Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)

[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H5609-H5614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

PROVIDING FOR A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CONGRESS IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK
ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2002 IN REMEMBRANCE OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I offer a concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res.
448) providing for representation by Congress at a special meeting in
New York, New York on Friday, September 6, 2002, in remembrance of the
victims and the heroes of September 11, 2001, in recognition of the
courage and spirit of the City of New York, and for other purposes, and
I ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The Speaker pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I will not
object, but on behalf of the New York delegation and the people of New
York, I would like to thank the leadership of the House of
Representatives and that of the other body for supporting this
resolution that would allow a joint session of the House and Senate to
take place in the City of New York.
Being born and raised in New York, it just surprised me how many
things that we take for granted, how many problems that we thought were
so horrendous, how many differences we had as black and white and Jews
and gentiles and Republicans and Democrats and, yet, on September 11,
none of these things seemed important. It really did not make any
difference what borough we were from, whether we were from the inner
cities or the suburbs; as a matter of fact, whether it was upstate or
downstate; we all recognized how privileged and fortunate we are just
to be Americans.
This feeling was felt not only throughout my city, but throughout the
State. When our delegation came to the floor of this august body and
felt the love and affection but, most importantly, the support in
recognizing it was not just the lives of the people that were in the
Twin Towers, but it

[[Page H5610]]

was the lives of Americans that were there. And the heroes were not
people that were in planes or ships or on the battlefields, but they
were ordinary people that fought and worked every day for a better
America.
To think that this Congress would take time out, and especially our
majority leader, who was misquoted and, as a result, felt sometimes an
emotional response for those who thought that he did not want this to
happen, and for a man as big as him in size as well as big as him in
spirit, to say that he wanted this to happen, and it was just a
question of how it would take place, I think that I personally would
want to thank him, as well as the entire leadership, for making us in
New York feel that not only are we appreciated, but the President, the
national government, the Congress has responded, and we are so thankful
that we will be coming to New York as a body in order to show how much
we feel for those people who lost their lives for the United States of
America.
So I yield to the majority leader for an explanation of the bill, and
again thank him personally for the leadership that he provided to make
this bipartisan, indeed, this American dream become a historic reality.
Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for
yielding.
It is a particular pleasure for me to now be finally able to bring
this resolution to the floor. The resolution, Mr. Speaker, calls on the
United States Congress to convene a ceremonial joint meeting in New
York City on Friday, September 6, 2002. The joint commemorative meeting
will be in remembrance of the thousands of people killed and injured as
well as the thousands more grieving friends and families left after the
terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Center.
At a later point we will also consider separate resolutions honoring
the victims of the attacks upon the Pentagon and those who perished in
Flight 93.
The joint meeting will be held at Federal Hall in New York City, a
mere five blocks away from the site of the horrific damage left at
Ground Zero. The historic location of Federal Hall served as the first
meeting place of the United States Congress and where George Washington
was sworn in as the first President of the United States. Fittingly,
the protections of the Bill of Rights, which were assaulted on
September 11, were written within the walls of Federal Hall.
Congress last gathered in a ceremonial session outside the Nation's
capital in Philadelphia in 1987 in celebration of the Bicentennial of
the United States Constitution. It was a very significant event that
called us from these walls then as it is today.
Our show of unity and resolve will continue with this historic
meeting in New York. Appropriately, we have chosen the site of the most
terrible destruction as the location of the joint session. It is only
befitting of the fallen heroes and victims of September 11 that
Congress meet to honor their memory.
Mr. Speaker, a second resolution will follow to address matters of
housekeeping for the event, but first I would like to touch upon the
logistics for the historic date.
The train to New York will leave Union Station in the early morning
of September 6 and arrive in New York around 9:30 a.m. The joint
session will be held at 11 o'clock a.m., followed by a lunch hosted by
Mayor Bloomberg at the Regent Wall Street Hotel. The assembled Members
will then travel to Ground Zero to lay a wreath in honor and
remembrance to those who perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
In the midafternoon, a train will leave from Penn Station for
Washington. There will be separate transportation available to
LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark Airports for Members wishing to return to
their districts who may use their MRA for travel. We will also provide
earlier transportation for Members wishing to return in time for the
Jewish holiday.
The City of New York has advised that it will be paying expenses for
the Commemorative Joint Meeting and the related events of September 11,
as well as the travel expenses of the participating Members, with the
support of the Annenberg Foundation. Normally, Members' acceptance of
such an offer would be subjected to the provision of the House gift
rule on officially conducted travel paid by a private source and the
``unofficial office accounts'' rule. However, Mr. Speaker, this
resolution expressly authorizes acceptance by the Congress of the
City's offer and, as a result, acceptance of the travel and related
benefits is not subject to the provisions of those House rules,
including the requirement of privately funded travel in connection with
official duties.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage all Members of the United States
House of Representatives to attend this historic Commemorative Joint
Meeting of the Congress of the United States in New York City in honor
of the dead, the fallen, the heroes, the sacrifice of that great city.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, and
before I yield to my dear friend, the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Gilman), I would like to add on to what the majority leader has said in
terms of the schedule as relates to the visit to New York for this
historic occasion.
The mayor has authorized me to share with the House that soon the
Visitors and Tourists Bureau of the City of New York will soon be
sending an invitation to those Members that would want to stay over for
the weekend after the historic ceremony, and those expenses will be
paid, and a list of the activities that would be made available should
be received before this week is out. I will be glad, along with the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella), to share with the Members what
information there is before we leave this week.
Mr. Speaker, I now yield to my friend, the gentleman from upstate New
York, (Mr. Gilman), a friend who is the senior Republican for the New
York State delegation, a person that I have enjoyed his friendship and
worked with over the years. We have fought against drug trafficking and
addiction in this country and all over the world but, more importantly
than that, we have shared our personal as well as political experiences
together. It has made both of our political lives a lot easier to enjoy
the type of friendship that we have.
I can say publicly what I have said privately, that this House is
going to miss the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) tremendously. We
thank him so much for the unselfish contributions that the gentleman
has made, not only for the people in his congressional district and the
great State of New York, but for the people in this country and
throughout the world. This may be the last official thing that we may
be doing together, but whatever the gentleman decides to do with the
rest of his life, I do hope that I will be included in the future as
much as we have enjoyed working together presently and in the past.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).

