1ST LIEUTENANT ANDRES ZERMENO POST OFFICE BUILDING

On 2024-12-19, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) delivered a floor speech titled "1ST LIEUTENANT ANDRES ZERMENO POST OFFICE BUILDING" in the Senate. The speech addressed healthcare and also covered taxes, foreign policy. It referenced legislation including HR6244, S7201, S7205, among other bills.

1ST LIEUTENANT ANDRES ZERMENO POST OFFICE BUILDING

Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024) [Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 189 (Thursday, December 19, 2024)] [Senate] [Pages S7201-S7205] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] 1ST LIEUTENANT ANDRES ZERMENO POST OFFICE BUILDING The bill (H.R. 6244) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1535 East Los Ebanos Boulevard in Brownsville, Texas, as the ``1st Lieutenant Andres Zermeno Post Office Building'' was ordered to a third reading, was read the third time, and passed. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas. Tribute to Jon Tester Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I have served on the House and now Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee since I came to Congress, so about 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and about 15 years in the U.S. Senate. It has been a privilege to serve as a member and, from time to time, a leader of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and, preceding that, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. For the last 4, almost 5 years, Senator Jon Tester and I have led the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. Not only did Jon and I both raise daughters and grow up in rural America, but we both share the same sentiment that there is no one we hold in higher regard than our Nation's veterans. This shared sentiment has allowed us to work together for those we respect so much. I will certainly miss the starting of our hearings in which Senator Tester always said, ``Hello, Jerry.'' And you could hear that from time to time as we met going down the Senate halls. I have worked with Jon on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs since 2013, and we have introduced and sponsored and cosponsored many, many pieces of legislation together. His leadership on the committee in recent years has resulted in major pieces of legislation that have now become law, that provide support and opportunities for veterans, their loved ones, and their caregivers. Some of those landmark and historic pieces of legislation include, in the 115th Congress, VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018--a lot of words that really boil down to what we call the MISSION Act--designed to help make certain that services for veterans, wherever they live and whatever kind of services they need from the VA, are available to them. In later Congresses, the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020; Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019, implemented and designed to make certain that we [[Page S7202]] reduce and eliminate the number of veterans who commit suicide; Fairness for Korean DMZ Veterans Act of 2019; a COVID fix for GI bill benefits to make sure our veterans, during COVID, were able to maintain their educational benefits while their schools were shut down. Later in the 117th, the Joseph Maxwell Cleland and Robert Joseph Dole Memorial Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act; the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022--what we refer to as the PACT Act-- designed to make sure those who encounter toxic substances in Southeast Asia and in Iraq and Afghanistan were eligible for benefits and healthcare; the Colonel John M. McHugh Tuition Fairness for Survivors Act of 2021. Just within the last few days--in fact, within the last week--the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, an additional veterans' benefits improvement act. I rise today here at my seat on the Senate floor to express my gratitude for the time that Jon has spent in his career in improving the lives of veterans and reforming the VA system that millions of veterans rely upon. Jon Tester has made a lasting impact on thousands of individuals, their families, and their caregivers, those who serve veterans, and those who are veterans, and their family members. He has made a lasting impact upon their lives and well-being and helped us keep our commitment to our promises that have been made to those who serve in our military. I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize Senator Tester's team for their extraordinary work. We all know in the Senate the importance of having a strong staff that researches well, that is intentional with our constituents and values what we do. I would like to thank: Tony McClain, who is from Salina, KS, and who has led this committee for many years; Dahlia Melendrez; Carlos Fuentes; Elizabeth Mackenzie; Janko Mitric; Faye Fernandes; Bill Van Saun; Tess Wrzesinski; Abby Roubal; Weston Haycock; Liz Timmons; Cameron Kroetz; Katie Adams; and Jackson Haney. Your work--each of you--your work on this committee didn't go unnoticed. Thank you for your kindness that you extended to