[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 4, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S8194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TOM BURNETT, JR.

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to an American 
hero, Tom Burnett, Jr., who was a beloved husband and father and adored 
son and a very able business leader. He was a person who would not and 
did not sit quietly as terrorists carried out their plan last year on 
September 11.
  Along with my colleague, Senator Dayton, and with our colleague Jim 
Ramstad on the House side, we introduced legislation to designate a 
U.S. Postal Service facility in Bloomington, MN, as the Thomas E. 
Burnett, Jr. Post Office Building.
  This legislation today is passing the House, and my expectation is 
that by the end of the day this will also pass the Senate. I don't know 
that there would ever be any Senator would disagree with this.
  Tom Burnett, Jr. grew up in Bloomington, MN, and he was aboard flight 
93 on September 11 of last year. America owes Tom Burnett a deep debt 
of gratitude for his bravery on that day. It is possible that Members 
of the Congress, including myself, could very well owe him our own 
lives. We will never know for sure.
  Tom is believed by investigators to have been among those passengers 
who kept the hijackers from crashing flight 93 into a national 
landmark, most likely the White House or the Capitol. That, of course, 
would have likely resulted in many more deaths than already occurred on 
that day, and instead, as we all know, flight 93 crashed into a 
Pennsylvania field. After listening to a tape from the flight's black 
box, law enforcement officials have described a desperate struggle 
aboard the plane.
  As FBI Director Mueller said after being briefed on the contents of 
the tape:

       We believe that those passengers were absolute heroes, and 
     their actions during this flight were heroic.

  Tom Burnett, Jr. was 38 years old when he died. A 1986 graduate of 
Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and a 
member of the Apha Cappa Psi Fraternity, he had shown selfless 
leadership before. When he was quarterback of Thomas Jefferson High 
School in Bloomington, Tom's inspired play led his team to a conference 
championship game in 1990. He was a successful business leader as chief 
operating officer for a medical device manufacturer in California.
  We will never forget his ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate 
sacrifice of many other heroes as well on September 11. Our thoughts 
and prayers today are with Tom's family: His wife Deena, and their 
daughters, Madison, Halley, and Anna-Clair, three little daughters; his 
parents, Thomas, Sr. and Beverly--I had a chance to talk to Bev just 
the other day--and his sisters, Martha O'Brien and Mary Margaret 
Burnett.
  Bloomington will be very proud to have this post office named for Tom 
Burnett, Jr. We are all very proud of this son of Minnesota.
  Again, I thank Congressman Ramstad for his leadership in the House. I 
know this bill is going to pass the House today, and my expectation is 
that it will pass the Senate as well.
  I thank again Senator Lieberman for his help in expediting this and 
making this happen. I know for a fact this is really very important to 
Tom's family and to all of Minnesota.

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