[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S7740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE VICTIMS OF FLIGHT 800

 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise in remembrance of the 228 
victims of the TWA airline crash off the Long Island coast which 
occurred just 1 year ago today. In that accident, the community of 
Montoursville, PA, lost 16 of its young citizens--students from the 
local high school who were traveling abroad as members of the school's 
french club--and 5 adult chaperones.
  While its cause remains unknown, I believe it is critical that our 
remembrance of the accident not be defined by this uncertainty, 
difficult as it is for those who mourn the death of family and friends. 
Because we do know, with certainty, what we lost: sons, daughters, 
classmates, as well as mothers, fathers, and neighbors. We know of 
their contributions to their communities, schools, and professions. We 
know, especially in the cases of the youngest victims, of their promise 
and of their vitality. We know of their importance in the lives of 
their families. It is with this sure knowledge of who the victims were 
and of what they did in their lives that we should remember them.
  The loss of the young Pennsylvania students--and all the members of 
that flight--to unexplained tragedy is terrible to bear. I know that 
the Montoursville students were the pride of their community. 
Responsible and accomplished students, cherished sons and daughters, 
they undertook the much-anticipated trip to France with gratitude, 
excitement and hope. By remembering them in this way perhaps we will 
always somehow know their presence in our lives.

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