{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11848", "2000-12-15", 106, 2, null, null, "SENATOR CHARLES S. ROBB", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S11848", "S11849", "[{\"name\": \"Barbara Boxer\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Russell D. Feingold\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Kent Conrad\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "146 Cong. Rec. S11848", "Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S11848-S11849]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n[[Page S11848]]\n                        SENATOR CHARLES S. ROBB\n\n  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I wish to pay tribute to my\ncolleague from Virginia, Senator Chuck Robb, who will leave the Senate\nin January after 12 years of exemplary service to his state as a member\nof this body.\n  As others have noted, Chuck Robb has had a long and distinguished\ncareer in public service. He served his country for 34 years in the\nMarine Corps and reserves, and he is a highly decorated combat veteran.\nHe was a widely popular governor of Virginia, who increased the state's\neducation budget by $1 billion, and appointed many women and minorities\nto top government jobs. And he has now served two terms as a United\nStates Senator, where he has been praised for his leadership on\nnational security, education, and the budget.\n  But I would like to note several aspects of Chuck Robb's Senate\ntenure that may not be quite as familiar, but for which I will always\nremember him and be grateful to him. The fact is that he was a hero on\nmany issues: civil rights, human rights, and a woman's right to choose.\n  Time and time and time again, even in the most difficult and\npolitically charged debates, Senator Robb was steadfast in his support\nfor the precious right of women to control their own bodies without\ninterference from government.\n  He led the fight in the Senate to bring justice to African-American\nfarmers throughout the nation who had been discriminated against by the\nDepartment of Agriculture. His legislation helped lead to the largest\ncivil rights settlement in our history.\n  And then, in February 1993, he delivered a powerful and moving speech\non the floor of the Senate, the message of which was that all of God's\nchildren, regardless of sexual orientation, should be treated equally\nin the military.\n  I will always remember Senator Robb's eloquent words:\n\n       The issue should be not what kind of person you are but\n     what kind of soldier, sailor, airman, or marine you are. . .\n     . I would suggest to you, Mr. President, morale is in the\n     heart of each service person. The threat to morale comes not\n     from the orientation of a few but from the closed minds of\n     many.\n\n  I was deeply touched by these words of tolerance and understanding,\nparticularly because they came from one who had served so gallantly in\nthe Marine Corps.\n  So I salute you and I thank you, Chuck, and send you my very best\nwishes as you move on to new challenges.\n  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the\nstatement be printed in the Record.\n  There being no objection, the material ordered to be printed in the\nRecord, as follows:\n\n    Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (Senate--February 4, 1993)\n\n       Mr. Mitchell. Mr. President, I yield 5 minutes to the\n     Senator from Virginia.\n       The Presiding Officer. The Senator from Virginia.\n       Mr. Robb. Mr. President, I thank the chair.\n       What is it that makes an excellent soldier? I submit to you\n     that it five basic virtues: Devotion to duty; loyalty to\n     country, commanders, and comrades; skill in military arts;\n     personal integrity; and courage. If you have these qualities,\n     you can be an excellent soldier, whether your name of\n     Manursky or Jefferson, Goldberg or Nguyen, Warner, Dole,\n     Kerrey, or McCain.\n       A number of Americans who have these qualities, however,\n     are being excluded from serving their country in the military\n     for reasons beyond fitness or performance.\n       People have told me for some time that they cannot\n     understand how someone who thinks of himself as a gung-ho\n     marine can march to the music of a drummer that I do not\n     hear.\n       Mr. President, the drummer I hear plays the Marine Corps\n     Hymn. It still gives me a chill, and I still stand when it is\n     played. I certainly do not want to detract in any way from\n     the military's effectiveness or performance.\n       Because of that, I cannot stand by and let a policy that I\n     consider less than perfect keep our services from attracting\n     the best and most competent people. The issue should be not\n     what kind of person you are but what kind of soldier, sailor,\n     airman, or marine you are.\n       As a former marine who considers his 34-plus years in\n     uniform and in the reserve to be the proudest affiliation of\n     my life, I well understand those who argue the importance of\n     maintaining morale and good discipline in the ranks.\n       But I would suggest to you, Mr. President, morale is in the\n     heart of each service person. The threat to morale comes not\n     from the orientation of a few but from the closed minds of\n     many. President Truman recognized that when he ordered the\n     services to be integrated by race despite the racial\n     animosity of many then in service.\n       Do some of today's soldiers fear what they do not\n     understand? Certainly, they do. Obviously. But should\n     America's policy be guided by fear, or should be work to\n     overcome prejudice by showing that merit and behavior, not\n     orientations, are what counts in the military?