{time} 1400

Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his kind words and
for the pleasure of working with him on this particular project. I
thank our New York colleague (Mr. Rangel), the chairman of our New York
delegation, for yielding to me. And I want to commend the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Rangel) for his steadfast, tireless efforts to make
the special New York session a reality. As the dean of Republican
Members of New York, I have been pleased to work with the gentleman in
introducing and promoting this resolution on behalf of our New York
State delegation.
I am particularly grateful to our distinguished majority leader, the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) and the House leadership for their
kind considerations and agreement to hold this historic session in New
York City. And the itinerary that the majority leader has recited, I
hope our colleagues will take a good look at that and be ready to join
us on September 6.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of this
resolution to convene this historic joint session of Congress in New
York City on September 6. This meeting is being held in New York City
to recognize the spirit, the courage, the unity and cooperation of all
those heroes who were involved, those who were deceased, the victims of
9-11, and all the people of New York City who have given of their
utmost to dedicate their energies and their desire

[[Page H5611]]

to restore New York City to where it was before the barbaric terrorist
attacks of last September.
This historic New York City session is going to be held in Federal
Hall in downtown Manhattan, which was the site of the very first
meeting of the United States Congress and the site of the inauguration
of President Washington. It is, therefore, befitting and appropriate
that Congress will be returning to the birthplace of this post-
constitutional democracy in America as we approach the first
anniversary of September 11.
This resolution offers a fitting and a meaningful way for the
Congress to demonstrate its support for the people of New York State
and, particularly, New York City and its appreciation of their historic
efforts to overcome the tragic events of the past year.
Accordingly, I urge my colleagues and invite them to give this
proposal their wholehearted support. And the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Rangel) and I look forward to joining with our New York delegation
in welcoming Members to New York State to New York City on September 6.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I
thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman).
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the City of New York, the
County of Richmond, the borough of Staton Island, the 13th
Congressional District (Mr. Fossella).
Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Rangel) for yielding and on the outset commend him strongly for his
leadership in really bringing this to fruition and being a vanguard in
this House and Congress to ensure that we have this session. So I thank
him and on behalf of the people of the City and State of New York and,
indeed, the country. We are appreciative of your efforts, as well as
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman). In particular, let me echo
those who thank the leadership, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey),
and, of course, the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) and those
in the other body who really want to do the right thing here.
It is fitting, I think, that what we are talking about is honoring
the victims and the heroes, and, in a way, celebrating what they gave
to this country, how they sacrificed last year on September 11, whether
it be the Pentagon or Flight 93, and, of course, the World Trade
Center; and we must never ever forget those sacrifices. We are now a
stronger country as a result of what happened on that day.
While we have our differences of opinion here in this body and I
guess outside, we belong to different parties, and we have a lot of
different views on a lot of different things, but is it not wonderful
in this country that we can come together to unify, to stand together
in the face of that evil that attacked freedom on September 11? That
we, as a Congress, the elected representatives from across this
country, can go to New York and stand shoulder to shoulder with all of
those New Yorkers who showed the world why we believe we are the
capital of the world. We showed the world what a great place this is.
Mr. Speaker, this is a day on September 6 that is going to indicate
to the rest of the world that the United States of America did not
shudder. We may have been hit hard and a lot of us lost a lot of close
friends and a lot of close family members and relatives or just
