On the recordMarch 13, 2013
I don't know if Senator McCain is nearby, but if he is, I want to give him a chance to come over and use the few minutes remaining before the rollcall vote. But for those Members of the Senate who did not listen to the earlier statements by Senator McCain and myself, this amendment is very basic and very straightforward: Senator McCain would cut or eliminate the ability of the Department of Defense to give grants to three organizations: Fisher House, Red Cross, and USO. Fisher House is the Ronald McDonald House of military and veterans hospitals. I have visited the one in Chicago. I have talked to my colleagues about other Fisher House facilities around America. They are remarkable and amazing places. Fisher House is where a family who may not be wealthy has a chance to stay and be treated like royalty while their son, their daughter, their husband, their mother is being operated on in a military hospital. That is what Fisher House is all about. I have seen it. The volunteers who man these houses make sure people are treated in the way they should be and make us proud as Americans. The McCain amendment would eliminate the authority of the Department of Defense to give money to the Fisher House to continue their operations. The McCain amendment would also eliminate funding grants that are given to the Red Cross and the USO. The Red Cross is an extraordinary organization, and every American knows what they are about.…





