[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 137 (Friday, October 12, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1869-E1870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ``UNITED IN MEMORY'' MEMORIAL SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 11, 2001

  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, one month ago, the most lethal 
terrorist attack in history was visited upon this Nation. Today, about 
25,000 people attended the Department of Defense's ``United in Memory'' 
memorial service to celebrate the lives and mourn the loss of the 
people claimed in this attack. Members of the Cabinet and Congress 
joined the public on the grounds of the Pentagon ``to console and 
pray'' with the families of the victims and, as Secretary Rumsfeld 
said, ``remember them as believers in the heroic ideal for which this 
Nation stands and for which this building exists.''
  The President, Secretary of Defense, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
of Staff all spoke of the loss we suffered on September 11 and the 
resolve that it has spawned. In the words of President Bush, ``Brick by 
brick we will quickly rebuild the Pentagon. In the missions ahead for 
the military you will have everything you need, every resource, every 
weapon, every means to assure full victory for the United States and 
the cause of freedom.''
  I'd like to insert the following remarks into the Record so that they 
may forever pay tribute to those affected by terror on September 11th.

              President Pays Tribute at Pentagon Memorial

       The President. Please be seated. President and Senator 
     Clinton, thank you all for being here. We have come here to 
     pay our respects to 125 men and women who died in the service 
     of America. We also remember 64 passengers on a hijacked 
     plane; those men and women, boys and girls who fell into the 
     hands of evildoers, and also died here exactly one month ago.
       On September 11th, great sorrow came to our country. And 
     from that sorrow has come great resolve. Today, we are a 
     nation awakened to the evil of terrorism, and determined to 
     destroy it. That work began the moment we were attacked; and 
     it will continue until justice is delivered.
       Americans are returning, as we must, to the normal pursuits 
     of life. (Applause.) Americans are returning, as we must, to 
     the normal pursuits of life. But we know that if you lost a 
     son or daughter here, or a husband, or a wife, or a mom or 
     dad, life will never again be as it was. The loss was sudden, 
     and hard, and permanent. So difficult to explain. So 
     difficult to accept.
       Three schoolchildren traveling with their teacher. An Army 
     general. A budget analyst who reported to work here for 30 
     years. A lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve who left 
     behind a wife, a four-year-old son, and another child on the 
     way.
       One life touches so many others. One death can leave sorrow 
     that seems almost unbearable. But to all of you who lost 
     someone here, I want to say: You are not alone. The American 
     people will never forget the cruelty that was done here and 
     in New York, and in the sky over Pennsylvania.
       We will never forget all the innocent people killed by the 
     hatred of a few. We know the loneliness you feel in your 
     loss. The entire nation, entire nation shares in your 
     sadness. And we pray for you and your loved ones. And we will 
     always honor their memory.
       The hijackers were instruments of evil who died in vain. 
     Behind them is a cult of evil which seeks to harm the 
     innocent and thrives on human suffering. Theirs is the worst 
     kind of cruelty, the cruelty that is fed, not weakened, by 
     tears. Theirs is the worst kind of violence, pure malice, 
     while daring to claim the authority of God. We cannot fully 
     understand the designs and power of evil. It is enough to 
     know that evil, like goodness, exists. And in the terrorists, 
     evil has found a willing servant.
       In New York, the terrorists chose as their target a symbol 
     of America's freedom and confidence. Here, they struck a 
     symbol of our strength in the world. And the attack on the 
     Pentagon, on that day, was more symbolic than they knew. It 
     was on another September 11th--September 11th, 1941--that 
     construction on this building first began. America was just 
     then awakening to another menace: The Nazi terror in Europe.
       And on that very night, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke 
     to the nation. The danger, he warned, has long ceased to be a 
     mere possibility. The danger is here now. Not only from a 
     military enemy, but from an enemy of all law, all liberty, 
     all morality, all religion.
       For us too, in the year 2001, an enemy has emerged that 
     rejects every limit of law, morality, and religion. The 
     terrorists have no true home in any country, or culture, or 
     faith. They dwell in dark corners of earth. And there, we 
     will find them.
       This week, I have called--(applause)--this week, I have 
     called the Armed Forces into action. One by one, we are 
     eliminating power centers of a regime that harbors al Qaeda 
     terrorists. We gave that regime a choice: Turn over the 
     terrorists, or face your ruin. They chose unwisely. 
     (Applause.)
       The Taliban regime has brought nothing but fear and misery 
     to the people of Afghanistan. These rulers call themselves 
     holy men, even with their record of drawing money from heroin 
     trafficking. They consider themselves pious and devout, while 
     subjecting women to fierce brutality.
       The Taliban has allied itself with murderers and gave them 
     shelter. But today, for al Qaeda and the Taliban, there is no 
     shelter. (Applause.) As Americans did 60 years ago, we have 
     entered a struggle of uncertain duration. But now, as then, 
     we can be certain of the outcome, because we have a number of 
     decisive assets.
       We have a unified country. We have the patience to fight 
     and win on many fronts: Blocking terrorist plans, seizing 
     their funds, arresting their networks, disrupting their 
     communications, opposing their sponsors. And we have one more 
     great asset in this cause: The brave men and women of the 
     United States military. (Applause.)
       From my first days in this office, I have felt and seen the 
     strong spirit of the Armed Forces. I saw it at Fort Stewart, 
     Georgia, when I first reviewed our troops as Commander-in-
     Chief, and looked into the faces of proud and determined 
     soldiers. I saw it in Annapolis on a graduation day, at Camp 
     Pendleton in California, Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. And I have 
     seen this spirit at the Pentagon, before and after the attack 
     on this building.
       You've responded to a great emergency with calm and 
     courage. And for that, your country honors you. A Commander-
     in-Chief must know, must know that he can count on the skill 
     and readiness of servicemen and women at every point in the 
     chain of command. You have given me that confidence.
       And I give you these commitments. The wound to this 
     building will not be forgotten, but it will be repaired. 
     Brick by brick, we will quickly rebuild the Pentagon. 
     (Applause.) In the missions ahead for the military, you will 
     have everything you need, every resource, every weapon--
     (applause)--every means to assure full victory for the United 
     States and the cause of freedom. (Applause.)
       And I pledge to you that America will never relent on this 
     war against terror. (Applause.) There will be times of swift, 
     dramatic action. There will be times of steady, quiet 
     progress. Over time, with patience and precision, the 
     terrorists will be pursued. They will be isolated, 
     surrounded, cornered, until there is no place to run, or 
     hide, or rest. (Applause.)
       As military and civilian personnel in the Pentagon, you are 
     an important part of the struggle we have entered. You know 
     the risks of your calling, and you have willingly accepted 
     them. You believe in our country, and our country believes in 
     you. (Applause.)
       Within sight of this building is Arlington Cemetery, the 
     final resting place of many thousands who died for our 
     country over the generations. Enemies of America have now 
     added to these graves, and they wish to add more. Unlike our 
     enemies, we value every life, and we mourn every loss.
       Yet we're not afraid. Our cause is just, and worthy of 
     sacrifice. Our nation is strong of heart, firm of purpose. 
     Inspired by all the courage that has come before, we will 
     meet our moment and we will prevail. (Applause.)
       May God bless you all, and may God bless America. 
     (Applause.)

