NOW, MR. PRESIDENT, I WILL TURN TO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SUBJECT, AND THAT IS THE SUBJECT OF VETERANS DAY. I RISE TODAY TO HONOR AND THANK OUR VETERANS, SERVICE MEMBERS, AND THEIR FAMILIES AS WE CELEBRATE OUR VETERANS ON VETERANS DAY. THESE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN REPRESENT THE BEST AMONG US. WHETHER YOU SERVE 50 YEARS -- SERVED 50 YEARS AGO OR STILL WEAR THE UNIFORM TODAY, WE THANK OUR VETERANS FOR THEIR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE ON BEHALF OF THIS GREAT NATION.

NO MATTER WHEN YOU SERVED, ALL VETERANS HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON. A DEEP LOVE OF OUR COUNTRY AND A PATRIOTISM THAT GOES BEYOND SIMPLY FEELING PRIDE. ALL VETERANS WERE WILLING TO LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES IN DEFENSE OF THIS NATION, AND MANY CONTINUE TO LIVE THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES ONCE THEIR TIME IN THE MILITARY IS OVER. LAST WEEK, I ATTENDED THE CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY WHERE WE HONORED OUTGOING MAJOR GENERAL RICHARD NASH FOR HIS DECADES OF SERVICE AND SAW HIM PASS THE LEADERSHIP TORCH TO MAJOR GENERAL JOHN JENSEN WHO WAS SWORN IN AS A NEW ADJUNCT GENERAL OF MINNESOTA'S NATIONAL GUARD. AS GENERAL NASH SAID EARLIER THIS YEAR, OUR MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD AND THE ENTIRE STATE HAS CONTRIBUTED GREATLY IN A PERIOD OF HISTORY THAT WILL BE LOOKED BACK UPON AS A REMARKABLY IMPORTANT TIME. HE CONTINUED -- WE WERE ALWAYS READY, ALWAYS THERE.

HE WAS RIGHT. OUR SERVICE MEMBERS ARE ALWAYS THERE FOR US, AND IN TURN, WE MUST HONOR THEIR SERVICE. AT A TIME MARKED BY THE VOLATILITY OF OUR POLITICS, OUR COMMITMENT TO OUR SERVICE MEMBERS AND VETERANS REMAIN STEADFAST. WE STAND UNITED, REGARDLESS OF OUR POLITICS. OUR VETERANS FOUGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM, AND WE NEED TO BE THERE FOR THEM. WHEN OUR SERVICE MEMBERS PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY, THERE WASN'T A WAITING LINE, AND WHEN THEY COME HOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THEY NEED HEALTH CARE OR THEY NEED A JOB OR THEY NEED A HOUSE, THERE SHOULD NEVER BE A WAITING LINE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WE STILL HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF WORK AHEAD OF US TO HONOR THIS COMMITMENT. HERE IS AN EXAMPLE. AMY MUELLER OF WOODBURY, MINNESOTA, ENLISTED IN THE AIR FORCE IN 1998. AFTER TWO DEPLOYMENTS TO IRAQ WHERE SHE WAS STATIONED NEXT TO ONE OF THE WAR'S MOST NOTORIOUS TOXIC BURN PITS, SHE RETURNED HOME. SHORTLY AFTER SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PANCREATIC CANCER AT AGE 36, HALF THE AVERAGE AGE FOR THIS FORM OF CANCER. WHEN AMY PASSED EARLIER THIS YEAR, SHE LEFT THREE SMALL CHILDREN AND HER LOVING HUSBAND BRIAN BEHIND. SINCE THEN, I HAVE GOTTEN TO KNOW AND WORK WITH BRIAN. HE HAS MADE ONE THING HERE TO ME. WE WON'T LET THESE TOXIC BURN PITS BECOME ANOTHER AGENT ORANGE. SO PART OF AMY'S LEGACY IS WE ARE WORKING TO CREATE A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS TO DEAL WITH THE MOUNTING EVIDENCE THAT THOUSANDS OF VETERANS HAVE GOTTEN SICK AFTER BEING EXPOSED TO TOXIC SUBSTANCES BURNED IN THE LARGE PITS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. THIS ISN'T A PARTISAN ISSUE, AND I AM VERY PLEASED AS A COSPONSOR OF MY BILL, AS REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUE SENATOR TOM TILLIS OF NORTH CAROLINA. WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER TO GET THIS BILL PASSED, AND WE ARE VERY PLEASED IT WAS IN THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT THAT CAME OUT OF THE SENATE. WHILE OUR NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE COMPONENT MEMBERS OFTEN SERVE WITH THEIR ACTIVE DUTY COUNTERPARTS ON THE EXACT SAME MISSIONS, THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS ENSURED THE SAME COMPETITION AND BENEFITS FOR THEIR SERVICE. WHEN THEY RETURN HOME, OUR NATIONAL GUARD AND SERVISTS ARE OFTEN DENIED THE EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE BENEFITS THEY COUNTED ON DURING THEIR DEPLOYMENTS. WE NEED TO CLOSE THAT LOOPHOLE AND MAKE SURE THAT MEMBERS DEPLOYED ON THE SAME MISSION, WHO TAKE THE SAME RISKS RECEIVE THE SAME BENEFITS. AND JUST AS WE HAVE MADE A COMMITMENT TO SERVING OUR SERVICE MEMBERS, WE HAVE MADE A COMMITMENT TO LOOKING OUT FOR THEIR FAMILIES. SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, THE MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN HAVE DEPLOYED MORE THAN 26,000 TIMES. THEY WERE ACTUALLY THE RED BULLS -- ONE OF OUR UNITS WAS ONE OF THE LONGEST SERVING UNITS IN IRAQ. THAT SERVICE CAN TAKE A TOLL ON FAMILIES, ESPECIALLY KIDS.

