rylee mccollum's life demonstrated the best of our nation. his dad jim told me that rylee was full-blooded red, white, and blue, and from the very beginning. rylee's dad jim wanted to serve in the military but he didn't because of a medical issue. well, his son grew up with the same great desire to serve our nation. rylee's father said, his family said he wanted to be a marine from the very beginning. his sister royce said that he ran around in his diapers and cowboy boots with a rifle. he graduated from summit innovations high school in wyoming and made a real name for himself all around the state as a champion wrestler. he had the kind of talents and abilities which he could have done anything and everything. he wanted to serve america. he joined the marines literally as soon as he could. he signed up on his 18th birthday. his plan was to serve in uniform and then come home to wyoming. his goal was to teach history and coach wrestling. on august 26, on his first deployment, he stood guard at the ha mid -- at the karzai airport and protected

madam president, rylee mccollum is an american hero. his name will always be held in honor throughout wyoming where for the half million people of our state we all think of rylee and gigi, and the baby as part of our family. may god comfort his family and may god continue to bless this great country for which rylee mccollum gave his life. and now, madam president, i want to talk about the fall of afghanistan. it's the thing that people in wyoming want to talk about. they want to talk about rylee and they want to talk about what happened in afghanistan. over the last 20 years, nearly 2,500 americans gave their lives in afghanistan. our mission in afghanistan was twofold. first, to kill the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 2001 and, second, to take away the safe haven where terrorists planned attacks on america. and for the last 20 years both missions were a success. yet, in a matter of just weeks everything changed. and they changed because of the complete incompetence of president joe biden. because of that incompetence, the taliban ar

now, one of those fallen heroes, 20-year-old rylee mccollum was from wyoming. despite their heroic sacrifice, the taliban are stronger than ever. they control more territory than they did on september 11, 2001, 20 years ago, afghanistan is once again a safe harbor for terrorists. this disaster happened because president biden paid more attention to the calendar on the wall than the conditions on the ground. president biden wanted symbolism. well, madam president, we got symbolism. we got the symbol of terrorists, the one they wanted. it's the symbol of helicopters flying, leaving the roof of the u.s. embassy in afghanistan. something that president biden promised the american people they would never see, but there it was for the world to see. the entire world also witnessed desperate afghan citizens. they were plummeting to their death as they tried to hang on planes that were leaving from the airport. president biden was so eager to pull our troops out of afghanistan by an arbitrary date that he left hundreds, if not thousands, of american citizens trapped, ho

rylee rose, 8 pounds 10 ounces. although they is there never meet her father who was killed before she was born, she will be surrounded by love from mother gigi, proud grandfather jim mccollum, rylee's sisters, and many other relatives who will share with levi what a wonderful and heroic father she had. our hearts, our love, our prayers, and our embrace are with rylee's wife, child, friends, and family as they grieve his loss and remember his bravery. madam president, wyoming will never, ever forget. i yield back. mr. sasse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. sasse: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to speak in memory and in honor of corporal page, a 23-year-old marine from nebraska. he gave his life defending americans and our allies in the chaos of the kabul airport, as many tried to escape the capture of afghanistan by a band of blood-thirsty terrorists. corporal parental is one of 13 heroes who gave his life that day, defending the kabul airport in the midst of that chaotic evacuation. the american people owe these men and women a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to repay. he lost his life while honoring our nation's pr