Floor Statements

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, most people run from battle, but our servicemembers run toward it. They watch their brothers and sisters get wounded. They miss births and funerals, school plays and college graduations. Then they come home bearing the wounds of war--both visible and otherwise.

They will always do their job defending our country no matter the sacrifice. So they deserve to know that they have the moral support and legal backing of this great Nation.

But for more than 20 years, Washington has failed to give them that. One of Congress's most solemn duties is deciding when and how we send Americans into combat by debating and passing the authorization for use of military force, documents that set the legal framework for military action that are supposed to define the mission of our Americans whom we send downrange.

But, lately, too many in these Halls have shrugged off that duty, hiding behind outrageously outdated AUMFs that were used to launch the Gulf and Iraq wars, all the way back in 1991 and 2002.

Scared of the political risks that come with bringing these wars back into the spotlight, staring down upcoming election days, Congress has shirked its responsibility to our troops, stretching, skewing the original intent of these documents.

In doing so, we have left our troops without a clearly defined mission. And now they face an increasing risk that a future Commander in Chief may improperly interpret the law to send them into armed conflicts that these AUMFs were never intended to authorize. Our troops deserve better than that.

If we choose to send our finest into battle, then we here in these Halls need to debate and vote to do so based on current conditions.

Enough of being more worried about the political consequences than about our troops in harm's way. And until we muster up the courage to ask and answer the tough questions that will actually tell our servicemembers what they are fighting for, we won't be living up to their sacrifices.

Instead, we will be leaving them in an endless loop, refusing to even look for an off ramp.

Look, I know guys and gals, buddies whom I served with in Iraq who did six, seven rotations between Iraq and Afghanistan. They went in knowing that they would probably be back in a couple of years, living the hardships of combat deployments over and over again, risking the unimaginable, sunup and sundown, year in and year out, tour after tour, all because their country said that it needed them to.

They deserve more from us than to be forced to wonder whether the same outdated AUMF that has already sent them overseas half a dozen times will be misused once again to put them in harm's way without Members of Congress even having a conversation to decide whether such sacrifice is warranted.

This shouldn't be hard. Anyone who claims the mantle of patriotism can't keep demanding such sacrifices from our servicemembers or refusing to step up to our obligation, our responsibility, to have a public debate and vote when we ask our troops to go into combat.

Are their lives not worth a vote? not even worth a discussion?

To me, part of the problem lies in the growing disconnect between those who serve overseas and those who serve on the Hill.

Right now in Washington, we just don't have as many Members of Congress with combat experience the way we did in the years after Vietnam--the era when those returning from war would put down their rucks, hang up their uniforms, and head to the Capitol Building to serve their country in a different kind of way; the era when John McCain and John Kerry would reach across the aisle to solve some of our Nation's biggest problems because both of them were more concerned with doing right by the troops who protected us than brandishing partisan labels.

But now, far fewer veterans come to Washington, and the divide has sharpened, with those sitting in hallowed houses of power ever more removed from those sent off to battle.

Well, I can tell you this: It is a whole lot easier to cover your eyes and avoid taking tough votes if you have never shed blood in the dust and grit and horror of a war zone, if you have never held your family close before heading off on yet another tour, kissing your loved ones for what you know could be the last time.

But today, there are just a handful of us in the Senate who have been in combat. The same is true for our country at large, as the same families keep volunteering to serve generation after generation.

In Vietnam, because of the draft, a boy from rural Missouri could have ended up in a fighting position next to someone from the upper echelons of New York society. Of course, the rich could get out of service then too. Our former President's bone spurs proved that. But in that bygone era, service touched nearly every corner of this country, regardless of tax bracket or race or education.

Now, it falls onto the shoulders of the same families to volunteer time and again or it gets foisted upon those who have fallen on hard times: service as a means of escaping poverty.

So the gap widens, with the vast majority of Americans never having served and having little idea what it is like, other than what they see from Hollywood.

And so the disconnect yawns, with it becoming even easier for most of us to live our lives blissfully detached from the nightmarish reality of war.

We have to do more to bridge this divide. True patriotism isn't measured by how long of a standing ovation one gives our military on a single day in November each and every year. Real, lasting, meaningful patriotism requires doing the hard work necessary to actually change our country, to make it a better, fairer place, where sacrifices aren't borne by just a few but instead carried by all.