neighbors, good honest people lost their lives for the sake of freedom.
So how appropriate that we meet in Federal Hall, Federal Hall that over
200 years ago when we established the Bill of Rights, the freedoms that
we should enjoy, when those freedoms were attacked, how appropriate
that we go back as a reaffirmation that this country is the greatest
institution in the history of the world, and that those victims who
lost their lives and the heroes we praise, shall never be forgotten.
And it is not just going to be September 6, it will be 50 years from
now, it will be 200 years from now; but this, I believe, is fitting.
So let me thank again the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the leadership of this House, the New
York delegation, Mayor Bloomberg who has been very helpful and the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for really leading this effort.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I
yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley). All Americans felt
the pain of the lives that were lost, but the gentleman from New York
and the County of Queens has felt it personally.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and dear friend, the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for yielding to me at this time. I
want to thank the majority leader, the leadership of House, my good
friend from Staton Island, New York (Mr. Fossella), my very dear friend
and colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) for all the
work that was put into making sure that this eventually takes place,
that this meeting on September 6 becomes a reality.
The attack on the World Trade Center in September of last year was
the attack heard around the world. And much the same way that
Lexington, Concord and other events around the world and the shots that
were fired, left impressions forever in the minds of people, the attack
on the World Trade Center last year will never be forgotten.
There is probably not a place on this Earth that people do not know
about the horrific events of September 11 of last year. The 3,000
individuals who lost their lives, many of them giving their lives
trying to save human life, including my first cousin, John Moran, 42
years old, a battalion chief in the New York City Fire Department, a
father of two boys, a musician, an attorney, a historian, a patriot,
someone who loved this country so much.
We lost John Moran. We lost thousands of people like him that day.
And on September 6, the eyes of the world will be on New York City once
again at Federal Hall, appropriately so, one of the places in which
this great Nation was founded, that we should meet as a body for a
meeting to commemorate the attack upon our great Nation, upon our fair
city.
There is no doubt that New York City is still reeling from that
attack. We are in pain. We are suffering. We may not wear it on our
sleeves. We are not talking about it every day. We appreciate the
outpouring of support that we have received from all parts of this
country and from all corners of the world. We are deeply, deeply
appreciative of the membership of this House and of the other body
uniting as a country and coming to the aid and assistance of our great
city in our time of great need.
But a great deal more will have to be done before New York City is
fully back on its feet. But when you come to New York City on September
6, do not be surprised because we are a resilient city, we are a
resilient people, and we are fighting back and we are coming back
strong. And we will show you a city that has been reborn since the
attack of September 11 in large part because of the work of this body,
in large part because of the work of my colleagues, the gentlemen from
New York (Mr. Rangel) and (Mr. Nadler), and all the New York delegation
in uniting to see to it that New York City, New York State is not
forgotten during these very, very difficult times.
Mr. Speaker, I will be at Federal Hall on the morning of September 6.
I hope that each and every Member of this great body find themselves at
what I think will be one of the most memorable occasions in the history
of the House of Representatives. Help make that an even more memorable
occasion by your presence there. I thank you. My constituents will
thank you. Over 105 families who have lost loved ones in my
constituency will thank you. Our city will thank you. Our State will
thank you, and our country will thank you.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, we
thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great borough, the
Bronx, New York (Mr. Serrano), an outstanding Member of the Congress
and a great New Yorker who is always there when we need him, and we
need him now, and he has been just one of our strongest supporters.
Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank our
majority leader and all of our leadership, the