                                  ____
                                  

    Memorial Service in Remembrance of Those Lost on September 11th


           Remarks by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld

       We are gathered here because of what happened here on 
     September 11th. Events that bring to mind tragedy--but also 
     our gratitude to those who came to assist that day and 
     afterwards, those we saw at the Pentagon site everyday--the 
     guards, police, fire and rescue workers, the Defense 
     Protective service, hospitals, Red Cross, family center 
     professionals and volunteers and many others.
       And yet our reason for being here today is something else.
       We are gathered here to remember, to console and to pray.
       To remember comrades and colleagues, friends and family 
     members--those lost to us on Sept. 11th.
       We remember them as heroes. And we are right to do so. They 
     died because--in words of justification offered by their 
     attackers--they were Americans. They died, then, because of 
     how they lived--as free men and women, proud of their 
     freedom, proud of their country and proud of their country's 
     cause--the cause of human freedom.
       And they died for another reason--the simple fact they 
     worked here in this building--the Pentagon.
       It is seen as a place of power, the locus of command for 
     what has been called the greatest accumulation of military 
     might in history. And yet a might used far differently than 
     the long course of history has usually known.
       In the last century, this building existed to oppose two 
     totalitarian regimes that sought to oppress and to rule other 
     nations. And it is no exaggeration of historical judgment to 
     say that without this building, and those who worked here, 
     those two regimes would not have been stopped or thwarted in 
     their oppression of countless millions.
       But just as those regimes sought to rule and oppress, 
     others in this century seek to

