Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. And I thank this body for still continuing the tradition of this opportunity to speak and have our voices heard, even though we are in the minority.

We don't control the floor, we can't put our bills on the agenda to have a debate, and often we can't even get an amendment considered on the bills. The Rules Committee strips out anything that would materially change a bill. Sadly, that has been a bipartisan approach to governing in this body. That is not a functioning legislature when those kinds of things happen.

Why is that important?

Every Member needs to have their voice heard, and they should be heard on the bill. They should be heard when this body wants to change our constitutional protections fundamentally. The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The majority doesn't seek to amend the Constitution, but they seek to nullify that constitutional guarantee with subterfuge.

They say that this is a background check bill. Well, every commercial firearm transaction today already requires a background check. It doesn't matter whether you do it at a gun store, at a gun show, or at any other forum, if you buy a firearm from a commercial seller of firearms, a Federal firearm license holder, you have to do a background check. You can't do it, Mr. Speaker.

Now, what does this do?

It basically says, Mr. Speaker, that if you want to even loan a gun to a family member to go on a hunting trip, then you have to get a background check. Someone would be criminalized for doing that. You can't have private transfers. Essentially, the government says you can't be trusted to sell a firearm to anybody. You have to go to a licensed agent of the Federal Government.

How do they guarantee that?

They guarantee that by creating a registry.

Why should we be concerned about that?

Well, that is the path toward seizing it. It doesn't guarantee that the Government will do it, but let me tell you about the Supreme Court and what is going on right now, Mr. Speaker.

Under the Fourth Amendment, there is a clause that has been interpreted by Court opinions to allow seizures for community care-- warrantless seizures of property. This goes with civil asset forfeiture and all kinds of abuses of warrantless surveillance and the Fourth Amendment. If we do not stand up and defend the Second Amendment today, it will be just as abused as the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of privacy is today.

We have to oppose this bill. The people of the United States of America are constitutionally guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms, and this body shall not infringe it, and it shall not be infringed without a constitutional amendment, and that is not what is on the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to oppose H.R. 8 and any such effort to deny the American citizens the protections our Constitution guarantees.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, the Justice in Policing Act was crafted in response to George Floyd's murder. Almost no one believes that that was justifiable. Partisans have snatched this moment of unity to further divide our Nation.

How have they done that?

Look at this debate. Speaker after speaker has hurled insults falsely claiming that no Republican supports reform. Now, it is true that we don't support this reform, but the majority has refused to even consider amendments or alternatives to this partisan bill.

An essential component of any justice in policing bill would correct current injustices. I only have time to mention one: warrantless surveillance of American citizens is wrong.

Get a warrant.

Last year, conservatives and progressives united around this point, and the Speaker blocked debate or amendment to FISA reauthorization. Now the same tactics are being employed. Every single Member of Congress is here to represent American citizens, and denying us amendments denies all Americans a voice.

Don't politicize something that can heal and unite us. Vote ``no'' on this bill. Insist on regular order.

Mr. Speaker, the so-called Equality Act is not about tolerance. It seeks to impose the will of this body on the American people in violation of the Constitution.

It establishes a woke heresy code, seeking to eliminate distinctions between male and female at every level. It cancels women's and girls' sports, requiring that biological males compete for their records, championships, and scholarships.

It nullifies the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Rather than preserve the constitutionally protected freedom to disagree, disguised as equality, it compels participation on your terms for abortions, weddings, and all of religious, vocational, and civic life. It pursues what Hillary Clinton said in 2016: You will just have to change your doctrine.

Let me assure you, that will not happen. Colleagues, we must defend freedom and defeat this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize a valued, longtime resident in the Eighth District of Ohio, Daniel French. This year, Dan achieves an impressive milestone of 50 years of service at French Oil Mill Machinery Company in Piqua.

This manufacturing company has been a staple in Miami County for 121 years. It was founded by Dan's grandfather. From being a machine tool operator to eventually president, chairman, and CEO, for half a century, Dan's efforts have improved the lives of employees, colleagues, neighbors, and fellow Ohioans.