[[Page H5612]]

gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), and the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Rangel), for making this happen. As New Yorkers, we are grateful
and we shall never forget that they have stood by us.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many of the Members remember, and
perhaps they did not notice, but I was not here September 11. I was in
New York City. I was in New York because after making a difficult
decision as to where I should be on that day, I decided that when my
oldest son, Jose, Jr., was running for the New York City Council in a
primary that, I should be there to try to help him get elected on that
day. And, as you know, in New York there are a lot of activities on
election day inside the polls.
I was in front of a polling site trying to spread the good Serrano
name, and around a certain time we began to see the police come out of
the polling sites, we began to see the sirens going down the Bruckner
Expressway, and we knew something was going on. We just did not know
what. And then it happened. Folks started coming from the buildings,
from inside the school in tears, screaming in loud voices, letting us
know that the TV report indicated that two planes had hit the World
Trade Center and that, in fact, another plane had hit the Pentagon.
At that point there was total shock because as New Yorkers and as
Americans, we never believed that this could happen to us.
That same day outside another polling site were two ladies, Consuelo
Maldonado and her daughter, Miriam Juarbe, who have been with us in our
political struggles for the last 30 years and were there that day. What
they did not know is that in downtown New York, Consuelo's grandson and
Miriam's son, a New York Fire officer was involved in that tragic
incident, that attack on our country. And he, like so many others, had
finished his tour, if you will, and decided to stay around and go
inside again to get some people out and he never came out. He died on
that day.
So you see, when we New Yorkers talk about the tragedy, it is both
collectively as a community and it is personal through a relative like
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) or some of our associates or
a friend. And so we cannot begin to tell everyone how important it is
for what this House has done to select September 6 as a day that all
Members go to New York to Federal Hall.
Our city is known to be a city of pretty tough people. In fact, let
us be honest. We have a reputation at times of not having much feelings
about a lot of things. We can turn our back on a lot of things and look
like nothing bothers us. But we are hurting as the gentleman said. We
do not mention it every day. Maybe we do not wear it on our sleeves,
but we are hurting.

