This is about giving veterans who have sacrificed everything, every option we have to help them fulfill a simple dream of starting a family. Now as we all know, our men and women in uniform have become increasingly susceptible to productive spinal and traumatic brain injuries due to the changing weapons of war. But as we know, thanks to modern medicine, many of these Service Members are being kept alive and are returning home. In fact, as of the new year, there are 2,348 Service Members who are living with reproductive urinary or pelvic injuries as a result of this war. And like so many of our veterans, these men and women come home and want to return to their lives. They want to find employment. And importantly, they want to start a family. Yet, what they find when they go to r. V. A. Is that the Fertility Services that are available dont meet their extremely complex needs. In fact, veterans who suffer from these injuries find that the v. A. Is specifically barred from providing more advanced assisted reproductive techniques like i. V. F. They are told that despite the fact that they have made such an extreme sacrifice for all of us, we cannot provide them with the medical services that they need simply to start a family. Now these are veterans like Staff Sergeant mack kyle and his wife tracy. Despite returning home from iraq as a quadriplegic, Staff Sergeant kyle and tracy started talking about and exploring the possibility of starting a family together. But because his injuries prevented him from having children naturally, tracy turned to the v. A. And began to explore her options for fertility treatments. But because of that v. A. Ban, they were told no and turned away. So they were out of options, and the kyles decided that this was important enough to them that they were willing to pay out of pocket, out of their own pocket for i. V. F. Treatment in the private sector to the tune of 32,000 per round of treatment. Well, mr. President , thankfully Staff Sergeant kyle and tracy welcomed twins matthew and faith into the world after just one round of treatment. And tracy told me after that and i want to quote it to all of you the day we had our children something changed in both of us. This is exactly what we had always wanted. Our dreams had arrived. The v. A. , congress and the American People have saeupd countless times have said countless times that they want to do everything they can to support my husband or make him feel whole again, and this is your chance. Having a family is exactly what we needed to feel whole again. Please help us make these changes so that other families can share this experience. End quote. Mr. President , tracy and matt arent alone. There are many men and women out there who share this Common Thread of a desperate desire to fulfill their dream of starting a family only to find that the catastrophic wounds they sustained while defending our country are now preventing them from seeing that dream through. It shouldnt be that way. Now, unfortunately, republicans are indicating they will not join us today in overturning this absurd and antiquated ban. Apparently they would rather our nations heroes spend tens of thousands of dollars of their own money in the private sector to get the advanced reproductive treatments they need just to start a family. They dont see the problem in letting our veterans marriages dissolve because of the stress of infertility in combination of course with the stress of readjusting to life after such a severe injury driving relationships to a breaking point. Mr. President , any Service Member who sustains this type of extremely serious injury deserves a lot more, because you know we came very close actually to making this bill a reality in the last congress. In fact, tracy kyle who i just talked about, watched from the gallery here when we unanimously passed this legislation. Unanimously. But here i am today once again imploring republicans to stand up and explain to our men and women in uniform who i know are paying very close attention to this debate and explain to them why they now want to turn their back on the catastrophic reproductive wounds that have become a signature of these wars. Just yesterday i spoke to a crowded room of heroes from disabled American Veterans and told them the heartbreaking story of the kyle family that i just shared and why this legislation is so important. And if their cheers and applause are any indication, i say they wholeheartedly agree that our womens veterans deserve this. Our male veterans deserve this. And certainly our military families deserve this. So, mr. President , im here on the floor today to ask my colleagues a simple question are you willing to tell those brave men and women that didnt ask questions when they were put in harms way that youre going to let politics get in the way of our commitment to them . That catastrophic wounds that we have seen from injuries in iraq and afghanistan have meant that our veterans dreams to start a family have been put on hold because of the tremendous cost of i. V. F. Services . We believe that is a cost of war, and we believe that the v. A. Absolutely should cover and it is unacceptable to let unrelated issues stand in the way. Mr. President , even the Major Veterans Service Organizations and their leaders have said to us that issues like the iran sanctions that the other side wants to offer have no flays in comprehensive veterans legislation. People like commander Daniel Dillinger who said iran is a serious Issue Congress needs to be to address but cannot be tied to the bill which is extremely important as our nation prepares to welcome millions of u. S. Service men and women from war. Or v. A. Founder and c. E. O. Paul rykoff who called this comprehensive legislation and i quote a game changer that will change the trajectory for veterans for years to come. As serious and as timely as they may be, unrelated issues like iran sanctions are just calculated attempts to intentionally dismantle our bipartisan effort to expand