[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 134 (Tuesday, September 11, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11367-S11370]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACK

  Mr. REID. Madam President, we will now begin a moment of silence 
honoring the 9/11 victims and their families.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
observe a moment of silence in commemoration of the sixth anniversary 
of the September 11 attack.
  (Moment of silence)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, 6 years ago today, 2,974 men, women, and 
children became innocent victims to a cowardice and hatred we will 
never understand. I remember very clearly watching from the windows of 
the Capitol, S-219, as smoke billowed from the Pentagon in the clean 
morning air.
  I remember the care taken amidst the panic to ensure everyone was 
evacuated safely when word came of another airplane heading toward the 
U.S. Capitol. I remember how our voices joined to sing ``God Bless 
America'' on the Capitol steps, which was our way of showing the 
country that its Government was still whole.
  But what I remember most was how our Nation stood as one, in lines to 
give blood, stretching long hours; the food and clothing banks 
overflowing with donations; contributions, financial in nature pouring 
in, many giving more than they could afford to help families who had 
literally lost everything.
  As our country stood as one, the world stood with us. The headline of

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one European newspaper read: ``We are all American.''
  On this anniversary, and all those to follow, we must never forget 
the innocent lives we lost that day or the burden we bear for the 
freedom we cherish. Yet we must always remember the endless well of 
compassion and rejection of despair that followed. These past 6 years 
we have faced great challenges. But though our scars will never fully 
heal, our spirit will never be broken. We are all American.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, today marks 6 years since September 
11, 2001, the day when al-Qaida terrorists unleashed an unprovoked and 
vicious attack on the American people.
  The Senate remembers and honors the innocent victims of that attack 
and stands in support of their families and communities. Six years 
later, their healing continues.
  Our enemies hoped September 11 would burn as a day America would 
never forget, and it certainly has. But the terrorists hoped today 
would mark an anniversary of fear and doubt. Today is a day of sadness, 
yes, but also of resolve, strength, and renewed purpose.
  We remember the kind-heartedness of America that was on display then, 
when millions of volunteers gave their time, money, and strength of 
heart to people in need.
  We honor our Armed Forces, brave men and women who fight under our 
flag. They fight on because the war goes on. Recent arrests in Germany, 
halting what was to be a devastating terrorist attack against American 
and German targets in that country, are proof this war is not over, 
that now is not the time to let down our guard or revert to a pre-9/11 
approach to the world.
  We know the war goes on by listening to the words of our enemies. 
Osama bin Laden's recently released remarks are more of the same, 
threats of death and destruction, intended to sow fear in America.
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel showed her understanding of the 
struggle that still lies ahead when she said of Germany's foiled terror 
plot:

       The lesson from this is the danger is not just abstract, 
     it's real.

  Real danger struck America 6 years ago. International terrorists had 
been at war against us long before that. But unlike previous attacks, 
9/11 spurred America to take the war to them. By going on the offense, 
we are winning the war on terrorism. Today we are safer at home and 
have gone 6 years without another attack.
  So today we also honor the efforts of Americans across the land who 
are working to keep us safe. Many of them are here in the District of 
Columbia, but not all of them. When one of my Kentucky constituents 
dials 911, he is more likely to be calling someone in West Liberty than 
in Washington.
  Many brave police officers, firefighters or emergency personnel 
trained to respond to a threat or attack work in Kentucky towns such as 
Murray, Morgantown or Mayfield.
  Today, we pay tribute to these brave Americans who do not often get 
the headlines. They are the unsung heroes. When the call goes forth to 
towns such as Somerset, Sandy Hook or Sacramento, KY, they answer. 
Today, we honor their sacrifice and service most of all.
  It remains this Congress's job to provide the troops with everything 
they need to complete their mission. I know all of my colleagues are 
equally dedicated to making sure that happens.
  Six years after the September 11 attacks, we can say proudly the 
terrorists failed. Terrorists may have devastated two buildings and 
damaged the Pentagon, but they did not dent America's resolve.
  While they lashed out to cause death and destruction, we fight for 
freedom. Freedom is our greatest strength. No terrorist attack will 
ever diminish that.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, 1 year from today, the first of 
America's three official 9/11 memorials will be dedicated at the 
Pentagon. It will feature 184 stainless steel benches, each surrounded 
by a pool of water; one bench for each of the 184 innocent victims who 
died in the Pentagon and on the plane that struck it 6 years ago today.
  This morning on the front page of ``The Washington Post'' there is a 
story about a small company of master metalworkers who are finishing 
these benches, grinding and polishing them, transforming them into 
perfectly uniform, flawlessly smooth memorials.
  The company is called Bucthel Metal Finishing Company. It is located 
outside Chicago. They do work all over the United States. The owner of 
Bucthel Metal Finishing is Abe Yousif. Mr. Yousif is an Iraqi immigrant 
who left his homeland in 1978, months before the start of the Iraq-Iran 
war. He has never been back.
  All 24 of Yousif's employees are also immigrants, from Mexico, 
Bosnia, and many other nations. For Abe Yousif and each of his 
employees, polishing those benches for the Pentagon memorial has become 
a deeply personal mission. As ``The Washington Post'' describes it:

       If he can make the benches perfect, he believes he will 
     help others to heal. If he can make the metal shine 
     brilliantly, they will feel hope. He wants people to run 
     their fingers along the steel and find, in its clean, 
     immaculate smoothness, something affirming, redeeming even, 
     on a site now scarred by murder and death.