{time} 1415

The pain started that day when we lost people. The next day when I
left New York to come back here, the only way a person could get out of
New York was by car, the only way. There was no other mode of
transportation; and as we got on the turnpike, and we did what all New
Yorkers do which is for the first time look somewhere and realize that
we had taken something for granted and we realize those two towers were
not standing, we realized that it was much more than two buildings that
had gone down and were missing.
I will be there on September 6. I will be there in memory of Angel
Juarbe and in memory of all my constituents, in memory of all those who
died that day. I will be there in tribute to the fact that we will not
give up this fight, and I will be there as a New Yorker both proud of
our ability to withstand pain and thankful to this Nation for the fact
that it has stood with New York.
A lady, and I will close with this, in Oklahoma did something that
people did during World War II in identifying with the Jewish cause.
She put on her window in the countryside of Oklahoma, ``I am a New
Yorker,'' and perhaps that is what we all are, New Yorkers; and this is
what we will be on September 6.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I
yield to the gentleman from the 9th Congressional District (Mr.
Weiner), a newer member of the delegation, but an energetic and
productive member.
Mr. WEINER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me,
and I want to thank him for being such a driving force behind this
effort to pay tribute to New York and our country on the 6th.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Gilman) for all he has done, not just to make this event a
reality, but frankly to make our world a safer place. In his years here
in the House of Representatives, no Member has devoted more energy to
spreading American values and to finding out ways to make our world
safer, and I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) and all of the Republican
leadership who have been so responsive to our community at this time.
Sometimes there are not a lot of Republicans in some corners of New
York City, but I think we have been bipartisan in our effort to
recover.
Many people, many Members of Congress visited New York City in the
days right after September 11; and I want to tell my colleagues the New
York they are going to visit on September 6 could not be more different
than what they saw. If my colleagues saw destruction on that day, well,
when they return on the 6th they are going to see determination. They
are going to see massive rebuilding going on.
They are going to see a debate that might make a person scratch his
head, where New Yorkers are complaining that the buildings that are
going to rise on that site and the tribute to be paid on that site are
not grand enough; that when people thought perhaps the terrorists would
force us to cower and be afraid to be in tall buildings, now proposal
after proposal that comes out of the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment
Corp., everyone seems to be saying the same thing: we want to build
grander and grander than we even had it before.
My colleagues might have found on September 11 and the days right
after people were a little fearful about what would happen next. My
colleagues will find nothing but heroism today. We see young people
from all around New York City signing up to volunteer to be
firefighters, to pay tribute to those heroes from September 11. We see
a renewed sense of commitment to public service in New York City that
defies any sense of fear that might have come from the days immediately
following.
My colleagues may expect that that sense or kind of pessimism that
had emerged right after September 11 and many of us visited, many of my
colleagues were there to see, does not exist today. Today it is nothing
but optimism. Shops are reopening. Performances are booming on
Broadway. We have homes being rebuilt. We have the, as much as it pains
to say this, the Yankees are playing good baseball and even the Mets
are showing signs of life at this point in the season.
As my colleagues were there on September 11 and frankly those of us
who are still in a period where there was great deal of mourning, there
is also celebration today. We are celebrating all kinds of things. We
are celebrating, as I said, more development than we have seen. People
are investing in New York City, and we are seeing, as my colleagues
might have expected or perhaps not, in the period about 9 months after
September 11 we have an explosion of children being born in New York
City. Can there be any tribute to our optimism greater than that?
So when we return to New York City, we return not as an act of mere
commemoration. It is indeed a celebration. We are celebrating our
democracy. We are celebrating our resilience; and above and beyond
that, we are celebrating our national victory over fear and over the
terrorists. Here we will stand 1 year after an attack that seemed to be
almost debilitating, and we will find that it takes more than just a
body shot to our national psyche to keep us down. We have returned
better than ever, and I want to thank all of my colleagues for joining
us in New York City to celebrate that fact.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I
yield to the gentleman from the 17th Congressional District, the County
of the Bronx, the borough de Bronx, the city and State of New York (Mr.
Engel).
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding to me, and
I want to also pay tribute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman)