[[Page E1870]]

     do the same by corrupting a noble religion. Our President has 
     been right to see the similarity--and to say that the fault, 
     the evil is the same. It is the will to power, the urge to 
     dominion over others, to the point of oppressing them, even 
     to taking thousands of innocent lives--or more. And that this 
     oppression makes the terrorist a believer--not in the 
     theology of God, but the theology of self--and in the 
     whispered words of temptation: ``Ye shall be as Gods.''
       In targeting this place, then, and those who worked here, 
     the attackers, the evildoers correctly sensed that the 
     opposite of all they were, and stood for, resided here.
       Those who worked here--those who on Sept. 11 died here--
     whether civilians or in uniform--side by side they sought not 
     to rule, but to serve. They sought not to oppress, but to 
     liberate. They worked not to take lives, but to protect them. 
     And they tried not to preempt God, but see to it His 
     creatures lived as He intended--in the light and dignity of 
     human freedom.
       Our first task then is to remember the fallen as they 
     were--as they would have wanted to be remembered--living in 
     freedom, blessed by it, proud of it and willing--like so many 
     others before them, and like so many today, to die for it.
       And to remember them as believers in the heroic ideal for 
     which this nation stands and for which this building exists--
     the ideal of service to country and to others.
       Beyond all this, their deaths remind us of a new kind of 
     evil, the evil of a threat and menace to which this nation 
     and the world has now fully awakened, because of them.
       In causing this awakening, then, the terrorists have 
     assured their own destruction. And those we mourn today, 
     have, in the moment of their death, assured their own triumph 
     over hate and fear. For out of this act of terror--and the 
     awakening it brings--here and across the globe--will surely 
     come a victory over terrorism. A victory that one day may 
     save millions from the harm of weapons of mass destruction. 
     And this victory--their victory--we pledge today.
       But it we gather here to remember them--we are also here to 
     console those who shared their lives, those who loved them. 
     And yet, the irony is that those whom we have come to console 
     have given us the best of all consolations, by reminding us 
     not only of the meaning of the deaths, but of the lives of 
     their loved ones.
       ``He was a hero long before the eleventh of September,'' 
     said a friend of one of those we have lost--``a hero every 
     single day, a hero to his family, to his friends and to his 
     professional peers.''
       A veteran of the Gulf War--hardworking, who showed up at 
     the Pentagon at 3:30 in the morning, and then headed home in 
     the afternoon to be with his children--all of whom he loved 
     dearly, but one of whom he gave very special care, because 
     she needs very special care and love.
       About him and those who served with him, his wife said: 
     ``It's not just when a plane hits their building. They are 
     heroes every day.''
       ``Heroes every day.'' We are here to affirm that. And to do 
     this on behalf of America. And also to say to those who 
     mourn, who have lost loved ones: Know that the heart of 
     America is here today, and that it speaks to each one of you 
     words of sympathy, consolation, compassion and love. All the 
     love that the heart of America--and a great heart it is--can 
     muster.
       Watching and listening today, Americans everywhere are 
     saying: I wish I could be there to tell them how sorry we 
     are, how much we grieve for them. And to tell them too, how 
     thankful we are for those they loved, and that we will 
     remember them, and recall always the meaning of their deaths 
     and their lives.
       A Marine chaplain, in trying to explain why there could be 
     no human explanation for a tragedy such as this, said once: 
     ``You would think it would break the heart of God.''
       We stand today in the midst of tragedy--the mystery of 
     tragedy. Yet a mystery that is part of that larger awe and 
     wonder that causes us to bow our heads in faith and say of 
     those we mourn, those we have lost, the words of scripture: 
     ``Lord now let Thy servants go in peace, Thy word has been 
     fulfilled.''
       To the families and friends of our fallen colleagues and 
     comrades we extend today our deepest sympathy and 
     condolences--and those of the American people.
       We pray that God will give some share of the peace that now 
     belongs to those we lost, to those who knew and loved them in 
     this life.
       But as we grieve together we are also thankful--thankful 
     for their lives, thankful for the time we had with them. And 
     proud too--as proud as they were--that they lived their lives 
     as Americans.
       We are mindful too--and resolute that their deaths, like 
     their lives, shall have meaning. And that the birthright of 
     human freedom--a birthright that was theirs as Americans and 
     for which they died--will always be ours and our children's. 
     And through our efforts and example, one day, the birthright 
     of every man, woman, and child on earth.

                                  ____
                                  

                       Pentagon Memorial Service


Remarks by General Richard B. Myers, USAF, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
                                of Staff

       Ladies and gentlemen, Today we remember family members, 
     friends, and colleagues lost in the barbaric attack on the 
     Pentagon--civilian and military Pentagon employees, the 
     contractors who support us, and the passenger and crew of 
     Flight 77. We also grieve with the rest of America and the 
     world for those killed in New York City and Pennsylvania. We 
     gather to comfort each other and to honor the dead.
       Our DOD colleagues working in the Pentagon that day would 
     insist that they were only doing their jobs. But we know 
     better. We know, and they knew, that they were serving their 
     country. And suddenly, on 11 September they were called to 
     make the ultimate sacrifice. For that, we call them heroes.
       We honor the heroism of defending our Nation. We honor the 
     heroism of taking an oath to support the Constitution. We 
     honor the heroism of standing ready to serve the greater good 
     of our society.
       That same heroism was on display at the Pentagon in the 
     aftermath of the attack. Co-workers, firefighters, police 
     officers, medics--even private citizens driving past on the 
     highway--all rushed to help and put themselves in grave 
     danger to rescue survivors and treat the injured.
       One of them, who I had a chance to meet recently, was Army 
     Sergeant Adis Goodwill, a young emergency medical technician. 
     She drove the first ambulance from Walter Reed Army Hospital 
     to arrive at the scene.
       Sergeant Goodwill spent long hours treating the wounded--
     simply doing her duty--all the while not knowing, and 
     worrying about, the fate of her sister, Lia, who worked in 
     the World Trade Center. She would eventually learn that Lia 
     was OK.
       Prior to 11 September, Sergeant Goodwill hadn't decided 
     whether to reenlist in the Army or not. After the tragic 
     events of that day, her course was clear. And three weeks 
     ago, I had the privilege of reenlisting her. With tears of 
     pride in their eyes, her family, including her sister Lia, 
     watched her take the oath of office. Sergeant Goodwill is 
     with us today.
       The heroes kept coming in the days following the 11th--
     individual volunteers, both civilian and military; 
     firefighters; police officers; and civil and military rescue 
     units working on the site. Other Americans helped too, as 
     General Van Alstyne said, with donations of equipment, 
     supplies, and food; letters and posters from school children; 
     and American flags everywhere.
       Today, we mourn our losses, but we should also celebrate 
     the spirit of the heroes of 11 September, both living and 
     dead, and the heroic spirit that remains at the core of our 
     great Nation. This is what our enemies do not understand. 
     They can knock us off stride for a moment or two. But then, 
     we will gather ourselves with an unmatched unity of purpose 
     and will rise to defend the ideals that make this country a 
     beacon of hope around the world.
       In speaking of those ideals, John Quincy Adams once said, 
     ``I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it 
     will cost to . . . support and defend these states; yet, 
     through all the gloom I can see the rays of light and 
     glory.'' The light and glory of our ideals remain within our 
     grasp. That's what our heroes died for.
       Some of them--the uniformed military members--made the 
     commitment to fight for, and if necessary, to die for our 
     country from the beginnings of their careers. Our civilian 
     DOD employees had chosen to serve in a different way but are 
     now bound to their uniformed comrades in the same sacrifice. 
     Other victims, employees of contractors and the passengers 
     and crew of the airliner, were innocents--casualties of a war 
     not of their choosing.
       But if by some miracle, we were able to ask all of them 
     today whether a Nation and government such as ours is worth 
     their sacrifices; if we were able to ask them today whether 
     that light and glory is worth future sacrifices; the answer, 
     surely, would be a resounding ``yes.'' The terrorists who 
     perpetrated this violence should know that there are millions 
     more American patriots who echo that resounding yes.
       We who defend this Nation say to those who threaten us--
     here we stand--resolute in our allegiance to the 
     Constitution; united in our service to the American people 
     and the preservation of our way of life; undaunted in our 
     devotion to duty and honor.
       We remember the dead. We call them heroes, not because they 
     died, but because they lived in service to the greater good. 
     We know that's small comfort to those who have lost family 
     members and dear friends. To you, this tragedy is very 
     personal, and our thoughts and our prayers are with you. We 
     will never forget the sacrifices of your loved ones.
       We ask God to bless and keep them. We pray for their 
     families, and we also pray for wisdom and courage as we face 
     the many challenges to come. And may God bless America.

     

                          ____________________