The enterprise has experienced great success under Dan's stewardship. Every expansion and hiring campaign has blessed the City of Piqua with jobs and commercial investment. His business expertise is renowned by his peers, who have benefited from his service in various industry organizations, including the Ohio Manufacturers' Association.

Professional accolades aside, countless Piqua and Miami County nonprofits and community groups have been recipients of Dan's time, leadership, and philanthropic support. Further, a grateful nation thanks Colonel French for his 28 years of combined honorable service in the United States Air Force and Air Force Reserve-including service in Vietnam.

Southwest Ohio is a better place thanks to people like Dan French, his wife Margaret, and their family. Congratulations on an impressive 50 years of service at French Oil Mill Machinery Company.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I can't say it better than the Vice President said it himself. Vice President Mike Pence said, ``Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation.''

Mr. Speaker, I include this letter in the Record.

The Vice President,

Washington, DC, January 12, 2021.

Hon. Nancy Pelosi,

Speaker, House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Madam Speaker: Every American was shocked and saddened

by the attack on our Nation's Capitol last week, and I am

grateful for the leadership that you and other congressional

leaders provided in reconvening Congress to complete the

people's business on the very same day. It was a moment that

demonstrated to the American people the unity that is still

possible in Congress when it is needed most.

But now, with just eight days left in the President's term,

you and the Democratic Caucus are demanding that the Cabinet

and I invoke the 25th Amendment. I do not believe that such a

course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or

consistent with our Constitution. Last week, I did not yield

to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority

to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now

yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play

political games at a time so serious in the life of our

Nation.

As you know full well, the 25th Amendment was designed to

address Presidential incapacity or disability. Just a few

months ago, when you introduced legislation to create a 25th

Amendment Commission, you said, ``[a] President's fitness for

office must be determined by science and facts.'' You said

then that we must be ``[v]ery respectful of not making a

judgment on the basis of a comment or behavior that we don't

like, but based on a medical decision.'' Madam Speaker, you

were right. Under our Constitution, the 25th Amendment is not

a means of punishment or usurpation. Invoking the 25th

Amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedent.

After the horrific events of this last week, our

Administration's energy is directed to ensuring an orderly

transition. The Bible says that ``for everything there is a

season, and a time for every purpose under heaven . . . a

time to heal . . . and a time to build up.'' That time is

now. In the midst of a global pandemic, economic hardship for

millions of Americans, and the tragic events of January 6th,

now is the time for us to come together, now is the time to

heal.

I urge you and every member of Congress to avoid actions

that would further divide and inflame the passions of the

moment. Work with us to lower the temperature and unite our

country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden

as the next President of the United States. I pledge to you

that I will continue to do my part to work in good faith with

the incoming administration to ensure an orderly transition

of power. So help me God.

Sincerely,

Michael R. Pence,

Vice President of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Vice President for his excellent leadership, for his professionalism, and, frankly, for his faithfulness to our Constitution.

Not only would it be an abuse of the 25th Amendment for Mike Pence to invoke it to make a political statement, it is clearly not our role in Congress to do what we are doing here tonight or what is proposed to be done by the majority.

Speaker Pelosi claims that President Trump incited the mob that attacked the Capitol at a rally. As Mr. McClintock spoke earlier, he read the President's statement. He encouraged people to come peaceably and patriotically.

The Washington Post is reporting something that I would hope that our chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence would know about. The FBI report warned of war at the Capitol the day before the attack on our Capitol. I am curious how someone proposes that the President incited the mob at a rally the day before the rally.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the article.

[From The Washington Post, Jan. 12, 2021]

FBI Report Warned of `War' at Capitol, Contradicting Claims There Was

No Indication of Looming Violence

(By Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky)

A day before rioters stormed Congress, an FBI office in

Virginia issued an explicit warning that extremists were

preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and

``war,'' according to an internal document reviewed by The

Washington Post that contradicts a senior official's

declaration the bureau had no intelligence indicating anyone

at last week's demonstrations in support of President Trump

planned to do harm.

A situational information report approved for release the

day before the U.S. Capitol riot painted a dire portrait of

dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the

complex's tunnels, and possible rally points for would-be

conspirators to meet in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts

and South Carolina and head in groups to Washington.

``As of 5 January 2021, FBI Norfolk received information

indicating calls for violence in response to `unlawful

lockdowns' to begin on 6 January 2021 in Washington, D.C.,''

the document says. ``An online thread discussed specific

calls for violence to include stating `Be ready to fight.

Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in,

and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being

spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or

a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we

die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.''

BLM is probably a reference to the Black Lives Matter

movement for racial justice. Pantifa is a derogatory term for

antifa, a far-left anti-fascist movement whose adherents

sometimes engage in violent clashes with right-wing

extremists.

Yet even with that information in hand, the report's

unidentified author expressed concern that the FBI might be

encroaching on free-speech rights.

The warning is the starkest evidence yet of the sizable

intelligence failure that preceded the mayhem, which claimed

the lives of five people, although one law enforcement

official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid

disciplinary action, said the failure was not one of

intelligence but of acting on the intelligence.

At the FBI office in Norfolk, the report was written within

45 minutes of receiving the information, officials said, and

shared with counterparts in Washington.

The head of the FBI's Washington Field Office, Steven

D'Antuono, told reporters on Friday that the agency did not

have intelligence suggesting the pro-Trump rally would be

anything more than a lawful demonstration. During a news

conference Tuesday, held after The Post's initial publication

of this report, he said the alarming Jan. 5 intelligence

document was shared ``with all our law enforcement partners''

through the joint terrorism task force, which includes the

U.S. Capitol Police, the U.S. Park Police, D.C. police, and

other federal and local agencies.

He suggested there was not a great deal for law enforcement

to do with the information because the FBI at that time did

not know who made the comments. ``That was a thread on a

message board that was not attributable to an individual

person,'' D'Antuono said Tuesday.

D'Antuono did not say what, if anything, the FBI or other

agencies did differently as a result of that information. Nor

did he explain why he told reporters on Friday that there had

been no such intelligence.

Steven Sund, who resigned as Capitol Police chief, said in

an interview Tuesday that he never received nor was made

aware of the FBI's field bulletin, insisting he and others

would have taken the warning seriously had it been shared.

``I did not have that information, nor was that information

taken into consideration in our security planning,'' Sund

said.

Since the riot, agents and prosecutors have been intent on

tracking down and arresting the most violent participants in

the mob, in part because there is already significant online

discussion of new potential clashes for Sunday and again on

Jan. 20, when President-elect Joe Biden is set to take the

oath of office.

Michael R. Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for D.C., said

there would be a strike force of prosecutors looking to file

charges of seditious conspiracy where the evidence merited

it.

The Jan. 5 FBI report notes that the information represents

the view of the FBI's Norfolk office, is not to be shared

outside law enforcement circles, that it is not ``finally

evaluated intelligence,'' and that agencies receiving it

``are requested not to take action based on this raw

reporting without prior coordination with the FBI.''

Multiple law enforcement officials have said privately in

recent days that the level of violence exhibited at the

Capitol has led to difficult discussions within the FBI and

other agencies about race, terrorism and whether

investigators failed to register the degree of danger because

the overwhelming majority of the participants at the rally

were White conservatives fiercely loyal to Trump.

``Individuals/Organizations named in this [situational

information report] have been identified as participating in

activities that are protected by the First Amendment to the

U.S. Constitution,'' the document says. ``Their inclusion

here is not intended to associate the protected activity with

criminality or a threat to national security, or to infer

that such protected activity itself violates federal law.

``However,'' it continues, ``based on known intelligence

and/or specific historical observations, it is possible the

protected activity could invite a violent reaction towards

the subject individual or others in retaliation or with the

goal of stopping the protected activity from occurring in the

first instance. In the event no violent reaction occurs, FBI

policy and federal law dictates that no further record be

made of the protected activity.''

The document notes that one online comment advised, ``if

Antifa or BLM get violent, leave them dead in the street,''

while another said they need ``people on standby to provide

supplies, including water and medical, to the front lines.

