[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 136 (Thursday, October 11, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     DANISH SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES IN WAKE OF TERRORISTS ATTACKS

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 11, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, the tragedy one month ago today on September 
11 has not only created a new unity within our nation, but throughout 
the rest of the world and the strong political support and spontaneous 
public displays of compassion have touched all of us. The American 
people's spirits have been lifted as they've witnessed the outpouring 
of support and testaments of solidarity with the American people 
expressed by the world community. They understand that these horrific 
attacks were not merely aimed at the American people and our symbols of 
freedom and prosperity, but they were attacks against all free and 
democratic nations around the globe.
  Mr. Speaker, while we have seen such expressions of support for our 
country from Nations everywhere, as Chairman of the Congressional 
Friends of Denmark, I would like to call the attention of my colleagues 
to what our Danish friends have done. The well-known Danish 
humanitarian spirit was in no better evidence than after the terrible 
attacks on New York City and Washington. As word of the tragedy arrived 
in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, a slow, steady stream of Danish 
citizens began congregating in front of our Embassy. As hundreds 
grasped candles, they laid on the sidewalk tokens of their sorrow and 
solidarity: flowers, ribbons, hastily scribbled notes, banners, 
drawings, and flags. People came and left throughout the night and soon 
thousands of candles flickered in the darkness. United States Embassy 
staff were greeted with handshakes, hugs and many tears as they left 
the building. Some Danes joined hands and sang Amazing Grace as well as 
traditional Danish songs of mourning.
  The next morning, there was still no let up in the number of people 
and flowers. For the next three days, much of it in rain and cold, 
thousands of Danes took their turn holding vigil in front of our 
Embassy in as much a deep felt display of caring for the victims, as 
their own silent protest against the new threat to the liberty and 
freedom of all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, by Friday, well over a thousand people, far more than 
could be accommodated in the small courtyard on the Embassy compound, 
assembled in front of our Embassy for a ceremony to honor those who 
lost their lives in the attacks. The event was watched on live 
television by much of the nation. At noon, traffic in Copenhagen 
literally stopped for two minutes, as average citizens stepped out of 
their cars, from Kongens Nytorv to Radhuspladsen, and on streets from 
Amager to Charlottelund, they stopped everything for two minutes of 
silence. No honking of horns, no rumble of buses, no sounds of 
airplanes, no sirens, just the ringing of thousands of church bells.
  Earlier, Queen Margrethe II, the Prime Minister and all members of 
government, leading opposition politicians, the diplomatic corps, 
joined our Embassy staff at one of hundreds of memorial services. At 
the same time, throughout the whole country people were pouring into 
places of worship to express their grief.
  Even today, Danish fire fighters, police officers and public servants 
along with numerous private organizations, amateur sports clubs and 
schools have started collections intended for the Red Cross and/or the 
victims' families. An Internet web-site was opened September 13 for 
sympathizers to light a candle for the victims of the terrorist 
attacks, and within a few hours, more than 5,000 had done so. Other 
web-sites offered similar services--thousands of electronic roses have 
thus been sent across the Atlantic.
  Mr. Speaker, the Danish population stands shoulder to shoulder with 
their American friends against this scourge of terrorism. A recent 
Gallup poll shows that eighty percent of the Danes--under normal 
circumstances pacifists by heart--are willing to let their national 
troops participate in military actions against the perpetrators of the 
terrorist attacks. That percentage is the highest registered in all 
public polls in Europe.
  Mr. Speaker, the Danish members of the Royal family, along with 
Danish politicians and government officials and the country's citizens 
have reacted forcefully and with great empathy to the horrible attacks 
on September 11. Their actions, and similar expressions of support and 
compassion from around the globe, have not gone unnoticed here in 
America. We are deeply grateful to the Danes for standing with us in 
our time of trouble, just as we stood with them during their own 
painful experience under Nazism. On behalf of all Americans, we thank 
you.

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