Joe Wilson

Mr. Speaker, Greeting · 31 wordsI thank very much Congressman Clyburn for yielding. Indeed, it is bipartisan this evening with our delegation, and South Carolina so appreciates the remarkable service and successes of Senator Lindsey Graham.Greeting Thanks · 46 wordsIt is so personal to me that I got to meet him in his public service. As staff judge advocate to the army air guard, he was staff judge advocate to the air guard.¹ I thank him for his public service and service in the military.Thanks Claims · 246 wordsHe served in the State House of South Carolina, the U.S. House of Representatives, ²and obviously in the U.S. Senate, but he was dedicated to the people of South Carolina. It is really incredible that during the last week of his service, he was present with President Trump for the NATO meetings with Ankara.³ While he was there, he met with President Ahmad al-Sharaa of Syria and proclaimed that we need to give Syria a chance.⁴ He understood how important it is to have a stable and secure Syria as himself being a proponent of a stable and sovereign Israel. He has always stood with Israel. Then, on Friday, of all things, he had the opportunity to be in Kyiv, Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy where he, again, was so forceful in pointing out that indeed the sanctions bill, ⁵as has been agreed to by President Donald Trump, puts sanctions on war criminal Putin.⁶ While he was there, he also toured a drone manufacturing facility.⁷ He returned back to the United States on Saturday, ⁸and he actually had a very positive conversation with President Donald Trump.⁹ Then, almost immediately after that call, he sadly had a chronic acute heart attack and passed away.¹⁰ In the meantime, today is a very significant day in that our Governor Henry McMaster I think has made an incredible choice and that is to appoint the sister of Senator Lindsey Graham, Darline, to be the new U.S. Senator from South Carolina.¹¹ Reasoning · 18 wordsAs we are remembering Senator Graham, we can just cherish so many memories that all of us had. Mr. Speaker, The ask · 8 wordsI now move for a moment of silence.