Tim Kaine: “I rise with my colleagues on the floor this evening to discuss the very unfortunate actions of my Senate colleague from…”

“I rise with my colleagues on the floor this evening to discuss the very unfortunate actions of my Senate colleague from Alabama, blocking the advancements and promotions for hundreds of military officers. I am a Senator from Virginia. Virginia is as connected to the U.S. military mission as any State. One out of every nine Virginians is a veteran. Our Active-Duty community is massive. Our military families, reservists, Guard men and women, DOD civilians, and DOD contractors create a Commonwealth deeply, deeply connected to the American military mission. The map of Virginia--Yorktown, where the Revolutionary War ended; the battlefields of the Civil War; Appomattox, where the Civil War ended; Bedford, where a core of young people from that tiny mountain community served and died on D-day; the Pentagon, where we were attacked on 9/ 11--our map is a map of American military history. We train all Marine officers at Quantico. We have the largest naval base in the world in Norfolk and the largest military personnel facility in the world at the Pentagon. Virginia is steeped in the Nation's military mission. I also rise as a member of the Armed Services Committee and as the father of a U.S. marine to urge my colleague from Alabama, as have my other friends on the floor tonight, to stop punishing our troops and their families, to stop punishing our troops and their families.…”