Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. TESTER. May I ask the Senator from Delaware a question?

Did that young man lose his life in battle?

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Mr. TESTER. I want to thank the Senator from Delaware

You know, this isn't the first time--this isn't the first time the President has denigrated our military. It is not the first time and will not be the last time because there is a total lack of appreciation by this President of the people who serve our country in our military.

I don't have to talk about the bone spurs that gave him how many deferments? Five deferments? He found a way to not fight in Vietnam. Thank God his daddy had enough money to allow him to do that.

Then we think back to John McCain, the decorated war hero. Oh, no, no, no, not in President Trump's mind. It didn't matter that he was a prisoner of war. He was no war hero, the President said.

I am going to tell you, everybody in this body knew John McCain. Everybody in this body probably had a scrap with John McCain and everybody in this body had the highest amount of respect for John McCain. He truly was a war hero.

Then there are the veterans who served in Vietnam, which Agent Orange got the best of them. They are now in their seventies, and they are dying because of their exposure to Agent Orange. Let me tell you, the President denied them their benefits--denied them the benefits. If it wasn't for this body and the House, they still wouldn't have those benefits.

Then there is the time that Vladimir Putin put a contract out on our military. Did the President speak up? No, not to his good buddy Vladimir. No, he wouldn't do it.

Then there was the privatization of the VA. It cost Secretary Shokin his job because he said no, and in a bipartisan way we said no. Well, it is time to say no again in a bipartisan way. This President has crossed the line. ``Suckers'' and ``losers'' in our military do not belong in the same sentence, especially when you are talking about the ``greatest generation'' in Europe who gave their lives for this country.

It is time. It is time not for resolutions that are political games, but it is time to tell this President that he has screwed up in a big, big way. If we don't, it will affect this country's future long after he steps down from the Presidency.

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