Byron Dorgan: “I have here a photograph of a soldier. He joined the Army National Guard as a combat medic and went to Iraq. His name is…”

“I have here a photograph of a soldier. He joined the Army National Guard as a combat medic and went to Iraq. His name is Carlos Lazo. Carlos came to my office the other day. That is a picture of him in my office. Carlos is a wonderful soldier. In fact, let me put up another chart that shows you that Carlos won the Bronze Star in Iraq. In the description of the Bronze Star won by this remarkable soldier, it says: SPC Lazo's courage, initiative, along with his calm, cool composure was instrumental in saving numerous lives on the battlefield and at the BAS all thru this operation. They were talking about some very heavy fighting and mortar rounds and bombs exploding very close to where Sergeant Lazo was busy saving lives. They described the work Mr. Lazo did, this courageous soldier. It was quite extraordinary. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have the Bronze Star citation printed in the Record. I show you the Bronze Star citation, which was from last November, just in order to tell you that this is an extraordinary person. So Carlos Lazo came to see me on Wednesday of this week. Do you know why he came to my office? Because he wants to see his kids, and our Government will not let him see his kids. No, this is not about a child custody fight. His kids are in Cuba. And one of them has been in the hospital with a high fever. We have decided in this country to punish Fidel Castro by slapping around the American people and injuring their rights to travel.…”