Our troops are willing to sacrifice anything--everything--for their country. They fought for us time after time, tour after tour after tour. It is time that we fight for them too.

It is time that we repeal these decades-old AUMFs and start honoring our

heroes in the way that they deserve, showing just an ounce of the courage that they show over and over again.

God bless our troops in harm's way; God bless our veterans; and always, God bless the United States of America.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today with a heavy yet full heart to pay tribute to someone I owe so much to, someone who millions of Americans living with disabilities owe so much to, Judy Heumann.

To honor her, I want to start by describing the environment we are in for those who may be listening in who may be visually impaired. We are in the United States Senate Chambers. I am sitting in the top row of chairs. I am sitting in my wheelchair. I am an Asian-American woman with brown hair, and I am wearing my signature red lipstick, just as Judy used to wear.

Judy was more than a friend; she was a personal hero to me. She was a person who devoted her life to expanding disability rights, to making sure that accessibility in this country is not an afterthought but, in fact, is the norm.

She worked so hard because she recognized a simple truth: that everyone, whether they know it or not, is just 1 day, 1 split-second away from acquiring a disability and needing the protections and rights that too many take for granted, rights that every American deserves.

You know, when I earned my disability in 2004, I actually considered myself pretty lucky. I say ``lucky'' because when I got home from Iraq, the Rehabilitation Act had been the law of the land for more than 30 years, and the Americans with Disabilities Act had been in place for more than a decade, both of which Judy had fought tirelessly to implement and, in fact, was the author of, and both of which empowered people like me to lead full lives. So, yes, pretty darn lucky because I wouldn't be able to roll my wheelchair through the maze of the Capitol Building and onto the Senate floor today to give this speech without those laws or without the unwavering advocacy and leadership of Judy Heumann.

You see, Judy passed her exams to earn a teaching license before people with disabilities had equal protections under the law, but she was denied that license by the school board even though she passed the exams--denied it just because of so-called concerns about legal liability in the workplace because she had a disability.

They said that because Judy used a wheelchair, she represented a fire hazard and couldn't safely teach in a classroom. Judy, rightfully so, wasn't going to take that for an answer, so she got to work. She worked and she worked and she worked. She fought and she fought some more. She made a fuss. She caused what civil rights giant John Lewis called ``good trouble.''

It is in large part because of her never giving up that the Rehabilitation Act exists, that the ADA exists, and that my full, wonderful, beautifully chaotic life is possible. For that and for so much more, I will be forever grateful for Judy Heumann.

Judy passed away earlier this month, but what she lived for will live on forever. I will never forget the hard-earned lessons she taught me about what it means to truly fight for our civil rights, to keep up that work day after day after day, and to make sure we empower those who come next to continue reaching toward a more just and more accessible future.

In her name, I will forever keep striving to bring about that better tomorrow when people with disabilities won't have to work so hard just to live our daily lives.

Rest in power, Judy. We miss you already.

190th Anniversary of the U.S. Partnership with Thailand

Mr. President, ``sawadee ka.'' I come to the floor today to commemorate a special moment, the 190th anniversary of the U.S. partnership with the Kingdom of Thailand.

I am an American, but my Thai heritage makes me a living example of the unshakeable bond between our two nations.

Our nations have a long, long history of friendship. For centuries, our countries have learned from and leaned on each other militarily, diplomatically, economically, culturally--you name it. From the environment to our economies, national security to cyber security, we have helped one another grow and evolve, adapting to a world that is evermore connected, adapting to an era in which technology allows allies half a world away to be there for each other in half an instant.

There is a reason Thailand is often called Washington's oldest ally in Asia. Ever since an American ship landed on Thailand's shores more than 200 years ago, ever since President Andrew Jackson and Thai King Rama III signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation formalizing peaceful relations between our countries, ever since King Mongkut offered to send elephants to President Abraham Lincoln an ocean away, our nations have proven that there is no greater asset than a partner you can count on in times of both peace and conflict. Time after time, we have worked side by side to catch the bad actors running international criminal networks, to give humanitarian relief to those who need it, to keep the peace far beyond our own borders.