  Today on the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our 
Nation, many Americans in Illinois and across our Nation are searching 
for their own ways to rescue some lasting good out of the evil of 9/11.
  There were 3,000 innocent victims from more than 150 nations who died 
in New York, at the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania. Jeff 
Mladenik, a husband and father of four from Hinsdale, IL, outside 
Chicago, had just been named interim CEO of a new e-commerce company. 
But he had another job that meant more to him. He worked as an 
assistant pastor at his church in Oak Brook. He was on American 
Airlines Flight 11, the plane that struck the first tower; one of nine 
men and women from Illinois who died on 
9/11.
  After Mladenik's death, his parents told a reporter:

       I can guarantee that Jeff would tell us that hatred and 
     bitterness must not have the last word.

  One of America's first memorials to the victims of 9/11 was a tiny, 
little makeshift memorial created by a woman in Shanksville, PA, in her 
own front yard weeks after the attacks.
  Within days, the first tribute arrived, a bouquet of flowers. Next to 
it was a note that read:

       Thanks for saving our lives--the Capitol employees.

  We who are privileged to work in this building have a special 
obligation to work together to prevent the next attack and remember the 
heroes who saved our lives on 9/11.
  Six years after that date, America is safer, but we need to do more. 
We need to listen carefully and follow the recommendations of the 9/11 
Commission.
  We have passed important legislation this year to move in that 
direction. We need also make sure that as a sign of respect, we 
remember those who have given their lives on that sad day.
  As a sign of respect, I would like to read the names of the eight 
other Illinoisans who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 
2001.
  Kathy Bantis, Andrea Haberman, Suzanne Kondratenko, Darya Lin and Sue 
Sauer, all from Chicago; and Robert Rasmussen, from Hinsdale, were all 
in meetings in the Twin Towers when the planes hit.
  CDR Dan Shanower, of Naperville, a Navy intelligence officer, had 
just sat down at his desk after briefing his admiral on the World Trade 
Center attacks when the third plane smashed into the Pentagon. He died 
there, along with Navy Reserve LCDR Patrick Murphy, who grew up in 
Flossmoor, IL.
  We remember them today, along with Jeff Mladenik, also of Hinsdale, 
and all of the nearly 3,000 innocent victims who died on September 11, 
2001. We also remember those they have left behind, and those who still 
suffer today. May they, and we, continue to heal and find peace.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Madam President, I speak today as a Senator from New 
Jersey, the State that lost 700 of its residents including those who 
were

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at work that day at the World Trade Center.
  I remember when President Roosevelt in 1941 pronounced December 7 as 
the ``day of infamy,'' and once again, we see a moment in time, a 
moment of infamy, evil beyond comprehension, because the events of this 
day changed the way people live on this Earth.
  The Twin Towers were far more than the sum of their steel and 
concrete parts. The towers that I knew very well were cities, 
essentially, in the sky. Fifty thousand people worked in those towers, 
more people than the population of many of our Nation's communities.
  In many cases, those 50,000 men and women spent as much time in the 
towers as they did at home, from New York and New Jersey, and from 
other States throughout the country, from small families and big 
families, from every walk and stage of life.
  On that autumn morning 6 years ago, they awoke and began moving to 
the rhythm of the day, drawn to the Trade Center just as normal, just 
like the days and the years before. Only this day was different. This 
day became an epoch moment in the history of man, this day terror would 
no longer be a thing that would be in distant places, not be a thing of 
memory or talk. Terror was about to become real.
  Three thousand people, spouses with no mates, children without a 
parent, siblings, and treasured friends, gone. They live on only in our 
memory. Seven hundred of the almost 3,000 people who perished were from 
my State of New Jersey. Thirty-seven of them came from a single town in 
New Jersey, Middletown. In 2003, I helped dedicate a memorial garden in 
their honor. Tears were still flowing. Firefighters, police officers, 
and first responders died within the towers, as they fought valiantly 
to save people they never knew and never saw.
  I had the privilege of serving as a commissioner of the Port 
Authority in New York and New Jersey for 4 years before I came to the 
Senate. I got to know the corridors of traffic and energy contained in 
those buildings. I also got to know many of the terrific people who 
filled the jobs that enabled the Port Authority to provide the critical 
services it offered to our region.
  The Port Authority lost 84 staff members on 9/11, including 37 brave 
police officers who gave their lives as they attempted to help others 
immobilized by the catastrophe. I knew many others who worked for firms 
housed in the Twin Towers who perished that day. In one firm, Cantor 
Fitzgerald, I knew people very well, and they lost 700 that single day 
at their firm alone, many with young families just beginning. They had 
young kids and they had lives with great possibilities ahead of them, 
ended abruptly, brutalized in that terrible moment.
  People stared aghast at the television and said to themselves and 
others who would be listening: This can't be happening. The United 
States? In America? Taking down the Twin Towers that were monuments to 
commerce, energy, and vitality.
  I was on a trip to the Middle East, and it included a stop in Israel, 
at the moment the tragedy hit. I saw tears flowing down the faces of 
people from this tiny country, crying for America, pleading for some 
understanding that would help relieve the pain.

