I would like to say a word about a decorated U.S. Marine Corps veteran. an awardwinning journalist. and a courageous seventhgeneration Texan by the name of Austin Tice. In 2012 Austin went to Syria as a civilian. He went to report on the brutal civil war that has now claimed the lives of more than 170.000 Syrians. caused a huge refugee crisis in Turkey. Lebanon. and in other countries in that region and has destabilized that entire region. Austin was a strong believer in the freedom of the press and the importance of letting his fellow countrymen know what was happening in the Syrian civil war.