me while you were serving the chairman of the committee. Thank you for your kindness to me when I was the chairman of the committee and you were serving the ranking member. We know that without your help, without your willingness to work with our staff and our team, we would not have been able to provide the benefits and critical resources that our veterans deserve and earned. Finally, Jon Tester, certainly I say this on my behalf, but I say it also on behalf of the other Members of the Senate, certainly the other members of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and especially on behalf of our Nation's veterans, thank you. Thank you for your leadership, your friendship, and your dedication. Thank you for serving, as you did so well, our Nation's heroes. Kansas Aviation Mr. MORAN. Madam President, last month, we celebrated National Aviation History Month. We celebrated that across America, and I want to make certain that we recognize the air capital of the world and the State of Kansas and their contributions to the aviation industry both historically and still today. My home State of Kansas is an aviation hub. It has a rich history in aviation manufacturing. This tradition dates back to a gentleman named Albin Longren, who developed Kansas's first aircraft, the Longren Flyer, which was fully designed, produced, and successfully tested in Topeka in 1911, less than a decade after the Wright Brothers' first historic flight. Clyde Cessna went on to develop his pioneering aircraft, the Silverwing, in 1911, which was designed and built in Kingman County, KS. Clyde Cessna, Lloyd Stearman, and Walter Beech partnered to found the Travel Air Manufacturing Company, which would later be spun off into three companies with global recognition--the Cessna Aircraft Company, Stearman Aircraft, and the Beech Aircraft Company, all of Wichita, where they were headquartered. Cessna, Stearman, Beech, and over a dozen other aviation entrepreneurs in Wichita produced 120 airplanes each week at the outset of Wichita's aviation dominance in the late twenties. It was then that Wichita earned its title as ``Air Capital of the World.'' During World War II, tens of thousands of Kansans contributed to the war effort by working in aircraft plants, making nearly 26,000 planes, including over 1,600 B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers. Following the war, the Boeing Company started testing midflight refueling using the B-29 Superfortress and eventually delivered the KC- 135 Stratotanker to the U.S. Air Force in the fifties--still one of the premier midflight refueling aircraft for the U.S. Armed Forces. Many of these tankers are stationed at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita and some at Forbes Field in Topeka. Other than agriculture, the aviation and aerospace industries in Kansas support more jobs than any other sector, including more than 65,000 aerospace and defense jobs across more than 450 world-class suppliers. Kansas is the global leader in general aviation, producing 35 percent of all general aviation aircraft in America and supplying 75 percent of all general aviation aircraft since the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. If you fly on a private plane, you are flying on a plane that was either built in Kansas or the parts were manufactured in Kansas. At the end of November, Bombardier, which has its defense headquarters in Wichita, KS, delivered its first Global 6500 to the U.S. Army in support of its next generation of intelligences surveillance, and reconnaissance, the ISR platform. One week later, Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research received a Boeing 747-8i as part of a strategic partnership with Sierra Nevada Corporation on the Air Force's ``doomsday'' program. I would also like to highlight that NIAR, the National Institute for Aviation Research, a component headquartered on the campus of Wichita State University, was recently ranked by the National Science Foundation as the number one research and development expenditure university in the country for aerospace engineering. Our State is also diversifying its aviation and aerospace work with companies like General Atomics and now has 17 Kansas manufacturers working on NASA's Artemis program. We are also developing essential components for commercial space providers such as SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Sierra Space, Rocket Lab, and Blue Origin. Additionally, Kansas is home to Crew-9 astronaut Nick Hague of Hoxie, who is currently stationed at the International Space Station. Museums across our State highlight our history, highlight our future. They include the Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita, the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Atchison. I also should highlight the importance of Amelia Earhart being one of the Kansans who is a significant component of our aviation history and whose statue now resides here in the U.S. Capitol. There is a B-29 Museum in Pratt; the Mid-America Museum in Liberal; and the Cosmosphere--world renown. Incidentally, when I talked to the Artemis astronauts, they brought up the topi

Referenced legislation: HR6244, HR6244