Who are still here to fight and serve us and protect us. Remember congress decided shortly after world war i, to decide that the 11th day, the day that the armistice was signed, the 11th of november, the 11th hour, 11 00 in the morning, would be the time to pay tribute to the veterans. So were all going to toll that bell one more time to give thanks to our veterans for all theyve done for us, for all they will do for us in the future. You know, its b its best when you talk about veterans, to talk about them of the people they were, the people they are, whether they are alive or passed on. I want to talk about two veterans whose paths crossed my life, to point out why we owe them so much and we have so much to be thankful for. One of them is Jackson Elliott cox, iii, of bird county, which is the bird dog capital of america. Its the home of a Nuclear Power plant. Its a beautiful rural county in georgia. Jack was my best friend in college. We met in 1962. We graduated in 1966. Ill never forget the last time i saw jack, when he was shipping out to go to o. C. S. In the marine corps. Jack decided when he graduated that it was more important for him to volunteer and fight for our country because of what was going on in vietnam than do anything else. He voluntarily joined the marine corps, went to o. C. S. , got his commission as an officer, became a captain in the United States marine corps. He fought and he died in vietnam. I will never forget the last words he told me when we put him on the bus from waynesboro, georgia, to atlanta to ultimately go to be shipped out. He said johnny, im sure im coming back. Dont worry about me, just pray for me. But in case i dont, make sure people remember who Jackson Elliott cox, iii, was. I said jack, ill do that. And sure enough, two years later he was shot and killed by a sniper in vietnam, lost his life at the age of 24. The finest human being i ever knew. Nicest guy i had ever met. My favorite friend out of all my life. He was taken from me because he volunteered to serve and fight for our country. So i im going to keep today before the United States senate the promise i made to him at that bus station. I want you to know who Jackson Elliott cox, iii, was. He was a good old country boy from south georgia. He volunteered to serve his runs life and gave his life so we could be here today. There are millions of men like him all over the world, hundreds of thousands of them. We have so much to thank him for because less than 1 of our population has worn the uniform, been in the battle and fought to save us like jackson did. When you have your chance to meet and become friends with a veteran, and all of you will, remember you owe them a debt of gratitude. Sometime when you get a chance to pay that debt back, do what im doing today. Dont let their memory ever be lost or forgotten, no matter where you go or where life takes you. Because you wouldnt get to where youre going had they not allowed you to be safe and free to travel that route. The second name i want to mention is noah harris. Noah is from georgia. He was a cheerleader at the university of georgia on saturday afternoon in november of 2001. It was his junior year. Georgia played clemson. He cheered and led the school to victory and celebrated like everybody else did. A few days later on september 11, 2001, he turned his television on to see 3,000 innocent citizens, most of them americans, die in the twin towers when al qaeda and Osama Bin Laden and the faces of evil and the agents of evil attacked our country. Took our innocence, killed our people, and changed the world forever. Noah was a cheerleader. We dont have mawpped draft anymore. You dont have to serve. He was not serving. He was going to graduate in a year and a half. He was going to be an architect. The next morning after 9 11 when he left his dorm, he went to the army rotc building at the university of georgia campus. He said after what i saw on tv last night, i want to go fight and get the people who did that to my country and my friends. They said mr. Harris, you cant do that, because the o. C. S. Is a twoyear program at the university. You dont have enough time to do it. He said i will study up, i want to go. I want to fight for my country. They let him in, and he did. He graduated with honors. A few months later, he graduated Second Lieutenant from the United States army at fort benning in georgia. Before too long, he was in gazaria, in iraq, a suburb of iraq. Giving beanie babies out of one pocket while the other pocket of his field jacket has ammunition. He was trying to win over the hearts of the iraqi children while he was fighting to preserve freedom for them and return their country to some form of a democracy or a republic away from the captives of saddam hussein. I knew him casually. I knew his parents well, rick and lucy. I know they have mourned every day since they lost noah in baghdad when he went there and died in an i. E. D. Accident. I know how proud they are of what he did and why he did it. Im proud he was my friend. Im proud to have known him as well. Im proud to be able to stand on the floor of the United States senate today and talk about noah harris and talk about Jackson Elliott cox, who are exemplary of all the others who have served in the military. Men and women, rich and poor, black and white, who have gone and fought the battle and borne the battle for us so we can be where we are today. It kind of reminds me of the guy who went to Benjamin Franklin in philadelphia shortly after the constitution was adopted. They said mr. Franklin, what have you given us . He stopped and paused for a republican and said a republic, if you can keep it. And we have kept it. We have kept it because we have subscribed to our