We have seen our shared interests and values manifest time after time over the past 190 years. To name just a few examples, more than 300,000 people of Thai descent--myself included--live in the United States today, and thousands more come to study every semester.

The jointly run Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences has been at the forefront of research on infectious diseases since the 1960s, developing treatment for a host of diseases that have saved millions of lives in both our countries and around the world.

Under a 2002 framework, hundreds of U.S. companies have invested in Thailand, fueling bilateral trade of over $74 billion in 2020 alone.

And, during World War II, the United States worked with Thai students in the United States and dissidents inside Thailand to create the Free Thai Movement. Then, our security alliance was eventually formalized under the Manila Pact of 1954 and the Thanat-Rusk communique in 1962. And, now, the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group in Thailand helps organize more than 400 joint exercises per year, including Cobra Gold, the largest multilateral exercise in the Indo-Pacific region.

In 2023, with more and more geopolitical threats rising by the day, the strength of our bond is as important as ever. Our alliance provides some sense of stability amidst that chaos and some sense of security amidst the unpredictability. It helps to make a tenuous situation a little bit more tenable.

In just a few months, Thailand will hold national elections for the second time since the military coup of 2014. As in other countries, Thailand's path to democracy has had its challenges. There have been setbacks as well as advances. But in this moment, I know I speak for my colleagues in this Chamber when I say we look forward to an election that is free and fair, an election that cements Thailand on the road to a stable democratic system based on the rule of law, civilian authority, and respect for internationally recognized human rights.

Let me just close by saying: For the progress that Thailand has made toward that more democratic future, for the friendship our two nations have shared, as well as for all the years that I was lucky enough to call Thailand my home as a child, I am endlessly grateful, and I am forever proud to call myself an American of Thai descent.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Madam President, I come to the floor today to honor my friend CWO5 Joseph Lemens II, who we lost suddenly in November.

Joe worked as hard as he laughed. He was full of energy and empty of ego. In many ways, he was the epitome of what a ``Soldier,'' with a capital ``S,'' should be.

He was dedicated to service--service to his most beloved and to those with whom he was barely acquainted, service to his dearest neighbors in Illinois and to total strangers throughout his four deployments to the Middle East.

Joe first enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves when he was just 17 years old

and then served continually for the next 42 years until his retirement last March. His work ethic was tireless, and sacrifices he made for his Nation were immeasurable. He was selfless and giving. He would be the first one to offer to lend a hand, and then would refuse to accept payment for his good deed.

He seemed quiet until you got to know him. Then his laugh made you laugh so hard that, eventually, you forgot why you were both laughing at all.

As a fellow pilot, I especially appreciated the way he gravitated toward machines, the way he loved having the power of an engine, whether it be a snowmobile or a Black Hawk helicopter, at his fingertips. As his commanding officer for my years as a Mad Dog, I couldn't have asked for a better maintenance test pilot, although I always questioned the sanity of anyone who would fly broken helicopters on purpose.

I considered myself lucky that Joe was a member of our battalion when we were in Iraq. Maintenance officers, you see, and especially those like Joe, are a rare commodity, and Joe was one of the best.

When we got back to U.S. soil, after I was wounded and could no longer get from point A to point B like I used to, I was even luckier to have Joe show up at my house one day with his toolbox in tow, ready to remodel my home to make it completely wheelchair accessible.

He combined the grit of a midwesterner with the grace of faith. He combined the resilience of a soldier with the brilliance of an engineer. I know he will be dearly missed. He already is. My thoughts are with his wife Kathryn and his children and his newborn grandson Joe Lemens IV, whom he was able to see. I thank them for sharing Joe with us for all those years and for their own service to our great Nation.

We will all miss Joe, but we will forever catch an echo of his larger-than-life laugh whenever we hear his favorite sound: the smooth rumble of a well-cared-for engine.

I yield the floor.

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

I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 5:30 vote commence immediately.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, this week, the U.S. Senate acted, unanimously, to honor our Nation's dedicated law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency responders by passing the Public Safety Officer Support Act, known as PSOSA.