\n       I have spent a great deal of time discussing this with a\n     number of friends, including the Chairman of the Joint\n     Chiefs, Gen. Colin Powell. Some think that I am simply on the\n     wrong side of this issue, and I understand this and other\n     objections to the proposal.\n       General Powell recently drew a difference between\n     discrimination based on sexuality, which he called a\n     behavior, and that based on race, which he called a benign\n     characteristic. But I submit to you that race is obvious,\n     until and unless it is expressed in conduct. And if that\n     sexuality is expressed, it is no longer benign. Then it will\n     run into the existing regulations of the Uniform Code of\n     Military Justice.\n       The code offers sufficient protections against much of the\n     conduct that supporters of this amendment fear. And it can\n     certainly be expanded to prevent breaches of decorum or good\n     order.\n       The specter of drill sergeants dancing together is\n     unsettling, to say the least, Mr. President. But some of the\n     amendment's supporters fail to note it is just the kind of\n     behavior already prohibited by the Uniform Code, as is almost\n     all of the conduct presented as a concern by those who are in\n     favor of this particular amendment.\n       The President is the Commander in Chief of the Armed\n     Services, and he sets the goals. Just as many military men\n     were given the goal of ejecting Iraqi forces from Kuwait, and\n     led the plan and implemented that goal, I believe that the\n     military should also be cast with making the President's goal\n     a reality.\n       As a former military commander, I can tell you that if a\n     goal of truly equal access to military service is to be\n     reached, I believe that the military itself will have to come\n     to terms with it.\n       That will best be done if given the proper role of\n     implementing the President's directive. The hearings\n     announced actually last year by the distinguished chairman of\n     the Armed Services Committee will add information and\n     understanding to that process and will let us fulfill the\n     Congress' proper role of ensuring that readiness is\n     maintained while achieving the President's goal. But I ask we\n     not let fear govern our actions. While we may not perfectly\n     understand what motivates individual sexuality, we cannot\n     allow that lack of understanding to block deserving patriotic\n     Americans from service.\n       Mr. President, I hope that my colleagues will oppose the\n     amendment offered by my distinguished and very respected\n     colleague, the Republican leader, in this particular\n     instance.\n       I yield the floor.\n\n Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to\nChuck Robb, a friend and colleague whom I deeply admire. Throughout our\nservice together in the U.S. Senate, I have observed Senator Robb's\nunfailing commitment to principle. Chuck Robb served his country\ncourageously in Vietnam, and he served the Commonwealth of Virginia\njust as courageously in the U.S. Senate. Time and again, he voted his\nconscience, despite pressures to the contrary. Senator Robb let\nprinciple, not politics, be his guide during his service in the body.\nHis conduct should give every American faith that legislators can\nconduct themselves in a way that does honor to our democracy.\n  Senator Robb opposed the flag desecration constitutional amendment,\nopposed the Defense of Marriage Act, and supported spending cuts while\nopposing the politically popular tax cuts. He did what he thought was\nin the best interest of Virginians and the nation, and I thank him for\nthat. The Senate is a better place for Senator Robb's service, and I\njoin my colleagues in wishing him and his family all the best as he\nmoves on to new endeavors.\n  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I would like to recognize the leadership\nand accomplishments of a respected colleague who will be departing at\nthe end of this term. Senator Chuck Robb has served in the Senate as a\nrepresentative of Virginia for more than a decade. During his tenure,\nhe has been a strong advocate for a wide range of important legislative\nreform activities.\n  During his time in the Senate, Senator Robb has fought to strengthen\nnational security, maintain fiscal responsibility, and protect the\nenvironment. He has also been widely recognized for his longstanding\ncommitment to improving education.\n  As a former Governor of Virginia, Senator Robb was instrumental in\nincreasing resources for schools. Building on these efforts, he\nspearheaded efforts to help states and localities build and\n\n[[Page S11849]]\n\nrenovate schools, promoted legislation to put 100,000 new teachers in\nthe classroom, fought for school safety initiatives, and championed\nmeasures to wire schools to the Internet. These are important efforts\nthat have benefited children and teachers across the nation.\n  As colleagues on the Finance Committee, we have fought to address the\nchallenges facing Social Security and Medicare. Just this year, we\nworked closely to develop a proposal to provide prescription drug\ncoverage for all Medicare beneficiaries. I am proud to say that this\nproposal would provide much needed drug coverage to millions of seniors\ncitizens and disabled individuals.\n  I would also like to note that I am proud to have worked with a\ncolleague with such a distinguished military background. Senator Robb\nserved our nation for more than 34 years, during which time he received\nnational honors for his leadership and commitment to serving our\nnation.\n  For these and many other reasons, I have been honored to serve with\nChuck Robb. I would like to join my colleagues in wishing him and his\nfamily all the best in the future.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11848"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 32.74466888979077, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}