[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 172 (Wednesday, December 12, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




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

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 5, 2001

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be a cosponsor of this 
resolution memorializing the heroic crew and passengers of United 
Airlines Flight 93.
  On September 11, as the fourth hijacked airplane, United Flight 93, 
flew west and then southeast, the passengers called friends and family 
on the ground. They learned the terrible news: hijackers had crashed 
three other airplanes into the World Trade Center towers and the 
Pentagon. They knew their plane would also be turned into a fearsome 
weapon.
  The hijackers underestimated the indomitability of the American 
spirit. We may never know the whole story of the events on Flight 93 
after the hijackers seized control. However, the phone calls and the 
cockpit voice recorder have given us the heart of it: the passengers 
and crew knew they had to act, and they did. They talked, and they 
prayed, and then they rushed the cockpit to try to stop the hijackers. 
A few minutes later, the plane crashed to the ground in rural 
Pennsylvania.
  The nation salutes the crew and passengers of Flight 93 for their 
bravery in the face of overwhelming danger and almost certain death. If 
the flight had continued on its path toward the Nation's Capital, many 
more lives would have been lost. We might also have lost either the 
U.S. Capitol or the White House, the most powerful symbols of our 
nation, and known the world over as symbols of the world's greatest 
democracy.
  I especially wish to acknowledge the heroism of Mark Bingham from San 
Francisco. Six feet five inches tall, Mark had played rugby in college. 
At thirty-one years old, he was CEO of his own public relations firm. 
On the street late one night, he had wrestled a gun from the hands of a 
mugger. He was a risk-taker, a man who lived life to the fullest. I had 
the opportunity to join his partner, Paul Holm, and his family and 
friends in celebrating his life at a memorial service in San Francisco. 
Our hearts go out to them for their loss of this brave man.
  House Concurrent Resolution 232 expresses the sense of the Congress 
that the United States owes its deepest gratitude to the passengers and 
crew of Flight 93, and calls for the placement of a memorial plaque on 
the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. It is with both great sadness and deep 
appreciation that I cast my vote for this resolution.




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