I was proud to author the bipartisan Public Safety Officer Support Act and want to thank Senator Cornyn and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Durbin for their steadfast leadership and hard work in helping pass this vital legislation that seeks to modernize the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program by recognizing that, when a public safety officer dies by suicide, there should be a rebuttable presumption that the loss should be designated as a line of duty death.

I look forward to President Joe Biden signing the bipartisan Public Safety Officer Support Act into law and remain confident in the U.S. Department of Justice's readiness to effectively implement this important new law. My confidence is rooted in the Department's productive engagement and helpful technical assistance that was provided throughout the development of the final version of PSOSA.

Of course, the Public Safety Officer Support Act would never have passed without the steadfast support and dedication of a wide range of organizations, such as the Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Organizations, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Sergeants Benevolent Association NYPD, National Association of Attorneys General, National District Attorneys Association, Major County Sheriffs Association, National Sheriffs Association, National Border Patrol Council, United States Capitol Police Labor Committee, BLUE H.E.L.P., The Wounded Blue, American Psychological Association, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, International Union of Police Associations, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Prison Council, National Narcotics Officers Associations' Coalition, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, National Association for Children's Behavioral Health, International Society for Psychiatric Nurses, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, SMART Recovery, Kennedy Forum, Inseparable, National Council for Mental Wellbeing, National Association for Rural Mental Health, American Mental Health Counselors Association, National Association of Social Workers, Postpartum Support International, National Association of State and Mental Health Program Directors, American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work, and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

This impressive array of support for PSOSA reflects the importance and urgency of fixing a specific flaw in the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program. Under current law, despite public safety officers facing a heightened risk for developing posttraumatic stress and having trauma-induced suicides, family member survivors of police officers and firefighters that commit suicide are excluded from the program. This means that surviving families are often left without any Federal support, State and local survivor annuities, or continued access to their loved ones' health insurance.

Comparatively, the U.S. Armed Forces recognizes that servicemember suicides are line-of-duty deaths. More than 90 percent of the 1,107 Active-Duty Army suicides between 2005 and 2012 were determined to be in the line of duty. Just like our servicemembers, our first responders should be recognized and supported for the mental distress they endure while protecting our communities and responding to emergencies. That includes supporting their surviving families after they are gone.

Once signed into law and implemented, the bipartisan Public Safety Officer Support Act will finally provide grieving families the benefits their loved ones earned while serving their communities as public safety officers and, equally important, help us eliminate the harmful stigma and infliction of emotional distress and pain on survivors that stems from misguided and outdated policies that refuse to designate public safety officer suicides as line of duty deaths.

Now, I want to be clear. Ensuring that public safety officer suicides are considered line of duty deaths for purposes of participating in the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program is about honoring a fallen police officer's or firefighter's life of service. It is about honoring these Americans and caring for their families, just as we do when a public safety officer dies from heart disease or COVID in the line of duty.

Simply put, our bipartisan law will ensure surviving families of fallen public safety officers receive the support their loved ones earned through a life of service.

We are seeking to ensure eligibility for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program no longer allows the manner of death to negate a career devoted to public service and serving one's community. And that is why it is also important to emphasize that a presumption of a line of duty death is not an absolute.

Just as committing suicide should not deny a public safety officer and their family a line-of-duty death designation, in and of itself, taking one's life would not entitle a disgraced public safety officer who violated their oath of office to receive a Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program benefit.

It is our intent that the U.S. Department of Justice will review and take into account the potential contributing factors to the officer or firefighters' death or injury and consult the agency investigating the cause and manner of death and the agency of the police officer or firefighter, just as the Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program Office is empowered to do in all other claims submitted to the program.

Moving forward, I hope enactment of the Public Safety Officer Support Act inspires the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and other State and local law enforcement memorials to update their respective line-of-duty death criteria to match the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program. After all, our Nation's support of first responder families is particularly critical following the tragic loss of a police officer, a firefighter, or an emergency responder, and these grieving families deserve to be included among the families of the fallen.

In closing, I want to take a moment to recognize the incredible courage, resilience, and strength of the late Officer Jeffrey Smith's widow, Erin Smith,

and his parents, Richard and Wendy Smith. Their collective determination and commitment to fixing an unjust system to prevent future families of the fallen from having to experience the emotional pain and financial harm resulting from the denial of a line-of-duty death designation, played a pivotal role in the development and passage of the Public Safety Officer Support Act.

