[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 125 (Monday, September 24, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H5966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO TOM BURNETT, JR., A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ramstad) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a true 
American hero. America owes Tom Burnett, Jr., a deep debt of gratitude 
for his bravery on September 11. Indeed, the Members of this very body 
may owe their very lives to Tom Burnett, Jr.
  Mr. Speaker, Tom Burnett, who grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota in 
the Third Congressional District, which I am privileged to represent, 
was aboard United Flight 93 on that darkest of days for our Nation. Tom 
was among the small group of passengers who confronted the hijackers 
that fateful morning. Department of Defense officials believe Flight 93 
was headed for a target here in Washington, most likely the White House 
or the Capitol.
  Tom was able to reach his wife, Deena, on his cell phone from the 
plane. She told him that other hijacked planes had crashed into the 
World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.

                              {time}  1900

  Tom then told her, and I am quoting, ``We've got to do something. I 
know we're all going to die. There's three of us who are going to do 
something about it.''
  Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what Tom Burnett did. His courage and 
sacrifice foiled the hijackers' plans of mass destruction. Without 
regard to his own safety, Tom helped save countless lives.
  In recent days, after listening to the tape from the black box, law 
enforcement officials have described a desperate struggle aboard the 
plane. As FBI Director Mueller said after being briefed on the contents 
of the tape, and I am quoting, ``We believe those passengers were 
absolute heroes, and their actions during this flight were heroic.''
  Mr. Speaker, Tom Burnett, Jr. has shown this kind of selfless 
leadership many times before. As a quarterback at Thomas Jefferson High 
School in Bloomington, Minnesota, Tom's inspired play led his team to 
the conference championship game in 1980, the only game they lost that 
season. The team that beat them won the State title, in fact. He was 
also a leader in his remarkable business career, as chief operating 
officer for a medical device manufacturer in California.
  No one who knew Tom Burnett is surprised at his heroism.
  His football coach in high school, Bruno Waldner, said, ``Tom, if 
anybody, would have the type of character to do that. He didn't get 
rattled. He took everybody up another level. He was on an average 
football team that went on to play over their heads. And they almost 
won a championship.''
  Another business associate said: ``Tom was a man of action. If he 
knew that he could have any potential beneficial effect and he knew 
what the odds were, he would have taken action.'' Another business 
associate said: ``This was very much in character for Tom Burnett. It's 
just the type of man he was.''
  Mr. Speaker, such moving testimonials to this great and courageous 
man have literally come in floods of words and tears in recent days 
back in Minnesota. At a memorial service last Tuesday night at St. 
Edward's Catholic Church in Bloomington, I was among the 1,200 mourners 
who attended and heard many such moving tributes. The streets and 
parking lot of that church were lined with many other people who could 
not get into the packed church. Many waved American flags of all sizes. 
It was very sad. And it was very uplifting.
  Mr. Speaker, many people claim America has suffered from a lack of 
heroes in recent years. Not anymore. Not with Tom Burnett, Jr. to look 
up to. Like so many heroes of September 11 who gave their lives to help 
others, from Tom and his fellow passengers on Flight 93, to the police, 
rescue personnel and firefighters in New York who rushed into those 
doomed towers and so many others, America has real heroes to remember 
and to cherish. We must never forget their ultimate sacrifice.
  Mr. Speaker, our thoughts and prayers are with Tom's wonderful 
family, his loving wife, Deena, their daughters Madison, Halley and 
Anna-Clair, his parents Thomas Sr. and Beverly of Bloomington, and his 
sisters Martha O'Brien and Mary Margaret Burnett.
  May God bless Tom Burnett and his family. And may God bless America 
and all the heroes and heroines like Tom Burnett who gave their lives 
to save others on September 11.

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