Floor Statements

Mr. President, tomorrow we expect to turn to the consideration of the Consumer Product Safety Commission conference report and the higher education conference report. Therefore, Senators should expect votes throughout the day.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the

Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of a resolution submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and that any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4841, which was received from the House.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.

As in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the Senate on July 23, 2008, by the President of the United States:

Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on accession of Albania and Croatia (Treaty Document 110-20).

I further ask that the treaty be considered as having been read the first time; that it be transferred with accompanying papers to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 683 to and including 686, 696 to and including 716, all nominations on the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc; that upon confirmation of the nominations, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, with no further motions in order, the Senate then resume legislative session and that any statements relating to the nominations be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in recess until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, July 24; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 3186, the Low- Income Home Energy Assistance Program legislation. I further ask consent that following leader time, the time until 10:30 a.m. be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the second half, and that the time from 10:30 until 5:30 p.m. be equally divided and controlled by the two leaders or their designees, with the time controlled in 30-minute alternating blocks of time, with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes and the Republicans controlling the next 30 minutes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 3:40 p.m. tomorrow, the Senate have a moment of silence for the fallen Officers Gibson and Chestnut.

Mr. President, as a reminder to all Senators, there will be a moment of silence at 3:40 p.m. in remembrance of Officers Gibson and Chestnut, and all Senators are encouraged to be on the floor for this moment of silence.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand in recess under the previous order.

Madam President, I ask that I be allowed to speak as in morning business.

Madam President, the acclaimed writer H.L. Mencken once said:

In war the heroes always outnumber the soldiers ten to one.

Today, I come to the floor to honor the lives of two of those heroes: SFC Anthony Lynn Woodham of Rogers, AR, and Justin English of Springdale, AR. Madam President, we lost Specialist First Class Woodham on Saturday when he paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Iraq on his second tour as a member of the 39th Brigade Combat Team. As a vehicle maintenance supervisor at Camp Adder in Talil, he kept American troops safe and their equipment and vehicles running. Throughout his 20 years of National Guard service, he also trained countless mechanics, instilling in them a strong work ethic, enthusiasm, and patriotism.

In 2004, Specialist First Class Woodham explained that a lot of solutions for maintaining equipment are not found in the training manual. He learned from trial and error and taught others the art of adapting and improvising in order to get the job done quickly and to get the job done right. For his leadership and his service, we are a truly grateful nation.

MGEN William Wofford of the Arizona National Guard said of Woodham: ``No words can fill the gap left by such a loss.'' I know those sentiments are also true for Specialist First Class Woodham's wife Crystal and three children, Patrick, 17, Mitchell, 11, and Courtney, 6.

Arkansas suffered another loss 11 miles away from Rogers, in Springdale, AR. The English family is mourning the loss of 25-year-old Justin English. A former Springdale firefighter and EMT, he went to Iraq for a larger mission--to protect United States personnel and installations in Iraq. A week into his mission--just a week into his mission--English's vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb near Baghdad on Monday.

Those who knew Justin describe his friendliness, positive spirit, and willingness to lend a helping hand. Janet English, his aunt, said he had always wanted to join the military, find adventure, and serve his country. Indeed, he gave his country all.

Arkansas continues to make tremendous sacrifices to defend freedom and protect the ones we love. We will never forget the sacrifices made by the Woodham family, the English family, and so many other grieving families who have lost their loved ones in combat. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to honor the service of these brave men and women and ensure our troops have the resources they need both while in combat and when they return.

Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I wish to honor John-Rex Spivey, who recently attained the rank of Eagle Scout by the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 122 in Rogers, AR.

This is a great accomplishment that requires years of devoted service and leadership. The rank of Eagle Scout is the highest level a Boy Scout can achieve and reflects John's dedicated effort and commitment to service.

Young Arkansans like John set a positive example for our youth, and I am confident that this award is one of many more that John will attain in the future.

Mr. President, I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating John-Rex Spivey for this outstanding achievement.

Mr. President, I wish to follow up on something the two leaders were talking about a few minutes ago, and that is gas prices are a very serious issue in this country, certainly in my State. Everywhere I go in Arkansas, people ask me about it. I encourage all of our colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate, let's all work together and try to do something. Certainly it is going to take a Herculean effort to get President Bush to change his policy on gas prices, but I hope we could all work together, find some consensus, and move forward on some meaningful legislation to try to bring relief to people today on gas prices.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about a great Arkansan, a fellow--I am holding his picture up here--whom most Americans do not recognize. Pretty much everybody in Arkansas knows him. He is a household name in our State.

It is with great pleasure I rise today to honor the career of a great Arkansan, a track and field icon, known not just in Arkansas but around the world. Following the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week, Coach John McDonnell will retire after 36 years at The University of Arkansas.

Walking past the trophy cases lining Bud Walton Arena at the University of Arkansas, you will note the Razorback track team has been a winner over and over again under the leadership of Coach John McDonnell. He has accumulated more National Championships than any other coach in the history of college athletics. But his commitment to track and the UofA goes beyond the finish line. His athletes will tell you that Coach McDonnell motivated them and set high standards on and off the track. He taught them about integrity, character and teamwork-- traits they continue to apply in their career and lives today.

Dr. B. Alan Sugg, president of the University of Arkansas system, said it best when he described Coach McDonnell as ``a world-class coach because he is a world-class leader.''

He started his track career at Southwestern Louisiana, now Louisiana- Lafayette, where he was a six-time All-American in cross country and track. He also was the 1966-67 AAU 3,000-meter champion, and he won the mile at the 1966 British Selection Games.

He began helping other athletes achieve their own success as a coach for 2 years at New Providence, NJ and at Lafayette, LA before embarking on a dedicated and determined career coaching the Razorbacks. He accepted the job at Arkansas over a similar offer from Oklahoma, he says, because the terrain of northwest Arkansas reminded him of his home in Ireland.

I am going to hold up a sign here. When you drive into Fayetteville, you see this sign. It says, ``Welcome to Fayetteville, Track Capital of the World; 42 NCAA Track and Field Championships.'' You will notice this ``42'' is like a little flip chart because we won so many times, I think after maybe 25 or so, the highway department said we can't keep replacing this sign every time he wins a title, so now all they do is change that number out. Let me tell you, it changes frequently.

His record of wins as a coach is remarkable. He has won 42 NCAA National Championships since 1984: 11 in cross country, 19 indoor track championships, and 12 outdoor track championships. This includes 12 consecutive NCAA indoor track championships from 1984-1995. During this streak he won the triple crown five times including three in a row from 1991-1994.

He has been relentless in his pursuit of conference championships as well, winning 84 conference championships since 1974 including 38 in the old Southwest Conference and 46 in the Southeastern Conference. Did I mention 20 conference triple crowns since 1982, including 8 straight between 1987-1995?

Alberto Salazar, a Nike executive and world-class marathoner said ``John McDonnell has been the most successful and the best coach in the United States from the 1980s on.'' He goes on to say, ``his teams have continued to get better and better . . . he has set the standard for all other coaches to follow.''

While being a winning coach he also focused on development of his student-athletes, coaching 185 track All-Americans who combined have earned 652 All-America honors. He has coached 23 Olympians, spanning three decades and six different Olympic Games. Mike Conley won a gold medal in Barcelona and a silver medal in Los Angeles, Matt Hemingway earned silver in Athens, and Calvin Davis a bronze in Atlanta.

Seven-time NCAA champion and Olympian Alistair Cragg said:

I am his creation . . . I came in here out of shape and had

quit running. He's got that hand on your shoulder that you

know you can't mess up, but if you do that you're not going

to mess up on your own. You can go into any race or

competition with a lot of confidence. When he says you're

ready, you're ready. It's a reassurance.

Moreover, Coach McDonnell produced 55 individual national champions. His athletes hold 22 records, including Daniel Lincoln who holds the Outdoor American record for the 3,000M Steeplechase and Tyson Gay who holds the 200M record at the Outdoor World Championships.

Coach McDonnell will continue to inspire student-athletes and coaches alike. A physical legacy has been established by the new state of the art ``John McDonnell Field''--a new 10,000 seat outdoor venue which opened in 2006 at the University of Arkansas. Accompanying that is the Randal Tyson

Track Center, a world-class indoor facility that opened in 2001.

``John built this program,'' says Mike Conley, a five-time NCAA champion at Arkansas and the 1992 gold medal winner in the Olympic triple jump.

When he recruited me and the others who eventually won the

school's first national Triple Crown, there weren't any

facilities to speak of. We came because we believed in him

and what he thought he could do at Arkansas. The facilities

came later because of his success.

With much humility and a sense of humor, Coach McDonnell has been named National Coach of the Year 12 times in indoor track, 11 times in outdoor track and 7 times in cross country.

That is a total of 30 National Coach of the Year honors. I do not want to forget about the 50 times he has been named Conference Coach of the Year, and the 62 times he was awarded Region Coach. The most recent award was winning the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year for outdoor track.

It goes without saying Coach McDonnell has been inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame, the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the University of Southwestern Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and the Mayo Hall of Fame.

Coaches and teachers live within our hearts and our minds for years. We remember their drills, their training and their sayings and only later realize the full impact they have had on our lives. Coach McDonnell is one of those coaches.

I ask my colleagues to join me today in thanking and recognizing Coach John McDonnell on his outstanding career and his positive influence for so many Razorback athletes.

I yield the floor.