health care, education opportunities, employment and benefits for our nations heroes. We cant allow our commitment to them to lapse or to get caught up in separate issues or political grand standing. So, mr. President , i want to thank the senator from vermont and all of his staff for their tireless work on this comprehensive legislation that they brought to the floor. And i really hope that our colleagues will reconsider opposing this commonsense and important step to give those who have sacrificed everything the reproductive treatments that they need to start a family. Thank you, mr. President. And i yield the floor. Mr. Kaine mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from virginia. Mr. Kaine mr. President , i inquire how much time is left for democrats during morning business. The presiding officer 12 minutes. Mr. Kaine mr. President , i ask unanimous consent to use the remainder of the democrats time. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Kaine i ask unanimous consent that be. Mr. San sangerra be granted floor privileges. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Kaine i rise to speak about the slaughter in syria, a country of 23 Million People, a proud country is being transformed before our eyes into a land of rubble, skeletons, refugees and ghosts. Three million syrians have fled to neighboring countries. That number will likely exceed four million by year end. Nearly seven million syrians are refer skwraoes within their own country refugees within their own country driven from their homes by the atrocities of the assad regime, more than 130,000 innocent people have lost their lives during a threeyear civil war. Were witnessing one of the greatest humanitarian crises since world war ii, and it can be stopped. It can be stopped. Last summer my Armed Services colleague, senator angus king of maine, and i visited turkey and jordan to explore the dimension of the refugee crisis. We visited refugee camps, talked with government leaders and n. G. O. About the damaged lives and the stressed communities that result from this unprecedented displacement of syrians. Last week the senator from maine and i visited lebanon to see the scale of the Syrian Crisis in that country. In a country of only slightly more than four Million People, there are already over one million Syrian Refugees have fled into lebanon in the last three years. One in four. Think of the scale of that refugee crisis if we were to receive in the United States war refugees at that scale it would be 75 million to 80 Million People, nearly one in four. In lebanon last week we met with government leaders, n. G. O. s and the high commissioner on refugees. What we learned is staggering. The lebanese people have been resilient. The water and health of that nation are strained to the breaking point. The lebanese economy already fragile is teetering. Schools in blob now operate in lebanon operate on double shifts with lebanese children in the morning and refugee children in the afternoon, accommodating tens of thousands of children with more coming every day. The decision by the lebanese terrorist militia hezbollah to go all in to support the regime of Bashar Alassad has led to a wave of extremist bombings against Leaders Within lebanon in which many, many civilians are casualties. Senator king and i witnessed a bombing in downtown beirut while we were there. Many in our group heard the explosion, saw smoke rise. We felt certain that our meetings would be canceled that day but one of the most grim aspects of our trip is that a bombing that killed five people, a suicide bombing and injured nearly 100 caused no one to change their daily routine. That is what life is in lebanon largely because of the syrian civil war. The crisis extends beyond turkey, jordan and lebanon. Refugees are going into iraq by the thousands, 30,000 a day on one day in august exacerbating a deterioration of that countrys stability and drawer a deeper intersectarian conflict. This photo is on the iraq border with syria and youll see refugees stretching into the distance and the hills beyond. This is what is happening with all of the neighboring countries to syria. As you know, the United States is the largest provider of assistance to the refugees who have fled outside of syria. We have provided 1. 3 billion in aid thus far, 340 million in lebanon alone. But getting relief into syria is the next challenge. Because, mr. President , the conditions in syria are even worse than the conditions i described in lebanon. Nearly seven million syrians are displaced within their own country. More than nine million syrians need humanitarian aid. But theyve not been able to receive basic humanitarian aid food and medicine due to the actions of the Bashar Alassad regime and also due to the complicity of the regimes patron, russia. The denial of humanitarian aid is a war crime, pure and simple. Thousands are dying of starvation. Cases of tuberculosis, polio, typhoid and other diseases are expanding at an exponential rate. And none of this is an accident. The assad regime is using forced starvation and forced sieges as a weapon to destroy the syrian people. Last month i met here in the senate with syrians who had survived the chemical weapons attacks carried out by the assad regime in august of 2013. They described in gruesome detail what they and their families, many young children, endured in august. But the most shocking moment of the interview, mr. President , came when a 22yearold survivor who had fled syria through lebanon said if she had to pick, she would rather die a death because of chemical weapons than be hit by a barrel bomb or starve to death, because death by chemical weapons would be quicker. In recent weeks nothing has epitomized the brutality of the regime more than the use of these barrel bombs. The bombs are crude weapons. They are simple oil drums that are filled with shrapnel and explosives. Helicopters often deliver the weapons and helicopters often hover over neighborhoods for minutes