constitution but because we have a militia and a military, were willing to fight for what we believe in, protect our citizens, keep our country free. So the country that our Founding Fathers gave to us that was nurtured in the early days of this republic that now is almost hundreds of years old still is there today for lots of reasons, but principally the undergirding foundation of a strong and vibrant military. So when veterans day comes back, give thanks to the veterans that you know. Mention a couple of them like i have done here so their memory and their names never die, but also so we can lift them up at a time we pause for just a minute to say thank you for the greatest country on the face of this earth. Senator blunt talked about our committee and what we have done this year. I want to just take a minute to reiterate some of the things he said because there are no democratic veterans and no republican veterans. There are only american veterans. They dont go to the battlefield as a partisan. They go to the battlefield as an american. They fight for us whether were a republican or a democrat. They risk their own life and sometimes sacrifice it, so we can do what ben franklin said keep that republic. We owe them a lot. In many ways, we owe them everything. We have had a mess of the v. A. In the last ten years. They have been the lead story on usa today more than any other agency in the government for failures of the v. A. To do the job it should have done. But under david shulkin, the secretary of the v. A. Appointed by President Trump, under the leadership of our committees in the house and the senate, and under a commitment to bipartisan service by all of our members, which means we do almost everything unanimously and if not unanimously, almost unanimously, because its not about getting a republican president or a democratic president. Its about doing the right thing for the right people who have done so much for us. We passed the whistleblower protection act this year to give whistleblowers in the v. A. The protection they need to go and turn into authorities, those veterans, employees in the Veterans Administration are not doing their job, and we give them the safe harbor they need to encourage us to help root out problems, and were doing that. We passed the accountability bill to open the light of sunshine on the employees of the v. A. And to give the authorities in the v. A. The ability to terminate, fire, if you will, for cause an employee that is not doing the job they should be doing for our veterans. So we had to hold the standard of accountability up a little higher for our employees in the Veterans Administration. Were magnifying choice so veterans can have more choice. We dont want the government to hire all the lawyers and doctors and physicians assistants to service the v. A. , we get them in the private sector as well. The 21st century g. I. Bill, we finally made sure the g. I. Bill applies to everybody, not just world war ii or vietnam warera veterans, but veterans of all conflicts and of all types. We have done everything we could to see to it the benefits we promised them would be there when they left the military are there for them in retirement and in their later life. The sacrifice they make is great and the sacrifices we have made to save our veterans is great. Today veterans come home from the battlefield 90 of the time when they are wounded, they come home, whereas in world war ii, 10 came home, 90 died on the battlefield. But because of the advancements we have made in armor and protection and the Health Care Services we have, a lot of veterans today live that would not have lived just 25 or 30 years ago. And the injuries they sustain are far greater than any injuries we knew in warfare before. The signature illness is ptsd, pose Traumatic Stress syndrome, but part of the body is protected by the new vests which are impenetrable by a bullet. Most of them are from i. E. D. s and explosives and things of that nature. But we have the best health care to provide them with the best possible rehabilitation you can. But you can never really replace a leg or an eye or a body part. Once somebody has sacrificed it forever, they wear the burden of battle and the war. But we have the obligation in the Veterans Administration as the congress of the United States and the house and senate to see to it that we back up those promises our recruiters made when they came to join the military, see to it they get those services from their Veterans Administration. Dr. David shulkin is doing a phenomenal job. My Ranking Member, jon tester, democrat from montana, is doing a fantastic job. The House Committee is doing a great job. The members of the senate are doing a great job. In a week and a half, well have our final bill of the year which when we pass it, it will make us eight for eight. We will have totally reformed the v. A. And worked with the v. A. To reform it and do it in a way that our veterans get better service, our taxpayers get more accountability for the dollars they spend, and america remains the great country its always been, safe and free because of those who volunteer, fight and are willing to die on behalf of our country. So sometime on the 11th day and hopefully at the 11th hour and the 11th minute of that hour on november 11, you will pause for a minute and remember i told you thats when we celebrate veterans day, because our country decided at that time when the arm cities was signed in world war i, it was the perfect day to remember all those who fought in the past. Lets look around and every time we see a uniform, man or woman in uniform, stop and say thank you for your service because those are the people who are risking their lives so you and i can do whatever it is we choose to do in this land of the free and home of the brave. There are lots of things to be thankful for, but nothing more important than the men and women in the United States military. May god bless our country and god bless our veterans. May god bless the United States of america. And i yield back. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from north dakota. Mr. Hoeven im pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the floor of the senate after my esteemed colleague from the state of georgia. My colleague is the chairman of the Veterans Affairs committee. I just want to express my appreciation for this commitment and his work on behalf of all of our great veterans. Like him, i rise today to speak in tribute to our veterans and men and women in uniform and all that we do for them. This weekend, at events across the country, we will pay tribute to the fine men and women who have served in our Nations Armed forces. Every day, but especially on veterans day, we honor these soldiers who left the comforts of home and family to defend our freedoms, to fight for our way of life. Our freedoms have been secured by the sweat and sacrifice that face men and women who throughout our history have bravely done what was needed to protect our great nation. We also recognize that those who serve do not serve alone. We appreciate, too, the sacrifice of the families and the loved ones who have supported our veterans in their service. This veterans day, we will honor military members from our greatest generation to those men and women fighting in the war on terror today. These americans understand best the words of president Ronald Reagan when he said, quote, freedom is nevermore than one generation away from extinction. We didnt pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, end quote. These men and women who have fought for and protected our country have given so much, and we cannot do enough to thank them whether they return from active military duty seven days ago or seven decades ago. Although we can never repay our debt of gratitude, one of the most tangible ways we recognize our veteran service is by providing these men and women with Quality Health care and support services, including education and work opportunities. With that debt in mind, let me briefly outline some initiatives that we have been working on to provide for our veterans. Congress has passed significant veterans bills this year, including legislation that holds the v. A. Accountable and ensures that v. A. Employees are putting our veterans first. Legislation that updates and modernizes the v. A. Benefits claims and appeals process, reducing wait times for our veterans. Additionally, one of my Top Priorities is ensuring that our veterans have access to Health Care Options closer to their homes and their families. This includes improving veterans access to services under the Veterans Choice Program and building on the success of the Veterans Care Coordination initiative at the fargo v. A. Medical center in my own state. This effort has decreased the wait times, scheduling and appointment under veterans choice from 24 days a year ago to five or six days at present. This initiative can serve as a model to help address delays through the Veterans Choice Program across the nation. Weve invited secretary shulkin from north dakota to see this work firsthand. Our care core Work Initiative has been expanded to the v. A. Facility in helena, montana, as well and believe it will be expanded to other locations across the country. We provided expansion to the Veterans Choice Program earlier this year and secured dlshes 2. 1 billion in additional funding for the program. This gives us time to work with the v. A. On the next phase of the program. We are working to improve local access to longterm care for our veterans. We secured a commitment from secretary shulkin to work with us on the veterans access to longterm care and Health Services act. Weve now included this legislation excuse me introduced this legislation in the senate and a companion bill has been introduced in the house of representatives. Legislation would remove burdensome red tape that prevents Nursing Homes and other Health Care Providers from accepting veteran patients. Our bill allows the v. A. To enter into provider agreements to qualified health care and extended care facilities bypassing complex federal contracting requirements. This will give veterans more options to access longterm Care Services closer to their homes, to their families, to their loved ones. Additionally, earlier this Year Congress passed and the president signed into law the forever g. I. Bill which improved and extended veterans access to education and workforce opportunities. This is part of our efforts to ensure that were supporting our veterans as they transition back to civilian life and work here at home. These are just a few examples of our efforts to ensure that our veterans have the resources and the support that they have so richly earned. While we cannot say thank you enough, in this way we can honor their courage and their sacrifice. We honor veterans day because we have the greatest veterans in the world who have committed themselves to protect our nation and in so doing have transformed this country into the greatest the world has ever known. May god continue to bless our veterans and this great nation that they have been protecting and to make sure that we honor their Selfless Service for all our men and women in uniform, for all our veterans not only on veterans day, but every day. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from North Carolina. Mr. Tillis thank you, mr. President. I appreciate the kind words of senator hoeven and his a