Gaza's civilian population. But the depraved tactics of Hamas do not relieve Israeli leaders of their obligations to protect innocent life, nor should they harden our hearts against the innocent people who live under their rule.

In 5 weeks, relentless airstrikes and the continuous use of massive munitions in dense urban areas have killed thousands of civilians and seriously wounded many thousands more, including many children.

In a territory half the size of DeKalb County, GA, tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged beyond use, and more than 1\1/ 2\ million people have been displaced. Clean water, food, and medicine are scarce, and the continued obstruction of aid necessary for sanitation and healthcare will worsen suffering, disease, and death. Small children are wasting from malnutrition and falling ill in overcrowded shelters and makeshift camps. Imagine the desperation of families with young children just trying to survive. And this, too, requires moral clarity.

The extent of civilian death and suffering in Gaza is unnecessary, it is a moral failure, and it should be unacceptable to the United States.

There is no doubt that to defeat the threat posed by Hamas, force is required. With the use of force, no matter how judicious, facing an enemy hiding behind civilians, there will be civilian casualties. But restraint and the acceptance of some military risk out of concern for innocent life are demonstrations of strength, even and especially when confronting a brutal enemy like Hamas. Concern for the innocent, especially when fighting an enemy unbound by any morality, demonstrates the values for which the United States should stand and which Israel proclaims--the same values meant to be the bedrock of our alliance.

An unmitigated humanitarian disaster in Gaza is not just a moral failure, it undermines American national security; it heightens the risk that the war might spread and draw American forces further into combat.

It sows the seeds of hate and dims the prospects for a long-term sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It gives fodder to terrorists who would strike Americans and our allies abroad and at home. It damages the credibility of the United States and our allies as champions of a future defined by humanitarian values--the same values at stake in Ukraine, where Russia would push dictatorship into Europe, and in Asia, where China threatens the future of human freedom.

If, in 6 months, Gaza is rubble, with tens of thousands of civilians dead and millions of desperate refugees, with no viable plan to govern its ruins, that would be a disaster not just for all those killed and wounded and immiserated, but also for Israel, for the region, and for the United States.

The United States has stood with Israel since October 7 and still does. The President powerfully condemned Hamas atrocities. He flew to Israel while Israel was under fire. He rushed

supplies to the IDF and sent powerful military assets to deter Iran and its proxies. Americans are working around the clock to secure the release of hundreds of hostages. Nevertheless, requests by the United States that the Israel leadership conduct a more targeted campaign, that they permit and provide safe passage for aid essential to the sustenance of innocent life, that they clearly define objectives, that they prevent extrajudicial killings by extremists in the West Bank, and that they present a credible plan for Gaza's future governance have mostly been ignored.

I fervently want Israel to succeed, both in defeating the threat posed by Hamas and as a historic effort to secure a safe homeland for Jews. But I do not accept that the total deprivation of millions of innocent civilians is necessary for Israel to secure its objectives or in the national interest of the United States. And where the United States is committing arms, funds, and support for those efforts, we must guard our principles and our interests.

Mr. President, I urge Israel's political leaders to act with wisdom, to listen to Israel's greatest friend and ally, the United States. Just as I pray for the freedom of hostages taken so cruelly from their families, as a pro-Israel Jewish American, I urge mercy for the innocent civilians in Gaza.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise to commend a champion of Georgia's families. In October 2015, Erin Campbell valiantly founded the Athens Area Diaper Bank with a mission to help families in need. Since then, her work has helped countless families access some of the most basic, yet vital, supplies a newborn and their families need. Working with partner nonprofits, agencies, and organizations in their six-county service area, Ms. Campbell and the Athens Area Diaper Bank work to collect donations and distribute diapers and other supplies to those in need.

In 2022, the Athens Area Diaper Bank celebrated its 1 millionth diaper distributed, an incredible feat. Working closely with Ms. Campbell and the Athens Area Diaper Bank team, I brought Republicans and Democrats together to deliver new funding for the Athens Area Diaper Bank and their partner organization, Helping Mamas, enabling them to serve more rural communities in the Athens-Clarke County Area.

As Georgia's U.S. Senator, I commend Erin Campbell for her inspirational service to the Athens area and thank her and the entire Athens Area Diaper Bank team for their work.