to just scare everyone who knows whats coming. The barrel bombs drop, they explode, shrapnel level neighborhoods. This is an example of a neighborhood in aleppo. At one point hundreds were killed when barrel bombs were dropped on aleppo earlier this month. You see the size and scope of the devastation, and you see families and their children fleeing the area in the aftermath of a barrel bomb. And this is going on every day in syria. Secretary kerry has rightly called these barrel bomb attacks unacceptable and barbaric. The primary architect of these crimes is Bashar Alassad, but he has a patron who funds and supports what he does and who has the ability to stop the atrocities. Russia is assads principal support. Since the start of the syrian war, russia has shoang it is complicit in these war crimes but it is also capable of stopping them. In the United Nations russia has used its veto power and threat of veto on the Security Council numerous times to block action to help the syrian people. Three of these vetoes were used, mr. President , to block basic humanitarian aid. What possible reason could any civilized nation have to denying war victims food and medical supplies . But russia has shown that it can be persuaded or shamed into taking action to try to promote basic safety of syrian citizens. In august, with the threat of u. S. Military action to punish the assad regime for use of chemical weapons against its own civilians, russia realized that it could no longer be the sole global apologist for this atrocity. And so it persuaded syria to admit to the crime, acknowledge the existence of a stockpile and commit to the complete destruction of these inhumane weapons. While that process has been slow, the weaponry has not been used since russia realized that the world would not tolerate such a clear violation of international law. Similarly, after repeatedly blocking u. N. Action to deliver humanitarian aid in syria, russia decided in the midst of the sochi olympics that it could no longer stand in the way of basic humanitarian aid. The eyes of the world were on it, and it knew it could no longer be seen as the sole obstacle blocking people from receiving food and medicine. So it finally agreed to u. N. Security Council Resolution calling for the provision of humanitarian aid inside syria. When the eyes of the world were on it in the middle of the olympics last week, it finally joined in with the rest of the world in calling on syria to allow aid to its people. In the aftermath of that resolution, the real test lies ahead because those were worded on paper and now we must see whether the aid will be delivered. Because this is the situation in syria today. This is a recent photo from a suburb of damascus that has been under siege by the assad regime without access to food and basic medical care. Witness this photo. Look at the destruction. Look at the rubble. Look at the throng of hungry people stretching to owe belief onno the distance. See the hunger in their faces and bodies, and look at the questions in their eyes. It is incumbent upon the Syrian Regime to allow unhindered access of humanitarian aid to all syrians. Opposition groups have that same obligation. Mr. President , in conclusion, let me say a final word about russian responsibility to respond to these poor syrian people. When the russian government and their people see this picture, it should remind them of their own history. During the siege of le leningrad during world war ii, the nazis used these same tactics, forced starvation and siege, as a tactic of war to cause horrible deprivation to the russian population of that stivment russians should look in the eyes of these victims of intentional starvation and grapple with their responsibility to them. Russia can cause the assad regime, just as it did in august, to open access so that these people can have food and medicine. Russia can finally agree russia has finally agreed to words on paper at the u. N. , but the world will watch the actions of this nation. Mr. President , one final thought when senator king and i were traveling last week in the middle east, we went to other countries as well. One country that were engaged in a backandforth with over the provision of u. S. Military assistance, what we are raising are legitimate questions about some democracy reforms that this nation needs to undertake if were to be better and better partners. A leader of that nation said to me, if the United States wont provide assistance, then well find a way to make russia our partner. Well, to anyone thinking that making russia your partner is a good thing, you a tout look at this photo, too, because this is what has come of syria choosing russia as its principal partner. Is this the kind of partner you want . We must keep the spotlight on these atrocities. We must keep the spotlight on assads responsibility. We must keep the spotlight on russias complicity to bring an end to these atrocities and to work with other nations to find a resolution to the syrian civil war. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mr. Blunt mr. President , first of all, i want to say that im glad senator kaine has been here talking about this important issue today. The tragedy of syria, the tragedy of the barrel bombs, as a hideous way to kill people where you fly over with helicopters and first terrorize people, wondering where youre going to drop these weapons and then basically shove them out of the side dosh of a helicopter door of a helicopter. The russian complicity in this and what were seeing even today in russia beginning to flex their muscles as it relates to the people of ukraine. I had the Prime Minister from georgia in to see me on monday and, of course, the day the olympics were over, the russians were there the next day, were aggressively partitioning off that part of georgia that they have seized in the last couple of years. The same argument that they could easily try to make in ukraine. Ukraine, the soviet satellite states, the one that has the mos