[[Page H5613]]

and to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the majority leader, and
of course, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), who is the dean of
the New York delegation who has led us so well for so many years.
This was not only a strike on September 11 at New York City. It was
not, of course, only a strike in downstate New York or in the suburbs
of New York City. It was a strike at our great Nation, at our country.
The terrorists thought that they could make us cower and that we never
again could perhaps regain the greatness that we always have known. New
York City has been the symbol of this country for so many years, but
they were wrong.
They were wrong because in the aftermath of September 11 all our
colleagues rallied around New York and asked how they could help. All
of us that represent downstate New York and the cities and the suburbs,
we were all, as all New Yorkers were, touched by the tragedy. All of us
had friends and constituents and people who lost their lives on
September 11. All of us attended funerals of people who lost their
lives on September 11, and the pain is still there. As my colleagues
have said, the wound is still there.
The wound does not allow us to just throw up our hands and walk away.
The wound makes us even more determined to rebuild and to show the
world what New York really means; and so shortly thereafter, the United
States Congress, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the
President, and everyone rallied around New York; and massive dollars
were put into New York to help us rebuild, and that process is
continuing and will have to continue and we will be coming back to
Congress for more because we need to keep the rebuilding process going.
The spirit of New York, if anyone had any doubt about how New Yorkers
would react, they need not have any doubt anymore, because what we saw
in the next days, and I was in New York city as well on September 11,
and the day right after, as my colleague from the Bronx also said. The
only way a person could get back to Washington was driving, and I
remember having a staffer driving me because my car was here, parked at
the airport; and as we went over the George Washington Bridge and
looked to see where the towers used to be, instead of the towers we saw
smoke rising because, if my colleagues remember, there was smoke coming
out for a long, long time, for weeks and weeks and months after the
tragedy. When I looked at that, I just broke down because it was just
too much to fathom.
In the time since, every time I go back and forth every week, I
always look at the skyline and something, of course, is missing and it
really is an open wound. But we will rebuild, and of course, the
towers, terrible tragedy, but not as tragic as the human life that was
lost on September 11, not only in New York City but in Pennsylvania and
at the Pentagon as well.
So the Congress coming to New York on September 6 is a very, very
fitting tribute and one that we are very, very grateful for because it
shows that a year later, the country, the Congress has not forgotten
and what more fitting tribute than to bring the people's House to the
people of New York City.
I hope that this will be the start of many, many events coming to New
York City to show solidarity with the people of New York. I hope both
the Democratic and Republican national conventions come to New York
City. I hope the Olympics come to New York City, and I hope that people
from all over the country continue to flock to New York City and
tourism and other things because the city has so much to offer.
Mr. Speaker, I said in the aftermath of September 11 on the floor of
this House that I was never prouder to be an American and never prouder
to be a New Yorker; and just the way the events of September 11, I said
at the time, have awakened a sleeping giant, the United States, and we
will win the war on terrorism, make no mistake about it. It will take
many years. It will take a lot of money, but we will win that war. We
saw something with New Yorkers, not only the heroism on September 11
and afterwards where everybody just pitched in, firefighters,
policemen, iron workers, average citizens coming in; but the fact that
the camaraderie that we saw, the true caring of human beings, the
banding together to show what New Yorkers are made of, that made me
very, very proud.
I will be there on September 6 with my colleagues, and I hope that a
majority of colleagues from both sides of the aisle, from all parts of
the country come to New York on September 6; and I hope people do not
only just come and leave. I hope people stay because the symbol of New
York is a symbol of this country.
The terrorists, again, did not hit New York because it was New York.
They hit the World Trade Center because of the symbolism of what that
center meant in the United States. So I am pleased to join with my
colleagues to thank my colleagues and to say I will be seeing them all
on September 6 in New York, New York, the greatest city in the world.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I
yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler). This tragedy had to
occur in somebody's congressional district, and it was the 9th
Congressional District; and those people are so fortunate that he is
leading the way not only for the economic recovery but for the
compassionate recovery of what occurred in that area.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for
yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, on September 11, in the morning, I was down here in
Washington, and I was preparing to come to the office 10 to 9:00 in the
morning; and I put on the television to see the weather, and I saw the
picture of the World Trade Center burning, and then as I watched, the
second plane flew in, and I knew immediately it was a terrorist attack.
I knew I had to get home because it was the middle of my district.
I went immediately to the train station because I assumed they would
ground the airplanes and probably the cars would not get across the
bridges and tunnels. It took me most of the day to get home, and as the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) mentioned, I often take the train
to go home to New York, and it was always my habit, as we approached
the city, to look out the right side window to see how far away I could
see the first buildings, the World Trade Center usually, about 20 miles
away, even before I got to Newark.
When I looked out the window and saw a huge plume of smoke where the
towers ought to be reaching up, I do not know, 10, 20,000 feet and then
spread half across New Jersey, it was the most heartrending sight one
could ever see. Then when I got out of the train finally, took from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m., normally a 3-hour trip, at Penn Station, 33rd Street
and 8th Avenue, not a car in sight. Nothing moving. Not a person in
sight on the middle of a weekday. It was an incredible sight to see
like a scene from some surrealistic movie.
Mr. Speaker, this attack on New York was an attack on our country,
not just on New York.