The individual also discussed the need to evacuate

noncombatants and wounded to medical care.''

On Jan. 6, a large, angry crowd of people who had attended

a rally nearby marched to the Capitol, smashing windows and

breaking doors to get inside. One woman in the mob was shot

and killed by Capitol Police; officials said three other in

the crowd had medical emergencies and died. A Capitol Police

officer died after suffering injuries.

The FBI said in a statement that its ``standard practice is

to not comment on specific intelligence products,'' but added

that FBI field offices ``routinely share information with

their local law enforcement partners to assist in protecting

the communities they serve.''

For weeks leading up to the event, FBI officials discounted

any suggestion that the activities of Trump supporters upset

about the scheduled certification of Biden's election win

could be a security threat on a scale with the racial-justice

demonstrations that followed the police killing of George

Floyd in Minneapolis in May.

While the nation's capital is one of the most heavily

guarded cities on the planet, local and federal law

enforcement agencies sought to take a low-key approach to

last week's event, publicly and privately expressing concerns

that they did not want to repeat last year's ugly clashes

between protesters and police.

Some law enforcement officials took the view that

protesters who support Trump are generally known for over-

the-top rhetoric but not much violence, and therefore the

event did not pose a particularly serious risk, according to

people familiar with the security discussions leading up to

Jan. 6.

Even so, there were warning signs, though none as stark as

the one from the FBI's Norfolk office.

FBI agents had in the weeks before the Trump rally visited

suspected far-right extremists, hoping to glean whether they

had violent intentions, said a person familiar with the

matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the

law enforcement activity. It was not immediately clear who

was visited or if the FBI was specifically tracking anyone

who would later be charged criminally. These visits were

first reported Sunday by NBC News.

In addition, in the days leading up to the demonstrations,

some Capitol Hill staffers were told by supervisors to not

come in to work that day, if possible, because it seemed the

danger level would be higher than many previous protests,

according to a person familiar with the warning who spoke on

the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. Capitol

Police did not take the kind of extra precautions, such as

frozen zones and hardened barriers, that are typically used

for major events near the Capitol.

Federal agents are on high alert as the inauguration nears,

with authorities bracing for possible violence not just in

Washington but also nationwide, officials said.

The FBI recently issued a different memo saying that

``armed protests'' were being planned ``at all 50 state

capitols'' and in D.C. in the run-up to the inauguration,

according to an official familiar with the matter, speaking

on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive law

enforcement matter.

The memo--first reported by ABC News and later confirmed by

The Post--is a raw intelligence product, compiling

information gathered by the bureau and several other

government agencies, the official familiar with the matter

said. Some of it is unverified, and the threat probably will

differ significantly from place to place, the official said.

But the information it highlights to law enforcement is

nonetheless troubling--including that there was data

suggesting people might storm government offices or stage an

uprising were Trump to be removed from office, the official

said.

In a statement, the FBI declined to comment specifically on

the memo about state capitols but said: ``Our efforts are

focused on identifying, investigating, and disrupting

individuals that are inciting violence and engaging in

criminal activity. As we do in normal course of business, we

are gathering information to identify any potential threats

and are sharing that information with our partners.

``The FBI respects The rights of individuals to peacefully

exercise their First Amendment rights,'' it said. ``Our focus

is not on peaceful protesters, but on those threatening their

safety and the safety of other citizens with violence and

destruction of property.''

Others are reporting a timeline that has the breach out of sync as well, but that highlights the importance. There is far too little that we know about this attack on our Capitol.

Here is what we do know. No one has defended this attack on our Capitol. On the contrary, we are missing--willfully missing, in my opinion--a moment of extreme unity in our Nation, just like what was willfully done earlier this year.

At a time of great political and partisan division, even seething anger, one thing all Americans seem to agree on is that these attacks were wrong. The President condemned them. He discouraged violence, not just on January 6 but on other days throughout the year as he talked about law and order and as he talked about something that we finally seem to agree on, that there is a clear distinction between the Constitution's First Amendment protection of the right to assemble peaceably and riots, criminal, unlawful riots.