THAT'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TO KNOW WHICH STUDENTS' PARENTS ARE SERVICE MEMBERS SO THEY CAN HELP MAKE SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS LIKE SETTING UP SKYPE DURING THE SCHOOL DAY SO A YOUNG GIRL CAN TALK TO HER DAD WHO'S SERVING ABROAD. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS FOR STUDENTS WHOSE PARENTS ARE IN THE ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY, BUT NOT FOR THOSE WHOSE PARENTS ARE IN THE GUARD OR RESERVE. THAT MAKES NO SENSE. SOME SAY IT WAS JUST AN ERROR. SOME SAY MAYBE NOT. BUT WHATEVER IT IS, WE NEED TO FIX IT, AND I'M LEADING BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR GUARD AND RESERVE FORCES AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE TREATED JUST LIKE THE FAMILIES OF THOSE THAT ARE PERMANENTLY IN THE MILITARY. WHEN OUR VETERANS SIGN UP TO SERVE AND DEFEND OUR COUNTRY -- SIGNED UP TO SERVE AND DEFEND OUR COUNTRY, THERE WAS NO WAITING LINE, AS I NOTED, AND SO THAT'S WHY ON THIS DAY, TOMORROW, WE WILL BE HONORING THEM BY TELLING THEM THAT WE BELIEVE THAT THEY DESERVE THE BEST. I WAS REMINDED OF THAT A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO WHEN I GREETED ONE OF THE HONOR FLIGHTS, THE WORLD WAR II HONOR FLIGHTS THAT WAS COMING BACKFILLED WITH VETERANS FROM MINNESOTA WHO SOME FOR THE FIRST AND THE LAST TIME WERE ABLE TO SEE THE WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL. THEY HAD GOTTEN UP INCREDIBLY EARLY IN THE MORNING, GOTTEN ON A PLANE, WENT THERE, SPENT THE DAY, AND FLEW BACK, AND THERE WAS HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF FAMILY MEMBERS WAITING FOR THEM LATE AT NIGHT IN THE AIRPORT TERMINAL WITH BALLOONS AND SIGNS WITH THEIR NAME ON THEM. THEY GOT OFF OF THAT FLIGHT ON WALKERS AND IN WHEELCHAIRS, AND THEY CAME DOWN TO WHERE THE FAMILIES WERE. PEOPLE WITH TEARS ROLLING DOWN THEIR FACES. IT WAS AN AMAZING THING TO SEE. WELL, IN A TYPICAL MINNESOTA TRADITION, THEY HAD A POLKA BAND PLAYING KIND OF BY THE LUGGAGE CAROUSEL, AND THE -- ONE OF THE OLDER VETERANS, WHO I LATER FOUND OUT WAS IN HIS LATE 80'S, ASKED ME TO DANCE. AND I SAID WELL, I'D LOVE TO DANCE. AND THEN THE BAND STOPPED PLAYING BECAUSE IT WAS AT THE END. AND THEN HE SAID OH, THAT'S OKAY. I SAID WELL, I'M SORRY. I THINK WE'LL HAVE TO TAKE A RAIN CHECK. I DON'T KNOW WHY I SAID THAT TO SOMEONE HIS AGE, BUT THAT'S WHAT I SAID. AND THEN HE SAID WELL, THAT'S OKAY. I HAVE A GREAT VOICE. AND HE STARTED SINGING THAT FRANKIE VALLI SONG, "YOU'RE JUST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU," AND DANCED AROUND THAT LUGGAGE CAROUSEL. AS I DANCED WITH THAT MAN, I THOUGHT THIS IS HOW OUR VETERANS SHOULD BE TREATED EVERY DAY. THEY SHOULD BE GREETED WITH BALLOONS AND SIGNS AT THE AIRPORT, AND THEY SHOULD BE DANCING WITH THEIR SENATORS BY THE LUGGAGE CAROUSEL.

THAT'S THE SPIRIT WE HAVE TO REMEMBER AS WE GO FORWARD INTO VETERANS DAY, THE EXCEPTIONAL COMMITMENT AND EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE THAT OUR DEMOCRACY DEMANDS OF ALL THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE STEPPED FORWARD TO PROTECT IT. THAT SAME DEMOCRACY DEMANDS THAT WE FIGHT FOR OUR SERVICE MEMBERS AS THEY FIGHT FOR US. AS GENERAL NASH SAID, THEY WERE ALWAYS THERE FOR US, AND WE MUST BE THERE FOR THEM, TOO. MR. PRESIDENT, I YIELD THE FLOOR AND NOTE THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM.