[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 169 (Friday, December 7, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS IN HONORING THE CREW AND PASSENGERS OF 
                       UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 93

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ERNIE FLETCHER

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 5, 2001

  Mr. FLETCHER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for his 
work on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to vote for this 
measure; and I really do not think it will take a lot of encouragement 
because we have had an overwhelming expression of enthusiasm regarding 
those on United Airlines Flight 93 and their heroic activities.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a resolution expressing a sense of Congress that 
a memorial plaque be established on the grounds of the Capitol. It is 
an expression of our thanks and condolences to the passengers and crew 
of Flight 93.
  I also want to thank my Legislative Director, Phillip Brown, who has 
worked very hard to get this done. I think it will be great for 
posterity as they see a plaque that honors those on Flight 93 who I do 
believe had a significant part in probably saving our Capitol.
  On September 11, United Airlines Flight 93, piloted by Captain James 
Dahl, departed from Newark International Airport at 8:01 a.m. on a 
routine flight to San Francisco with six other crew members and 38 
passengers on board. Shortly after departure, the flight was hijacked-
by terrorists.
  The hijacking was one of four, as we all remember, on the morning of 
September 11. We all remember that date because it was a horrible day 
and a turning point in our nation's history. Four of our own planes 
were hijacked and targeted on buildings that define our nation and 
symbolize our freedom and values and symbolize our nation's economic 
and military strength. Three of these planes hit their marks, resulting 
in an incomprehensible tragedy and loss of innocent life on a scale not 
seen in this country since the Civil War.
  We know that the passengers and crew learned through cellular phone 
conversations with loved ones on the ground of the deliberate acts of 
destruction and murder occurring in New York City and Washington, D.C., 
and that hijacked aircraft had been used in these terrorist acts of 
war.
  During these phone conversations, several of the passengers indicated 
that there was an agreement among the passengers and crew to try to 
overpower the hijackers who had taken over the aircraft. It is believed 
that it was this effort to overpower the hijackers that caused Flight 
93 to crash at 10:37 a.m. in southwestern Pennsylvania near 
Schwenksville, short of what is believed to have been its intended 
target, Washington, D.C., and probably, this very Capitol building we 
stand in today.
  The efforts of these individuals on this plane heroically limited the 
damage the terrorists could inflict, losing their lives for their 
country in the process. We owe the passengers and the crew our 
gratitude and our honor.
  The participants of the resistance on board Flight 93 showed selfless 
courage and patriotism:
  Passengers like Todd Beamer, whose young widow is here today in 
Washington. He told a telephone operator how much he loved his 
expecting wife and two sons, and he asked her to call them. He asked 
her to pray the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23 with him. He told her, ``I 
am going to have to go out in faith,'' and his now famous words ``Let's 
roll'' have become a rallying cry in America.
  Passengers like Tom Burnett, who left what he knew would be likely 
his last conversation with his wife saying, ``Okay, we are going to do 
something.''
  Passengers like Jeremy Glick, who told his wife that the passengers 
and crew had taken a vote and agreed to try to take back the plane.
  Crew members like Sandra Bradshaw, who told her husband of the plan 
to rush the hijackers and take back control of the plane, and that she 
was boiling water to use as a weapon against the terrorists.
  The passengers and crew, all of whom are survived by loved ones, 
husbands, wives, children, and parents, very likely averted the 
destruction of the U.S. Capitol and the symbol this institution has 
become for the democratic process of government, and in the process, 
saving hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives.
  By their heroic acts, the Statue of Freedom still stands at the top 
of our noble dome, and the light of freedom still shines brightly here 
in the Capitol.
  This resolution expresses the sense of Congress that a memorial 
plaque to honor Captain Jason Dahl, First Officer Leroy Homer, flight 
attendants Lorraine G. Bay, Sandra W. Bradshaw, Wanda A. Green, Ceecee 
Lyles, Deborah A. Welch, passengers Christian Adams, Todd Beamer, Alan 
Beaven, Mark Bingham, Thomas Burnett, William Cashman, Georgine 
Corrigan, Patricia Cushing, Joseph DeLuca, Patrick Driscoll, Edward 
Felt, Jane C. Folger, Colleen Fraser, Andrew Garcia, Jeremy Glick, 
Christine Gould, Lauren Grandcolas, Donald Greene, Linda Gronlund, 
Richard Guadagno, Toshiya Kuge, Hilda Marcin, Waleska Martinez, Nicole 
Miller, Louis J. Nacke, Donald Peterson, Jean Peterson, Mark 
Rothenberg, Christine Snyder, John Talignani, and Honor Elizabeth 
Wainio.
  This plaque should be crafted and placed here on the grounds of the 
United States Capitol expressing our thanks and condolences; and a copy 
of the plaque, together with a copy of this resolution from the 
Congressional Record, should be sent to a designated survivor of each 
victim.
  I am confident with the passage of this resolution that the Speaker 
of the House, the House minority, the Senate Majority Leader, and the 
Senate Minority Leader will ask and direct the Architect of the Capitol 
to begin plans for design, crafting, and placement of this plaque as 
soon as possible.
  I also want to thank my colleagues for their support of this 
resolution. After this vote, I intend to send a letter to the 
leadership regarding this sense of Congress, and I invite my colleagues 
to join me.

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