There is a distinction between rioters and protesters. Frankly, it took us months to agree on that as a body in Congress, but the people of the United States of America agreed to it. They understood it.

I encourage my colleagues across the political spectrum, the Members of Congress gathered here together today and tomorrow, to stand united and move forward with the agreement our country had, that this was wrong.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this objection.

Madam Speaker, every one of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.

I yield to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, United States Ranger history predates the Revolutionary War. However, June 19 marks the 77th anniversary of Major William Darby formally organizing and activating the 1st Ranger Battalion.

I rise today to honor the exceptional Americans who have volunteered as Army Rangers, fully knowing the hazards of their chosen profession. One of the greatest and most humbling honors of my life has been serving our Nation in uniform, and particularly, serving in the Army Ranger regiment.

The Army Ranger legacy is as old as the Republic, going back to Francis Marion, to Daniel Boone, to great Americans like Command Sergeant Major Douglas Greenway, and on to current Active Duty members.

It wasn't until after the Civil War--more than half a century without military Ranger units--that the U.S. Army Rangers were officially born. Seventy-five years ago, fighting on the bitter and bloody beaches of Normandy, Rangers gained their motto: ``Rangers lead the way.''

Since Pointe du Hoc, Rangers have led the way, from the Japanese POW camps, to theaters of war, including: Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Operation Desert Storm, Somalia, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the great war on terror.

Today, I honor the elite soldiers serving our country as U.S. Army Rangers.

Mr. Chair, I was on the floor but unable to get the Chair's attention in order to cast a recorded vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 267.

Amendment No. 18 Offered by Mr. Buchanan

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of heroes, in support of unity, and in support of the compassion that I witnessed in the Eighth District of Ohio after 19 tornadoes devastated Southwestern Ohio last week.

On May 27th, communities in Mercer, Miami, Darke, and Preble Counties, and counties adjacent to the Eighth District, were devastated by tornadoes with winds upwards of 140 miles per hour.

My wife Lisa and I took shelter in our basement as the storms passed. The totality of the destruction emerged with Tuesday's sunrise.

The caved roofs, toppled power lines, and staircases without surrounding structures gave powerful testimony to the violence of the storms.

Despite the terrible destruction in our district, we also saw signs of hope. Our communities always come together to help one another in times of need. It is why southwest Ohio is such a special place to call home.

Our first responders do an amazing job. There were no Democrats, no Republicans; there were just neighbors helping neighbors. It's too bad that it often takes a tragedy to highlight this special quality in us, but it is there--and it is a great thing to see.

I want to thank our first responders, Ohio Senators Portman and Brown for their leadership during this time of crisis, the Ohio delegation, Governor DeWine, and leaders across the country who are standing with the people of Ohio.

Madam Speaker, as relief and recovery efforts continue in Southwest Ohio, I use my time on the floor today to honor the heroes and survivors. We will rebuild and be stronger than before.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of a great man. Born in Piqua, Ohio, Father Angelo Caserta, was the oldest active priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He peacefully passed away last week.

Those who knew Father Caserta recall his talent for people, his comforting words, and his love for our community.

When asked about the secret to his longevity, Father Caserta said, ``My secret is the good Lord. The Lord gets all the credit. I'm the only classmate surviving in my class. Not many average that milestone. It's a celebration of God's goodness. How He could choose someone like me and take care of me for 70 years while doing His work in the priesthood.''

While I did not know Father Caserta personally, I know of his deeds by those who did, and the love he had for our community.

Madam Speaker, I honor Father Caserta's life of service, and extend my condolences to those who knew him.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the contributions and sacrifices of brave World War I soldiers from Covington, Ohio, and its surrounding areas.

These soldiers fought with the U.S. Army's 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Buckeye Division. In October of 1918, they fought in the muddy fields of Belgium in the great battle of Ypres.

Topping their trenches, the 37th faced a hailstorm of bullets, bombs and poisonous gas. Undeterred, they pressed the attack, penetrating enemy lines. These brave soldiers gained their objective and forced their foe into a headlong retreat. At least nine servicemen from the Covington area were killed or died in military service during the war, including: Orville Bazill, J. Lowell Boyer, Albert B. Cole, Lloyd W. Cornor, Oscar P. Kindell, Edward S. Knight, Arlie Carl Nicholas, Roscoe Rogers, and Fred Siler.

