[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 112 (Tuesday, September 12, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H6390-H6392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: September 12, 2006 (House)]
[Page H6390-H6392]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr12se06-109]
RECOGNIZING IMPORTANCE OF ESTABLISHING NATIONAL MEMORIAL AT WORLD TRADE
CENTER SITE TO COMMEMORATE AND MOURN EVENTS OF FEBRUARY 26, 1993, AND
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 175) recognizing the importance of
establishing a national memorial at the World Trade Center site to
commemorate and mourn the events of February 26, 1993, and September
11, 2001.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 175
Whereas on February 26, 1993, terrorists detonated a bomb
in the basement of the World Trade Center in an attempt to
destroy the building, killing six and wounding hundreds;
Whereas on September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four
civilian aircraft, causing two of them to crash into the twin
towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third
into the Pentagon, and a fourth in rural southwest
Pennsylvania;
Whereas nearly 3,000 people were killed at the World Trade
Center site in the most lethal terrorist attack ever
committed against the United States;
Whereas the attack on the World Trade Center resulted in
great destruction and damage to homes, churches, schools, and
commercial and retail buildings, causing the loss of
approximately sixty thousand jobs and many businesses in
Lower Manhattan, and wounding incalculable numbers of
citizens of New York;
Whereas the human and emotional toll of this attack has
been deeply and profoundly felt in New York, by Americans
across the United States, and people throughout the world;
Whereas the attacks united Americans with all good citizens
of the world, regardless of political, ethnic, or religious
persuasion or affiliation;
Whereas in the months and years since the historic events
of February 26, 1993, and September 11, 2001, hundreds of
thousands of people have visited the World Trade Center site
to mourn the dead, to pay tribute to the heroic action and
sacrifice of the firefighters, police, emergency personnel,
and other responders, and to attempt to understand the nature
of this attack on the United States;
Whereas many citizens, family members, local residents and
businesses, professional organizations, State and local
officials, and constituencies around the Nation and the world
are deeply interested in the successful planning and
rebuilding process at the World Trade Center site;
Whereas a broad and deep consensus has emerged in the
United States that this is a sacred site that cannot be
forgotten and must be honored;
Whereas the site of the World Trade Center requires the
highest form of national recognition;
Whereas the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has been
established to create a permanent memorial at the site to
honor the victims and heroes of the attacks;
Whereas Presidents Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, George
H.W. Bush, and William J. Clinton serve as Honorary Members
of the Board of the Foundation to support its mission,
underscoring the wide support of the effort to build a
permanent and appropriate memorial at the World Trade Center
site;
Whereas in April 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development
Corporation launched the largest design competition in
history for the creation of a permanent memorial, with
designs submitted by 5,201 individual participants from 63
nations and 49 States; and
Whereas after a distinguished 13-member jury reviewed every
submission, on January 6, 2004, the jury announced the
winning memorial design, ``Reflecting Absence'' by architect
Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the importance of establishing a national
memorial at the World Trade Center site, as the highest honor
the Nation can confer to commemorate and mourn the events of
February 26, 1993, and September 11, 2001; and
(2) supports the efforts of the World Trade Center Memorial
Foundation to build a permanent memorial at the World Trade
Center site.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Jones) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr.
Rahall) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.
General Leave
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution
now under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
[[Page H6391]]
There was no objection.
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as
I may consume.
House Resolution 175, introduced by Congressman Nadler of New York,
declares that the House of Representatives stands shoulder to shoulder
with the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, the citizens of New
York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and indeed the Nation, who were
struck twice by terrorist attacks, by supporting a national memorial at
the World Trade Center site to commemorate and mourn the tremendous
loss of life that followed the attacks of February 26, 1993, and
September 11, 2001. I urge adoption of this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. RAHALL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, we are not here today to determine whether
the events of September 11, 2001 should be memorialized. That process
began immediately after that tragic day in truly American fashion, as
spontaneous free expressions of grief and unity.
Ribbons were pinned on chests. Old Glory was hung from every post.
Shared moments of silence, neighbors gathering on front stoops by
candlelight, families and friends and total strangers joining hands,
churches and football fields ringing of spacious skies and amber waves
of grain.
Over the last 5 years, States and cities, organizations and
individuals throughout our great Nation have chosen to commemorate that
day, the sorrow and the heroism, in different tangible ways, with art
and statues and structures that will long stand as reminders of our
shared experience.
Now, national efforts are underway, with congressional support, in
Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. The specific purpose of House
Resolution 175 is to place the Congress on record supporting a memorial
in New York City that will also be a memorial conceived, designed, and
interpreted for our Nation as a whole.
It is appropriate that we do this. The brutal attack upon our Nation
was intended to be national in scope by its perpetrators. Ground Zero,
the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, were scarred by an attack
aimed at the whole of America. And so our national memorials will allow
the American people to remember and honor and heal in the manner in
which we were attacked, as one.
Further, this memorial should be national in scope because we have
responded to these attacks, and we have overcome them, as one Nation.
Mighty challenges persist, but we are meeting them, and today our
liberty has remained intact. Our Nation is scarred, but our Nation
prevails.
This was not always assured. As the Civil War raged on, Abraham
Lincoln publicly contemplated the possibility that a nation conceived
such as ours might not long endure. We have often heard our country
described as an experiment, the outcome of which is uncertain.
But through world wars and a Great Depression, through painful social
upheaval and a Cold War, and now through the attacks of September 11,
2001, our Nation has indeed survived. A free people, free to believe as
we wish, free to speak our minds, free to raise our children as we see
fit, will, make no mistake about it, endure. A resilient people
cherishing liberty and equality and the rule of law will endure.