{time} 1430

It is altogether fitting that Congress should meet again in New York
as it did in 1790, I think it was, 1789, for two purposes. One, to show
solidarity with the people of New York and certainly the voting of
$21.4 billion in funds to help the City and State rebuild, to help heal
the wounds, is a great show of solidarity by the Congress of the United
States and the President on behalf of the people of the United States.
It is a great show of solidarity with the people of New York. But
meeting in New York is a very symbolic act of solidarity which is very,
very fitting on the first anniversary of this great tragedy.
The second purpose, I think, in meeting in New York is frankly to say
to the terrorists you have not accomplished anything. You may have
wounded us, you may have hurt us, you may have cost 3,000 lives for
whom we grieve, but you have not seriously hurt the United States, you
have not defeated the United States, and you will not.
It is said, Mr. Speaker, that after the attack on Pearl Harbor when
his officers came to congratulate Admiral Yamamoto of the Imperial
Japanese Navy for the successful attack, it is said that he replied to
them ``Gentlemen, I fear that all we have done is to

[[Page H5614]]

awaken a sleeping giant and fill it with a terrible resolve,'' and so
it proved to be.
Mr. Speaker, the attack on our country, the attack on New York, I
think, has awakened a country that may have been sleeping or partially
sleeping to the threat posed to all of us by Islamic terrorism.
John F. Kennedy in 1960, referring to the struggle with Communism at
that time said, we were in the middle of a long twilight struggle. I
very much believe and fear that we are, again, in for a long twilight
struggle until we defeat the scourge of terrorism in this new century.
But it is a battle we must wage, a battle we must win if civilization
is not to descend into anarchy and if our freedoms are to be preserved.
I know we will win this. We will fight this war resolutely. We will
win it, and we will make the people who started it rue the day that
they awakened a sleeping giant and filled it with a terrible resolve.
So I very much support this resolution.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I
yield to our final speaker, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks),
the 6th Congressional District in the Borough of Queens, and to thank
him for the great contribution that he has made to the City and our
country.
Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for yielding, who is the head of
our delegation and who thought of this idea and who germinated and
understood how important it would be to New York. He is a great leader,
a great New Yorker, a great American who served his country in war and
serves his country now in the House of Representatives. And I want to
thank him for his vision to make sure that we revisit New York and
understand what took place on September 11.
Likewise, I want to thank my colleagues, the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey) for also coming
and working together, for surely it is with their help and with their
guidance that we are able to do this, and it reminds me of why I am so
proud to be an American.
It is September 11. No one can ever forget where he or she was on
that day. It was an election day in New York City, a beautiful day in
New York City, and I was late getting ready because I was in the
gymnasium working out on a bicycle. And someone ran over to me and said
a plane had just hit one of the towers. At that time, not thinking that
it was any other attack but an accident, I got off the treadmill and
began to look at the television set. And as I watched, another plane
hit the next tower. Then everyone knew what was going on.
But the first thing that I saw in that time of crisis, which renews
one's spirit in its darkest hours, was that everybody in that
gymnasium, every soul in that gymnasium, rallied around that television
set, holding hands and coming together because we knew that we were in
a dark hour. And as the World Trade Center towers fell, we saw
everyone, and this is why this symbolic move on September 6 is
important, Democrat, Republican, black, white, Asian, Puerto Rican, all
coming together to feel the same, rich or poor, feeling and coming
together to say we are going to stick together.
And then as I heard days after, the families of the victims who lost
their lives in the World Trade Center and how proud and erect they