Mr. President, I rise to commend Columbus, Georgia's Greater Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church on its 160th anniversary, celebrated in August 2023. Founded in 1863 under a grape arbor in an oak grove as Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church, the congregation has been a mainstay of the Columbus, GA, community ever since its founding by Brother Boston Miles and Sister Mary Moore, who became the church's first members.

In August 1967, the First Baptist Church of Columbus, GA, granted full titles and deeds of the church building to the Shady Grove congregation, and on March 27, 1968, the Superior Court of Muscogee County duly incorporated the ``Greater Shady Grove Baptist Church, Inc,'' a name change to distinguish itself from other churches with the same name. In January 1988, the Reverend Dr. Marcus J. Gibson became the acting pastor and served in that capacity until April 17, 1998, when he was made interim pastor. On February 14, 1999, Reverend Gibson was installed as the 22nd pastor of the Greater Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church, the same role he maintains today. Under Pastor Gibson's leadership, the congregation has continued to flourish, successfully expanding, improving the south parking lot, upgrading the transportation ministry, and remodeling the sanctuary. Greater Shady Grove Missionary Baptist Church has also added new ministries and programs, including the annual women's and laymen's conferences, outreach ministry expansion and improvements, the organization of the liturgical dance ministry, the mother ministry, the organization of the sick, bereavement and condolence ministry, and initiating of the deacons family care. Above all, Greater Shady Grove Baptist Church remains a central place for fellowship, community, teaching, and nurturing.

As Georgia's U.S. Senator, I commend Reverend Marcus J. Gibson and the Greater Shady Grove Baptist Church on its momentous 160th anniversary, and here is to many more.

Mr. President, I rise to commend the Reese-Hyman American Legion Post No. 96 on its 100th anniversary.

Founded in 1923 by World War I veterans from Warren and Glascock Counties, the Reese-Hyman American Legion was named in honor of Cummings Reese and Samuel Hart Hyman, the only Warren County residents who lost their lives in service to the Nation during World War I. According to Eric Wilkerson, who had served as the post's adjutant for 17 years, the local chapter quickly grew to over 100 members in its first few months and became very active in the community, including running the annual Warren-Glascock County Fair.

Led today by Commander Patricia Hambsch, the Reese-Hyman American Legion Post No. 96 continues bringing local veterans together, helping them access their hard-earned benefits and advocating for policies that help veterans. In July, its members gathered in Warrenton to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Reese-Hyman American Legion Post No. 96.

As Georgia's U.S. Senator, I thank all of Georgia's veterans for their service and sacrifice on behalf of our Nation, and I commend the Reese-Hyman American Legion Post No. 96 on this momentous occasion.

Mr. President, I rise to commend Barbara Rivera Holmes for her dedicated service to Southwest Georgia's economic development and small business community. Ms. Rivera Holmes serves as president and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce and the chamber's foundation. For over two decades, she has dedicated her work to the people of Southwest Georgia, first working as a reporter at the Albany Herald and ``Southwest Georgia Living'' before joining Albany- Dougherty County's economic development commission. In 2015, she took over as interim president and CEO of the chamber, becoming its permanent leader in August 2016.

Founded in 1910, the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce works to represent the interests of Southwest Georgia's business community on the local, State, and Federal levels, unlocking economic opportunities and growing the local economy. Under Ms. Rivera Holmes' leadership, the Albany area chamber has undertaken new, creative initiatives aimed at driving economic development and helping small businesses thrive, including launching a public-private partnership aimed at helping unemployed rural residents start their own businesses.

Most recently, Ms. Rivera Holmes graduated from the Institute for Organization Management, the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, demonstrating her continued commitment to better represent the local chamber and serving her community--and I congratulate her on this achievement.

As Georgia's U.S. Senator, I commend Albany Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Barbara Rivera Holmes for her career of service to Southwest Georgia's business community.

Mr. President, last week, I voted to advance the Supreme Courts Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act out of the Judiciary Committee, as I believe that strong judicial ethics are critical to maintaining public trust in our judiciary. I rejected amendments unrelated to ethics reform to maximize prospects for successful passage of this measure, but I am willing to consider the nongermane amendments offered if put forward as standalone measures or as amendments to germane legislation.