At least fifteen more were wounded, most of whom served with the U.S. Army's 148th Infantry Regiment. Madam Speaker, we must never forget the sacrifices of those who have gone before us. I rise today to honor these brave Ohioans, and to commemorate the newly erected World War I Monument in Highland Cemetery in Covington.

Madam Speaker, today, I honor the life of a great man. Born in Piqua, Ohio, Father Angelo Caserta was the oldest active priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He peacefully passed away last week.

Those who knew Father Caserta recall his talent and love for people, his comforting words, and his love for our community.

When asked about the secret to his longevity, Father Caserta said: ``My secret is the good Lord. The Lord gets all the credit. I'm the only classmate surviving in my class. Not many average that milestone. . . . It's a celebration of God's goodness, how He could choose someone like me and take care of me for 70 years while doing his work in the priesthood.''

On Tuesday, Father Caserta's life was celebrated in Piqua, as he was laid to rest by family and friends.

While I did not know him personally, I knew of his deeds by those who did and the love he had for our community.

Madam Speaker, I use my time on the floor today to honor Father Caserta's life of service, to celebrate his faith, and to extend my condolences to those who knew him.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American Classical League (ACL). The ACL is dedicated to supporting and teaching Greek and Latin languages, literatures, and cultures.

Since 1919, the ACL has grown from a gathering of several Classical advocates to a national community of almost 2,500 educators, teaching grades PreK through college. The organization now offers opportunities for discovery for all ages, boasting more than 44,000 students grades 6-12 worldwide. Additionally, the ACL's program ``Excellence Through Classics'' is celebrating 30 years of service of teachers of the youngest scholars.

The ACL has illustrated that the value of Latin and Greek all- encompassing cultural education programs in today's society cannot be understated. It continues to enrich the lives of students through imparting an understanding of the foundational aspects of ancient classical civilizations. This education is a priceless gift that lends itself to having a well-rounded education and gives supports to other core subjects by improving English language and literacy skills such as reading, writing and vocabulary development.

I am amazed by the work the American Classical League does and wish them well as they continue to build bridges from our past into our future for the next 100 years.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank this body for the opportunity to recognize our alma mater and our Association of Graduates at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

As Mr. Shimkus was highlighting, I didn't come the easy way. As a friend of mine likes to say, sometimes God will bring you the easiest way you will go.

For me, my journey to West Point started in my high school guidance counselor's classroom in September of senior year. Most people realize that is kind of a late start for the path that it takes to go to one of our Nation's service academies.

And then she asked me what I wanted to do, And I said: Well, I want to be an Army ranger.

She said: Well, you know, you are pretty smart. You should go to college. You should consider college, at least.

I said: Well, you know, I thought about going to West Point. Then I could be in the Army and go to college.

She looked at me like she felt sorry for me. She said: Well, baby, that is not going to happen.

That wasn't mean; it was realistic. I had not done the work that it would take to get there.

She walked me through who normally gets in: The salutatorians, the valedictorians, the people with the high GPAs while being captain of sports, Eagle Scouts, and what not. I recognized some of my classmates who had been on that path, and I recognized that that is not the path that I had been on. No one in my family on my dad's side had gone to college.

So she told me: You should work on some other plans.

So I did them. I enlisted in the Army. And when I got to the Army, thankfully, some of Brett Guthrie's classmates, 1987 graduates Larry Bradley and Terry Finley, were platoon leaders.

Larry Bradley ended up being my platoon leader for a composite platoon that got training by the 10th Special Forces Group down in Bad Tolz, Germany. And it was there, during that platoon, that I learned that the Berlin Wall had come down, that it wasn't part of the training, it wasn't just a jazzy intro to a speech.

Some noncommissioned officers stepped up and said: Write this day down. It is going to be one of the most famous days in history, 9 November 1989.

We thought: Bold intro.

