so he s one of six people in that benton county district court. beyond that what is most impressive to me is that he takes the time without any fan fare to visit the gold star families. that is something that is a heavy, heavy responsibility to go to the families, talk to the people who lost their sons and daughters, husbands, wives, in battle, under his command. and so it tells me a lot about who jim mattis is and why you should take that into account. and finally, i feel a senatorial speech coming on so i ll try to sum right now. one of my other heroes, in addition to senator mccain is oliver wendell holmes jr. he s a hero not because avenues great supreme court justice but a veteran of the civil war and you can t read any opinion of his without seeing how he reflects back upon his time in
battle. he has the love for his troops, his return in a way that i ve not seen before. his troops, men and women alike in all services love this man. an they love him because he loves them and what they do for our country. what they are willing to risk for our country. so you look at his character. he s a humble man with very little to be humble about. but if you were to go to his home town and see that he s a devoted son to his 94-year-old mother, lucille, in richland, washington. if you look you would see he s a member of the board of the tri-city food bank. you can see him out help distribute food to needy families. you ll also see him refuse to exempt himself from jury duty. he was called to serve on a jury involving a gross misdeamnor case. he could have been exempted. he said no i m here to serve.
battle. and i think it s 1894 memorial day speech you should all read but in the conclusion of the speech he says whether a man accepts from fortune a spade and look downward and dig or from aspiration her axe and cord and will scale the ice. the one and only success is thois command to his command is to bring his heart network. this man brings the job to the secretary of defense a great and brave heart and i hope you ll vote to confirm him quickly. thank you. i want to thank both senator nunn and senator cohen. i view as one of the great privileges of my time here in the united states senate was the honor of serving with both of you. and so i think it means a lot to me personally but also to