[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 85 (Thursday, June 29, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6111-S6112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              FAIRFAX COUNTY URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM

 Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a fine group 
of Americans who have performed a remarkable service to this country 
and to our global community. The Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue 
Team were honored on June 27, 2000 in a ceremony held at The Pentagon 
for their extraordinary efforts over the past 14 years. The following 
remarks were delivered on this occasion by Secretary of Defense William 
Cohen:

       Senators Warner and Robb, Congressmen Moran and Davis, 
     thank you all for joining us here today and for your tireless 
     efforts on behalf of our men and women in uniform. Deputy 
     Secretary DeLeon; Assistant Chief of Fairfax County Urban 
     Fire and Rescue Team, Mark Wheatly; members of the Fairfax 
     County Urban Search and Rescue Team and your families and 
     friends; distinguished guests--including our canine friends; 
     ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to welcome all of our 
     guests, whether they arrived on two legs or on four.
       Two years ago, I received a call in the middle of the 
     night. It was the tragic news of the embassy bombings in 
     Kenya and Tanzania. And I think all Americans--indeed, people 
     the world over--were simply stunned by the unspeakable 
     cruelty and inhumanity of that act, the lives of 267 innocent 
     men and women snuffed out in a single instant of 
     indiscriminate violence.
       Such moments force us to pause and reflect on the thinness 
     of the membrane that separates this life from the next, on 
     how quickly our hearts can be stopped and our voices can be 
     silenced. And there is the futile wish that we all experience 
     in grief: the wish to turn back the hand of time, to reverse 
     what fate has just dictated. Of course, we cannot. But what 
     we can do is renew our appreciation of the precarious and 
     precious nature of our lives, resolve to use our time and 
     energy to preserve and protect the sanctity of life and 
     freedom, and rededicate ourselves to those principles of 
     humaneness and generosity.
       Today, we are here to honor and express our thanks to a 
     group of men and women who have taken that ideal to its 
     highest expression, who have made that ideal both a career 
     and a calling. Time after time over the past 14 years, those 
     of you in the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team 
     have responded to some of the worst disasters of our time: 
     Mexico City, Armenia, Oklahoma City, Turkey, the Philippines, 
     and Taiwan. You have gone into cities whose devastation could 
     vie with Dante's vision of hell. And upon your arrival, there 
     has been no food, no water, no electricity. On every block, 
     horrific scenes of carnage. On every face, confusion, 
     fatigue, and grief. But in every case, you have used your 
     energy, innovation, and skill to make a tangible difference 
     in the lives of disaster victims.
       Sometimes it has been risky and harrowing, such as in the 
     Philippines, where your team worked more than 9 hours in a 
     collapsed hotel to free a trapped man while ground tremors 
     from the earthquake continued.

[[Page S6112]]

       Sometimes it has been a combination of thoughtful planning 
     and sheer luck, such as when a special camera was able to 
     locate an 8-year-old boy, who had practically been buried 
     alive when his bunk bed collapsed under the weight of a 
     crushed building in Turkey.
       Sometimes it has been grim and bittersweet, such as when 
     you were able to save an elderly woman in Armenia who was the 
     sole survivor from her building.
       The rest of us can only imagine the physical and 
     psychological toll that these types of missions take on each 
     of you: day upon day of work without sleep, the chaos of the 
     circumstances, the calls for help and relief that far 
     outnumber your resources and manpower.
       So we wanted, on behalf of the Department of Defense, to 
     pay tribute to your efforts and say thank you; in particular, 
     for the aid that you provided during our response to the 
     tragedy in Kenya and Tanzania; but more broadly, for your 
     sacrifices and those of your families and friends, who have 
     provided so much support during your deployments.
       We want to commend you for the message of friendship that 
     you have sent to the people of other nations on behalf of the 
     United States. When you go to a foreign country and raise 
     your tents, with those American flags sewn on top, and use 
     your skill, patience, courage, and compassion to help other 
     people, that sends a powerful message of goodwill to other 
     nations.
       That is precisely the type of positive example that we in 
     the Department of Defense encourage in our soldiers, sailors, 
     airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen when they are abroad. 
     Because it is a very eloquent and enduring statement about 
     what America stands for.
       I cannot tell you how many times my counterparts abroad 
     have expressed to me their gratitude--to the United States 
     and the American people--for some type of assistance or aid. 
     That type of relationship--including the trust, respect, and 
     appreciation that you earn--is indispensable to diplomacy, 
     stability, and peace. And so we thank you.
       Finally, I want to congratulate you for the example that 
     you have set for cooperation between the military community 
     and the civilian community. Several of you have already 
     participated in our Domestic Preparedness Program, and your 
     efforts are going to be even more important in the future as 
     terrorism and weapons of mass destruction become greater 
     threats here in the United States. Every time we work with 
     you to get your gear and trucks onto an air transport or fly 
     you to a distant location, our partnership becomes more 
     valuable for you and for us. Ultimately, when the sirens 
     sound the next time, that experience will allow even more 
     lives to be saved.
       Just across the hall from my office here in the Pentagon 
     there is a painting of a soldier in prayer. It is graced with 
     an inscription taken from the Book of Isaiah. In the passage, 
     God asks: ``Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'' And 
     Isaiah answers: ``Here I am. Send me.''
       Today it is my pleasure to honor an extraordinary group of 
     Americans who, in the dark and decisive hours after 
     tragedies, have always been willing to say, ``Here I am. Send 
     me.'' You proudly represent not only Fairfax County and the 
     state of Virginia, you represent the best of America and the 
     better angels of our nature.

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