[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 120 (Friday, September 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON TERRORIST ATTACKS

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                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 14, 2001

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, like most of my 
fellow Americans, I am at a loss for the appropriate words to express 
how angry, how appalled and how deeply saddened I am about the violence 
that was committed against our country this week.
  And yet, I see acts of resolve and courage around me--the rescue 
workers risking and losing their lives, the long lines of blood donors, 
the American flags waving proudly from houses, from barns, from cars 
and from schools--I realize that no mere words can make the American 
commitment to freedom any stronger than it already is.
  This country was the target of a faceless, voiceless aggressor who 
stole the lives of thousands of innocent people but who now lacks the 
courage to stand up and tell us who they are or why they did what they 
did.
  But let this enemy rest assured that we are not a nation in hiding 
and have not become the victim of helplessness or fear. Rather, we are 
a country that is finding tremendous strength from some deep place in 
our collective spirit, and that strength will take us in the coming 
days, weeks and months where we as a nation need to go.
  As for the thousands of people who lost loved ones in this senseless 
tragedy, I wish I could personally speak to each one, shake their hands 
and tell them what heroes they and their loved ones are in this 
country's eyes. But they probably already know that. If not yet--they 
will in time.
  There is one thing I can say with certainty and that is this: America 
is on the threshold of change. It will never be the same, and as I 
personally mourn and grapple with frustration and sift through the 
rubble of what happened all around me, I am also prouder to be an 
American that I have ever been in my life.

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