[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 149 (Monday, November 18, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11311-S11312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REMARKS OF AMBASSADOR REED AT THE 9/11 SYMPOSIUM

 Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise to recognize an important and 
moving statement made by Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, Under-
Secretary-General of the United Nations, on September 11, 2002. 
Ambassador Reed's remarks are a true example of the national strength, 
personal mourning, and international support that we all have 
experienced since September 2001. I ask that his remarks be printed in 
the Record.
  The remarks follow.

 Remarks by Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, Under-Secretary-General of 
                           the United Nations

       On behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations 
     Kofi A. Annan, I bring greetings and good wishes on this 
     solemn anniversary commemorating September 11, 2001--9/11--
     The Day of Terror.
       The Secretary-General regrets that he could not be with us 
     today. He is very much involved, as you know, with 
     preparations of the 57th General Assembly as well as the 
     ongoing task of pursuing the course of peace in the 17 Peace 
     Keeping Missions around our troubled globe.
       The Secretary-General is presiding at a commemoration of 9/
     11 on the Great Lawn at the United Nations with 191 member 
     states participating.
       First, allow me to salute the organizers of this 
     International Symposium. The mission of the Virtue Foundation 
     is as laudable as it is imperative.
       ``From Tragedy to Unity: A Celebration of the Human 
     Spirit.'' That is the theme of this Symposium.
       None of us can ever forget the tragedy and terror and 
     sadness that 9/11 brought upon our nation, our society and 
     the world. But, the prominent panelists in today's 
     discussions in this hallowed Museum will not dwell on the 
     past horror. Rather, their focus will be on healing and 
     renewal and rekindling strength in our citizenry.
       With this lofty, indeed noble--yet irrefutably 
     appropriate--purpose in mind, today's Symposium will inspire 
     all of us to rebuild and create a more cohesive and caring 
     community.
       Amid sorrow we will create anew. That is what our world 
     needs now. Whether a life or a building or a spirit--there is 
     a call now to rebuild--a need for a new beginning.
       This anniversary day is also very much a Time of 
     Remembrance.
       None of us here in the Rainey Auditorium and across the 
     length and breadth of our beautiful nation will ever forget 
     that horrible moment a year ago today when we heard the 
     unspeakable news. We will never forget where we were, whom we 
     were with or what we were doing. 9/11 was the Opening Day of 
     the 56th General Assembly of the United Nations. It was the 
     day the United Nations celebrates the International Day of 
     Peace. I was on my way to Headquarters. On hearing the news 
     of the first crash I returned to our house joining my stunned 
     wife in staring at the television. We shared the national 
     experience of a quantum leap into a new, frightening and 
     uncertain world. We immediately sensed this was the world we 
     would now live in for the rest of our lives.

[[Page S11312]]

       This past year has been a period of national mourning.
       I hesitate to say but reality makes me do so--A sense of 
     dread and sadness has gripped our nation in the searing 
     emotional aftermath of the Day of Terror.
       The world must never forget that September 11, 2001 was the 
     bloodiest day on American soil since our civil war. Our flags 
     are half-staff. The Congress has designated today Patriot Day 
     to honor the sacrifice made by 3,000 innocent citizens on 
     that tragic day. National character does not change in a day. 
     9/11 did not alter the American character, it merely revealed 
     it--it forced--the emergency of a bedrock America of courage, 
     resolve, resourcefulness and, above all, resilience. What the 
     enemy did not know or anticipate was that beneath the outward 
     normality of America in post-Cold War repose lay a sleeping 
     giant that Admiral Yamamoto knew he had awakened on December 
     7, 1941 and that Osama bin Laden had no inkling he had 
     awakened on September 11, 2001.
       The world then witnessed an astonishing demonstration of 
     resilience, the kind only a nation of continental size and 
     prodigious productivity, of successful self-government and 
     self-conscious spirituality could summon.
       The anniversary of this stunning national `state change'; 
     will be respectfully celebrated in tears, sorrow and 
     reflection. The death toll of the 9/11 attacks did not just 
     affect New York and the United States. Though the 
     overwhelming number of those who died was American citizens 
     there were victims from 36 countries around the world. Our 
     neighbor to the south, Mexico, with 27 who died, was the 
     hardest hit of the foreign lands.
       The old diplomatic refrain that ``one man's terrorist is 
     another man's freedom fighter'' can no longer be argued. 
     Ladies and Gentlemen--let me be perfectly clear: September 11 
     proved once and for all that ``Terror is terror.'' Terror is 
     inexcusable, it is indefensible, it is wrong.
       That Day of Terror transformed ``terrorism.'' In the past, 
     in their madness, terrorists yearned for a lot of people 
     watching, not a lot of people dead. Last year, the rules 
     changed. Those terrorists--those assassins--sought to kill 
     thousands as hundreds of millions watched in horror.
       The murderers got what they wanted.
       But, they and the rest of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda 
     network miscalculated America's might and resolve.
       This September 11 marks not just a day of infamy, but also 
     the close of Year One of the War on Terrorism. And to win the 
     war we need to demonstrate--as America has done in other 
     great wars of necessity--patience, endurance, determination, 
     and a willingness to bear any burden.
       Their attack on the symbols of United States economic and 
     military power stirred the world's only superpower to place 
     terrorism at the heart of its--and the world's--foreign and 
     domestic policy.
       The message today is clear. The United States will not 
     negotiate terrorism. Nor will it compromise with terrorists. 
     Rather she will destroy them and all the evil for which they 
     stand. Of that, I have no doubt.
       We will never forget 9/11.
       Today's Symposium, then, is an important one. Today is the 
     day to begin to move from this tragedy to ``unity and a 
     celebration of the human spirit.''
       Thank you Director de Montebello for making this great 
     Museum the home of this gathering. Thank you Dr. Salim and 
     Dr. LaRovere for your initiative. To all the organizers, 
     musicians, members of the staff of the Met and the 
     distinguished participants who will be with us today I salute 
     each of you.
       Let us find healing and strength in remembrance. I pray 
     that the coming year will bring us closer together--within 
     our families and our communities--and ever more committed to 
     caring for one another.
       May we enjoy years of peace for our children, for the 
     future, for all mankind.
       Peace!

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