[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 126 (Tuesday, September 25, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            FOR ALAN BEAVAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. E. CLAY SHAW, JR.

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 25, 2001

  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, many have discussed the national honors and 
medals that we should confer upon those brave souls who sacrificed 
themselves September 11 to bring down United Airlines flight 93 before 
it could reach Washington, DC, and perhaps this very Capitol building. 
I would like to submit the following piece for the record to highlight 
the actions and the life of one of those on board the flight, who was 
known to the family of one of my staff members. The following was 
written by my legislative director's brother-in-law, Michael A. 
Edwards, who is a director at the Ford Foundation in Manhattan:

            Alan Beavan, October 15, 1952-September 11, 2001

       ``Fear--who cares?'' reads a sign on Alan Beavan's desk. 
     Alan was my friend, and he died defending the same principles 
     for which he lived: love, self-sacrifice, and the rule of law 
     over the rule of violence.
       Alan was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 that 
     crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11th, just after 10 
     o'clock in the morning. Just before 10, two members of his 
     family, separated by thousands of miles in California and 
     Boston, had the exact same vision flash across their 
     consciousness: Alan, with his arm around the throat of an 
     unknown assailant, locked in a life-or-death struggle, and 
     singing at the top of his lungs as the plane went down.
       Now, of course, the world knows that this vision was 
     reality. Alan and his fellow bravehearts overpowered their 
     hijackers and forced flight 93 away from its intended target 
     in Washington, DC, sacrificing themselves in the process. His 
     wife Kimi will be at the White House on Wednesday, September 
     26th, to collect the Congressional Medal of Honor from 
     President Bush on Alan's behalf.
       Alan died the day after his eighth wedding anniversary, 
     returning to California to prosecute his latest case against 
     pollution in the South Fork of the American River. After a 
     lifetime spent teaching and practicing public interest law in 
     New Zealand, London, New York and San Francisco, Alan had 
     risen to become the finest environmental lawyer on the West 
     Coast. His specialty was the defense of the natural world 
     against corporate interests, though he lost more cases than 
     he won, especially against the oil and logging companies. 
     Nevertheless, the evidence he presented, and the arguments he 
     made, have helped to strengthen corporate responsibility in 
     the public eye.
       Alan leaves behind a large and loving extended family, 
     including John and Chris, his two sons by his first wife Liz, 
     and the exquisite Dahlia Sonali, his 5-year old daughter by 
     his second wife, Kimi Kaipaka.
       ``Where is Alan?'' a friend asked Sonali last week, worried 
     that she might not understand the reality of her father's 
     death.
       ``He's in court'', she said, understanding perfectly well, 
     ``defending the angels.''
       I love that, not just because it sums up Alan exactly, but 
     also because it reminds us to hold onto the highest as we 
     stumble forward in the weeks and months ahead. War, even 
     death, would be no defeat for Bin Laden and his kind. This is 
     what they want. Only the triumph of non-violence, secured 
     through just laws justly applied, will bring the terrorists 
     down.
       Alan's family and friends said goodbye to him yesterday, 
     Sunday, September 23rd. We swapped our favorite stories, sang 
     to his memory, and saw photos of the heart of flowers, rice 
     and sesame seeds that Sonali had made and left at the crash 
     site, amid the hills and forests of Somerset County.

     ``Have I told you lately that I love you?
     Have I told you there's no one else above you?
     Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness,
     Ease my troubles, that's what you do.''

       Alan was a great soul, and he enriched the lives of 
     everyone who knew him.
       He was love in action.
       Fearless, even in the darkest of circumstances.
       And always on the side of the angels.

       

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