Johnny Isakson: “I am honored to join the ranking member, Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut, on this important day. This morning when I…”

“I am honored to join the ranking member, Senator Blumenthal from Connecticut, on this important day. This morning when I woke up, I began preparing for a speech I made at Oglethorpe University at 11 o'clock this morning on Constitution Day, and it reminded me of what an important September day today is. Senator Robert Byrd, the distinguished Democrat, majority leader, and President pro tempore of the Senate for many years and who served here for many decades, amended an appropriations act on September 19, 2004, to designate today as Constitution Day. So it is a great honor for me to speak on the floor to honor our veterans on the day we honor our Constitution because, without our veterans, there would be no Constitution. Without those who fight to defend our freedom and our liberty around the world, there would be no Constitution. So it is a great day to do this. I wish to express my agreement with exactly what Senator Blumenthal said. This is a mere down payment. It is an acknowledgment. There is lots of work to be done. Critically, though, this extender bill addresses any number of programs in the VA that will expire at the end of the fiscal year unless they are extended. Most importantly are homeless programs, which are critically important, and adaptive sports programs, which are critically important as well. So by adopting this bill, our homeless programs will stay in place and our adaptive sports programs will stay in place.…”