I commend Erin, Richard and Wendy Smith for honoring the service of their loved one and hope that Officer Smith's lasting legacy of spurring a long-needed change in the law provides them with comfort and confidence that his tragic loss was not in vain.

Mr. President, 2-year-old Aiden McCarthy was lying bloodied and pinned underneath his unconscious father when he was found--just a toddler, Aiden was still in diapers, had somehow lost one shoe and was down to just one blood-soaked sock, with scrapes across his body.

It was last Monday, July Fourth, and Aiden was rescued from the site of a massacre, from the site of the latest mass shooting that has marred our country and left scarred all those who bore witness to its senseless terror.

I was at a nearby parade in Illinois when I heard about the shooting. I rushed to the emergency operation center and was there the moment the police came in and told us that two Good Samaritans had found this young boy sheltered under his father's body.

When Aiden was rescued, he kept asking for his mom and his dad. But, tragically, horribly, we later learned that they were never going to be able to comfort him ever again. Both his mother and father were among the seven people murdered during that Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park. Their names were Irina and Kevin McCarthy And they, like so many of us, had spent that holiday morning eager to take pride in our country, eager to celebrate the freedom and goodness and greatness that has defined our Nation since its first breaths on that first July Fourth, eager to celebrate America at her best.

Instead, they experienced the very worst of it. They saw firsthand what can happen when a sick fealty to the gun lobby is prioritized over American lives. And Aiden is an orphan because of it.

I woke up today unable to get the image of 2-year-old Aiden's one bloodied sock out of my mind. I woke up, as I have every day since that day, unable to stop thinking about how his mom or his dad put on his diaper that morning, just like I have done thousands of times with my own two little girls.

I woke up thinking about how, when the first shots of that military- style rifle rang out, his parents' first thoughts must have been about saving him, shielding him.

So today, I come to the floor to say their names and the names of the five other victims, my constituents who should still be breathing at this very moment but aren't: Katherine Goldstein, Jacquelyn Sundheim, Stephen Straus, Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, Eduardo Uvaldo, and Irina and Kevin McCarthy.

There are too many victims of preventable gun violence to name all of them here. In fact, gun violence is the largest killer of children under the age of 16 in this country--not disease, but the disease of gun violence. It happens in Buffalo, in Chicago, in Uvalde, in Newtown, in Pittsburgh, in DeKalb, in Virginia Beach, in El Paso, in two different Auroras, in Las Vegas. It happens in wealthy suburban communities, in low-income rural communities, and in urban areas across our Nation.

It happens everywhere in America but almost nowhere outside of this country. It happens so much here that we only hear about it in the national news when a large enough number of people are killed at one time and in one place.

Think about that. Every time gun violence occurs, someone decides whether or not the number murdered is worthy of column inches and breaking news graphics on TV. And, too often, the answer is no because there have been more mass shootings thus far in 2022 than there have been days in the year and because we, as a country, have grown numb.

We witnessed that just last week in Chicago, as over the holiday weekend, Chicago's death toll climbed even higher than the devastation seen in Highland Park. Yet there was no national outcry.

In Chicago's communities, gun violence is now viewed as all too common,

and kids can no longer be kids. They have all heard too many stories of toddlers in strollers killed by a stray bullet or parents murdered while picking up their own kids from school.

But these everyday gun deaths no longer garner the attention they demand. We have become desensitized, even as elementary schoolers' lives are being stolen and survivors' innocence are lost. Every gun death is a tragedy that can and should be prevented. This is a uniquely American disease, and it requires a national solution.

So I am here on the floor today to plead with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to help keep another toddler from having to cry out for his parents amidst gunshots and terror; to help stop another day of patriotism, another math class, another trip to the grocery store from turning into a living nightmare.

I plead with them to help prevent all that by passing the assault weapons ban, legislation that would block the further sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines for civilian use.

I spent 23 years in the Army. So I recognize a weapon of war when I see one. I know why you would need to use them, the power they wield, and what they can do to a human body.