But from that, I had a chance to do something unbelievable that was the culmination not just of graduates of the United States Military Academy, but the culmination of people who had fought to win that war. So many of them West Point graduates, like Eisenhower, like Bradley, like Patton, who helped liberate a people in that continent.

But I got to see the culmination of that as the wall came down not because Mr. Gorbachev tore it down or Mr. Reagan tore it down, but because the East German people found out what was on the other side of it, and they tore their own wall down. And they found out that the fruits of our ideology had produced shockingly different results than what their ideology had produced.

It is shocking today to think that we might relive some of those bad choices that led to poverty and scarcity on the other side of the wall while our ideas led to abundance and flourishing, not perfectly, but far superior.

From there, I went to the prep school, and I met classmates like Ranger Bill Lynn. His first unit deployment led him to jump into Panama, and he had a combat jump there. I met classmates at the prep school who didn't make it to West Point. Indeed, one of my 1995 classmates is currently the commandant of the United States Military Academy Preparatory School.

It is a great path, but I also met people who had not been in the Army. I met people who had come there to increase the diversity objectives of the Military Academy, who needed a little more strength on their academics or maybe who needed to balance the academics with the athletics that they were going to be able to participate in. That was about half the class.

I learned about a special club at West Point shortly after I came called the Two-Percent Club, and I met my wife. The Two-Percent Club, for those who don't know, are those who start with a girlfriend and graduate with the same girlfriend and end up marrying that girl. I am thankful today that I am married to my Lisa. People would talk about Lisa this, and Lisa that, but I would always refer to my Lisa, the girl who chose to marry me.

We experienced cadet life in a different way. We have all these memories of things like the cadet in the red sash stepping up to the line, but not on the line or over the line. We remember things like Beast Barracks in Buckner, Boodlers runs, spinning the spurs. We remember the honor code and the character that was so prominently featured there, that, ``A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do.''

We remember how hard it was to live with the consequences for people who made those bad decisions, who you knew to be good people, who came to be separated because it was taken very seriously there.

We saw in the cadet parades that we talked about on the parade fields The Long Gray Line for the ceremonies where they would lay a wreath for Founders Day at the statue of Colonel Sylvanus Thayer. You would see men and women in uniform, but you would see senior citizens at the front of the line.

The oldest graduate would lay the wreath--often in a wheelchair, feebly mustering every ounce of strength necessary sometimes to move from that chair to lay that wreath with pride at the statue in front of the sup's house.

We remember the million-dollar view at Trophy Point, and we remember the quarter-million-dollar education one nickel at a time as we studied.

We remember friends and classmates who helped us through the hard times. We remember the knowledge like duty, honor, country, or Schofield's Definition of Discipline.

We remember the seriousness with which nearly every one of us took the opportunity to be prepared, should the case arise that we would lead our Nation's young men and women in combat, that we would be ready to face the challenge. Many of my classmates did that.

I served 5 years in great units, the Old Guard, the 101st Airborne Division, and the 75th Ranger Regiment. I left Active Duty, which shocked many of my classmates, and I found a great sense of purpose, that to give a lifetime of service to the Nation didn't always mean in uniform. But you still look in awe at the sacrifice that so many have made who continued on in Active Duty, especially those who gave the last full measure to keep our Nation free and to bring honor to The Long Gray Line.

Today, as I look at young men and women and have the privilege of calling them and congratulating them on all of the work that it takes to do it--generally, the right way--the advanced

knowledge and the preparation--the more common way--the disciplined path that started earlier in life, I am encouraged because there are so many talented young men and women who still want to put on our Nation's uniform to make sure that our Nation is made and kept free with an all- volunteer force committed to serve our country.

I look at The Long Gray Line today, a line that is a very tight-knit alumni organization where friends could be distant for years, even decades, and, in a moment, connect as if you just finished playing spades with one another after hours, ditching the late-lights penalties.

I look forward to those times. I cherish those memories. And I am so thankful to the West Point Association of Graduates, which has set a great example of how to bond classmates together to serve the cause and interest of our great alma mater so that this Long Gray Line may continue to flourish always.