stood in the most darkest of their hours, and what it told me was that
still in all in the darkest of hours they realized and understood that
the morning would come. So when faith would be questioned above and
beyond anything they could imagine, and I went into my district that
following Sunday, church after church, synagogue after synagogue was
packed with people going in to pray to try to renew their faith as to
making sure that there would be a better tomorrow and that there would
be a tomorrow.
And I saw people, and I talked to young people who lived on the
Rockaway peninsula who at Beach Channel High School could look over the
bay and see the World Trade Center, some of these kids who are poor and
had never had the opportunity to visit Manhattan themselves come
together and cling together as Americans. And it said to me that this
great country in time of its darkest hours will renew its faith and
stand together in time of crisis. And on September 6, by the people's
House coming to New York City, what it is saying to the people of New
York is yes, have faith, have confidence, keep the faith. We see what
you are doing in New York.
We know what you have had to overcome, and we are with you. We will
stand with you. We are a great City, we are a great people, we are a
great Nation. And I thank the Members of this House in its infinite
wisdom to make sure that the New Yorkers who have fought so hard to
keep their faith, who fought so hard to make sure that they are indeed
a resilient city will see their representatives from all across this
Nation come in a symbolic mood where the first Federal Congress met and
share in what I see as the beginning again and the continuation of our
great Nation.
Mr. RANGEL. Reclaiming my time once again, under my reservation of
objection, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York for
his comments.
Mr. Speaker, I want to once again thank the majority leader, the
gentleman from Texas, especially for introducing this resolution, but
to also point out that, as he leaves the Congress, I, for one, want to
say that I have enjoyed the exchanges that we have had. I think that he
and I, to a lesser degree, prove the greatness of the country, as we
come from different parties, we have different political views, but we
have never allowed that to interfere with our friendship.
The gentleman from Texas has always maintained his sense of humor,
especially at times when this House has needed it during times of
tension. And so while we will not miss the negative vote that he has
always given for good legislation, we certainly will miss the positive
contributions that he has made to make this a better House to work in
for the great people of our great Nation.
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the concurrent resolution, as follows:

H. Con. Res. 448

Whereas on September 11, 2001, thousands of innocent people
were killed and injured in combined terrorist attacks
involving four hijacked airliners, the World Trade Center,
and the Pentagon;
Whereas in the aftermath of the attacks, thousands more
were left grieving for beloved family and friends,
livelihoods were compromised, and businesses and property
were damaged and lost;
Whereas the greatest loss of life, personal injury, and
physical destruction occurred in and was sustained by the
City of New York;
Whereas government and the American people responded
decisively, through the bravery, sacrifice and toil of the
fire and rescue workers, law enforcement, building trades,
caregivers, armed forces, and millions more who through their
many expressions of care and compassion brought forth
comfort, hope, and the promise of recovery;
Whereas the City of New York attended to the aftermath of
the destruction of the World Trade Center with profound
respect for the victims and compassion to the survivors;
Whereas the City of New York has invited the Congress to
meet at the site of the original Federal Hall, where the
First Congress of the United States convened on March 4,
1789; Now, therefore be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That, in remembrance of the victims and the
heroes of September 11, 2001, and in recognition of the
courage and spirit of the City of New York, the Congress
shall conduct a special meeting in Federal Hall in New York,
New York, on September 6, 2002.

The concurrent resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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