I understand that the M4, the M16, and their civilian variants--known generically as AR-15 rifles--were designed for the battlefield. From their portability, rapid rates of fire, power and accuracy to their effective range, these weapons were designed to rip apart the human body so your enemy cannot get back up and fire back at you on the field of combat.

These are weapons of the battlefield and have no business being on our streets and in our schools. There is a reason why the parents in Uvalde had to submit DNA to identify their murdered children. These AR- 15 style rifles fire small caliber ammunition at a velocity that can easily penetrate many kinds of body armor even at a distance. So when an unprotected child is shot with an AR-15 at close range, the results are horrific.

And as anyone who has ever carried an M4 into combat understands, the American people should not be misled into thinking that AR-15 rifles are safe for our communities or that a ban on fully automatic machine guns is sufficient to protect our children from the most dangerous weapons of war.

Mass shooters are hunting mothers in malls, fathers in theaters, and children in their schools. For that evil purpose, a semiautomatic rifle is the perfect weapon because it is lightweight, portable, and easy to load with high-capacity magazines.

It couples the speed of automatically chambering the next round after each shot with maximum accuracy--a combination designed to kill as many people as possible, as fast as possible, as efficiently as possible.

So the first thing I thought when I heard the audio of last week's tragedy was that it sounded like war because the last time I heard the sound of gunfire that rapid and that many rounds going off on the Fourth of July was when I was serving in Iraq. I never thought I would hear that on this holiday again, let alone here on U.S. soil.

And I live, like so many other moms, in daily fear that my own daughters will be forced to hear that nightmarish soundtrack of war in their own classrooms or their own local parade.

You know, a few weeks ago I went to talk to my daughters' class about Memorial Day. Both girls' teachers had asked me to come and explain the meaning of Memorial Day, to talk about the sacrifices of our troops, what we have done to safeguard our freedoms and rights as a nation, including, as the Constitution says, our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As I was talking, I happened to look outside the window of my older girl's classroom, only to see my younger daughter walking in a line, following behind the other kids in her class in the middle of a shelter-in-place drill. And I watched as that little row of 3- and 4- year-olds crouched down as small as they could get, and my daughter, with her head against the wall, put her hands over her head, learning to protect herself should there be a mass shooting.

She is just 4 years old. And she was already being taught how to survive if someone with a weapon of war comes into the classroom where she is just beginning to learn her ABCs, believing that their right to fire assault rifles matters more than her right to make it to age 5.

What I felt was close to horror. And I know other parents have felt the same. I am far from the only mom who will hug their kids a little tighter while putting them to bed tonight, then spend hours looking up ballistic backpacks to protect my girls in case the worst-case scenario becomes reality. But the horrible truth is, even ballistic backpacks may not stop these rounds.

This week alone, hundreds of Illinoisans and survivors from other mass shootings were gathered at the Capitol. These people--mostly moms--are still recovering from major trauma. And they have jobs and childcare responsibilities and no experience lobbying Congress. Yet they made the trip to Washington, DC, because they know that their children's lives depend on it and because they are beyond furious at the lack of action to ban these weapons of war that have terrorized all of our communities.

What these moms want isn't impossible. It wouldn't even be that difficult if more folks would grow a conscience. These parents want us to do better for them, for their kids, for all those in Highland Park last week, and for every person who has so needlessly lost their life to gun violence, whether in a mass shooting or in a tragedy involving a single bullet.

The folks at that parade last Monday were there to celebrate life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Seven of them will never be able to do so again.

We have to stop this. We have to end this cycle. And we can take a step towards doing so right now by getting these weapons of war off our streets and passing this bill immediately.

To anyone who says no, to anyone who objects to passing this bill, I want to know how you can show off taking pride in our country on a holiday, then turn your back on its citizens 1 week later. I want you to say all the names of the ever-growing list of victims of these preventable tragedies.

I want you to remember Aiden's pleas for his mom and dad, to think of the sounds of the gunshots that those children in Uvalde heard, to try to fathom the anguish of the parents whose teenagers are gunned down in senseless, everyday violence on our streets. I want you to explain to them why the dollars that you get from the NRA are worth their pain, their tears, their tragedy.

Please, I am asking, explain how that campaign contribution is worth this endless cycle of blood and death. Explain how your gun-lobbying, fattened campaign funds are worth another parent having to bury their first grader in their favorite pair of Converse sneakers.