Tyrannies can be powerful, but they are brittle. They derive power
from the denial of freedom. It is a power founded in the suppression of
human potential, and it cannot be sustained. America, 5 years after
this brutal attack, is testament that a Nation conceived in liberty and
equality will endure. It is a triumph of millions of Americans but it
is also the triumph of an idea larger than any one person, larger than
any one nation.
A memorial in New York should speak to this larger triumph, and so we
urge our colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to our
distinguished colleague that represents the World Trade Center area,
Mr. Nadler.
Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
This bill recognizes the importance of establishing a national
memorial at the World Trade Center site as the highest honor the Nation
can confer to commemorate and mourn the attacks on this Nation on
September 11, 2001, and also the first attack, on February 26, 1993;
and supports the efforts of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation
to build a permanent memorial at the World Trade Center site.
By supporting a national memorial commemorating the attacks on the
World Trade Center, we can help establish a place where all Americans
can remember and learn from the tragedy of 9/11. Thousands of people
from across the country and around the world visit the Trade Center
site every day, and millions more will come when the memorial opens,
hopefully in 2009. This bill gives us, Members of the people's House,
the chance to voice our support for this substantial effort.
Mr. Speaker, on September 11, 2001, I was here in Washington when I
saw on television the attack on the World Trade Center, and I
immediately went home to be with my constituents, my friends, and
family in New York. Normally, when I go to New York from Washington by
train, I look out the window and usually the first thing I would see
about 20 miles away from New York would be the World Trade Center, the
Twin Towers, and when I saw them, I knew I was almost home. That awful
day, I didn't see the twin towers. I didn't see the World Trade Center.
I saw only a huge plume of smoke stretching all the way down to the New
Jersey shore, and it felt like my guts were being torn out.
This was a bill I wish were not needed, but we need to remember. We
need to remember the charred debris, the families torn apart, the ash
that made New York look like a nuclear winter, and the smell of the
smoke, like death itself. We need to remember the attack on our country
and the motives behind it. We also need to remember the heroism of
those who rushed into burning buildings to help and the selflessness of
those who from all around the country came to volunteer their services,
those who donated supplies and who lined up to donate their blood all
around this country, and even in foreign countries.
It is our collective responsibility never to forget what happened and
to honor the lives lost by building this memorial. That is what this
resolution, this bill is about. There is a broad and deep consensus
that has emerged in the United States that this is a sacred site that
must not be forgotten and must be honored and that this site requires
the highest form of national recognition.
The memorial's design competition became the largest in history, with
designs submitted by over 5,200 participants, more than 5,000
submissions from 63 nations and 49 of these United States. On January
6, 2004, a distinguished 13-member jury announced the winning memorial
design, ``Reflecting Absence,'' by architect Michael Arad and landscape
architect Peter Walker. Work on the memorial began less than a month
ago on August 17.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has been established to
manage the fund-raising and construction processes. The Memorial
Foundation has a private fund-raising goal of $300 million, of which
more than $133 million has already been raised from more than 20,000
donors from every State and from 11 foreign countries. I would like to
encourage those who want to help or learn more to visit the Web site of
the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation.
I would like to thank the entire New York delegation to this House,
who joined me as original cosponsors and who have united behind the
effort to establish a national memorial on the World Trade Center site
in my district, as well as the additional cosponsors of this
legislation.
I would also like to acknowledge the positive role played by the
Governor of New York, George Pataki, and New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, who have both lent their support.
I also have to thank Ranking Member Rahall for his efforts in getting
[[Page H6392]]
this bill out of committee, and also our distinguished minority whip,
Steny Hoyer, for his help in getting the bill to the floor of the
House.
The establishment of a national memorial permanently commemorating
the events at the World Trade Center on 9/11 will serve as a testament
to the heroism of the people of New York and the people of the United
States of America. It will help us all as a Nation to remember the
indomitable strength of our citizens and the sacrifices made by so
many, and it will serve as a continuing reminder of our ongoing
obligation to provide proper care and assistance to the victims of the
9/11 attack, not only the families of those who died on 9/11 but also
the first responders, the rescue and recovery workers who came from all
over the country and the residents of the surrounding area who continue
to suffer the health effects of that tragic day and its aftermath.
I congratulate the members of the Memorial Foundation on their
efforts raising funds thus far and pledge our continued support as they
begin their work on this enormous task, and I urge all my colleagues to
vote for this resolution.
Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 175, a
resolution recognizing the importance of establishing a national
memorial at the World Trade Center site and supporting the efforts of
the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation to build a permanent
memorial at the site.
Five years ago, we lost 2,976 lives in a coordinated attack on our
soil, 81 of whom were residents of the 17 towns now in the Fourth
District. On the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we remember each one
of those men and women who lost their lives, and their family and
friends who still mourn their loss today.
But this is a tragedy that we will not and cannot forget in another
five, 15 or 50 years. We must never forget.
For that reason, I support the creation of a national memorial at the
World Trade Center site.
A national memorial is a way to honor the Americans who lost their
lives on September 11. It would be a place of gathering for their loved
ones to come and remember those they lost. And it would be a tool to
help teach future generations about the tragedy of that day, the
history of the attacks and the importance of protecting ourselves
against future acts of terrorism.
I am grateful for the work of the World Trade Center Memorial
Foundation and support their efforts for a permanent memorial at the
site.
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional
requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) that the House suspend the
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 175.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas
and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.
____________________