Or, if you don't believe those checks are worth it, if you don't actually value your political self-interests more than those Americans' lives, then please join me in passing this bill. It is that simple.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor Chicago's very own WGN Radio for reaching its milestone 100th birthday this year.

In a century's time, WGN has reported on so much of our Nation's history. The station is synonymous with Chicago's vibrant sports history and has defined time and again what it means to have a vision and work to see it through.

WGN, which stands for ``World's Greatest Newspaper'' and pays homage to the Chicago's Tribune's 20th century slogan, comes from humble beginnings.

Starting with a single staff member in 1922, WGN went on to cover some of the past century's defining moments and solidify a legacy of storytelling and determination.

In 1942, it was WGN who interrupted their broadcast of a Bears game to report for the next 257 hours and 35 minutes on the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On 9/11, WGN was there, focusing on Chicago's reaction to the events on that tragic September morning.

As an Illinoisan, I am proud that WGN has consistently shown up during some of our country's darkest days. But they have been with us through many of our brightest moments too.

WGN went from broadcasting its very first sports game--a match between the Cubs and White Sox--go Cubs--in 1924, to Wayne Larrivee, Dick Butkus, and Jim Hart broadcasting the Chicago Bears' legendary Super Bowl XX win to 2010's triumphant cries as the station's broadcasters described Patrick Kane scoring the winning goal in overtime, earning the Chicago Blackhawks the Stanley Cup for the first time in 50 years.

WGN has not just been telling our stories for the last 100 years, but they have become a vital member of our community.

Judy Markey and Kathy O'Malley's beloved afternoon talk show, and making Mary Sandberg Boyle the station's first woman general manager in 2019, or bringing the voices like Orion Samuelson and Bob Collins to our days--WGN is embedded in the hearts of so many Chicagoans.

WGN's legacy isn't just about radio. It is about community. It is about being proud of where you have come from and where you are going.

So here is to 100 more years of WGN, and many more to come.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the remarkable life of Brian Dennis Balbuena, a devoted son, brother, and friend who passed away on April 3, 2022, after a hard-fought battle with brain cancer.

Born March 14, 1983, Brian used his time on earth to bring joy and light into the hearts of others. Having battled and beat cancer at the age of 5, Brian enjoyed finding new ways to ``Pay it Forward'' to those around him. Brian will be remembered by his family and friends as a loving and compassionate person who had a contagious smile and a presence that brightened any room he entered.

He leaves behind his incredible parents, Tina and Mark, his siblings, Amber and Dustin, and a host of nieces and nephews. May his legacy and kind spirit serve as an inspiration to us all.

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the remarkable life of Retired Colonel James A. Smith, Jr., a 31 year veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard who passed away on May 11, 2022.

Colonel Smith started his career in 1977 as an enlisted soldier, commissioning in 1982 through the Illinois Army National Guard's Officer Candidate School. He served in various staff and leadership positions throughout his career in the Illinois National Guard.

In 2003, Colonel Smith was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (G-1). In this role, he played an integral role in preparing Illinois Army National Guard units for deployment to Iraq and then Afghanistan. In 2008, before his retirement, he was appointed as the Illinois Army National Guard chief of staff before being appointed the Illinois Department of Military Affairs chief of staff that same year.

As the IDMA chief of staff, Colonel Smith supported multiple Illinois National Guard deployments, the Illinois National Guard's response to floods, hurricanes, and wildfires, the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago, and most recently, the Illinois National Guard's COVID-19 response, as well as law enforcement support missions.

Colonel Smith was proud of being an infantry officer, a devout Catholic, and an unwavering Cardinals fan. He was a strong advocate for Lincoln's Challenge Academy and its cadets, the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, the Illinois State Military Museum, the National Guard Association of Illinois, and, most of all, the soldiers and airmen of the Illinois National Guard and their families.

Colonel Jim Smith's voice will not be heard again in the Illinois National Guard's buildings or training areas, but his spirit will remain within this organization for many generations to come. He leaves behind his wife Nilsa and their son Sam. May his legacy of service and kind spirit serve as an inspiration to us all.