  Like Pearl Harbor 60 years ago, 9/11 changed the world. It changed 
the world, the way we see it, the way we see ourselves, constantly 
having to produce identification cards, waiting in lines to be examined 
by security, thousands and thousands of people. Our own Homeland 
Security Department has 180,000 people focused primarily on trying to 
protect this homeland of ours from other violent moments with 
terrorism. We have to live differently. We must live with more 
vigilance. We live knowing that evil is omnipresent. We know we are 
fighting a ruthless enemy, one whose frontline is our homefront, one 
that brings war to the innocent.
  We are constantly on the watch in New Jersey. The stretch between 
Port Newark, our harbor, and Newark Liberty International Airport, is 
defined by the FBI as the most dangerous 2-mile stretch in the country, 
the most inviting for a terrorist attack. We are constantly on guard. 
We are constantly concerned. Something happened that day when 19 madmen 
set out to destroy America. We didn't bend. We promised to search for 
those who orchestrated the terrible acts. We are still looking for 
them. We must continue to do so. But we will always remember those who 
fell that day. Their loss binds our Nation.
  We stand together as one in our fight against terror, and we will, on 
this day of remembrance, always remember what happened. We can't 
forget. They are honored with vigils and candles, with that light 
serving as beacons of hope and barriers against fear.
  In Bayonne, NJ, we remember those who perished with a monument, and 
we see these memorial sites across our region. In Hoboken, there is a 
park with ginkgo trees whose longevity reflects the enduring spirit of 
the victims. From one county in New Jersey, Bergen County, 135 lost 
their lives.
  It can't just be a memorial. America has to rebuild its spirit. The 
world has to fight against terror. We know this morning a ceremony at 
the site of the World Trade Center took place with a commitment to 
rebuild. We want that to happen. It is critical for our spirit that we 
show that America is trying its best to bring peace to the country, to 
bring back civilization as we knew it, and we hope that will take 
place.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I thank my friend and colleague from 
New Jersey for his outstandingly eloquent, heartfelt words. We share a 
region. We shared the tragedy of that day as Senators doing our best in 
a very troubled time. We continue to share it now in our mutual desire 
to keep our region safe from terrorism in terms of homeland security.
  I was at the Ground Zero site early this morning and before the 
ceremony of commemoration began mingled with some of the families of 
the victims. There is nothing more heartfelt than seeing these fine 
people, average folks from every different background, profession, 
ethnic, religious, economic level, holding pictures in their laps, 
often young men, young women in their prime, in the beginning and 
beauty of their lives. Their parents are holding the pictures. Husbands 
are holding pictures of wives; wives holding pictures of husbands; 
children holding pictures of their dads. There is nothing more touching 
and more meaningful than going over and looking at the faces of these 
fine people. All they have to hold are the pictures and the memories of 
the people whose lives were snuffed out. This happened in so many 
instances, close to 3,000 instances, each one a family member, a 
friend, a business associate--gone, and gone for the most irrational 
and hateful reasons.
  We fought many wars before, but most of them were about things we 
could maybe not agree with but understand--a desire for territory, 
religious domination, righting a wrong. No, this war--aimed at the 
innocent, aimed at civilians, aimed at average Americans--had an 
irrational hatred to it that is hard to comprehend. We do remember. One 
of the family members attached this ribbon to my lapel. Of course, I 
wear this flag which I put on September 12, 2001. Every day I wear a 
suit or a sport jacket, I have this flag on, the same one I put on my 
lapel then in hope and memory of those who were missing, because we 
didn't know how many had died. I wear it every day to think of those 
who were lost and what we lost and what their families lost and what 
our country lost. God willing, I will wear it every day for the rest of 
my life to remember them.
  Today we do remember. We remember Ground Zero. We remember here on 
the Senate floor. And most of all, we remember in countless homes 
throughout the country, throughout the world--most of them concentrated 
in New York and New Jersey--as people remember those who were taken 
from them.
  There is not much to say about such a mindless act of evil cruelty 
with almost no goal other than frightening people. But one thing we 
assure the terrorists together: Regardless of our political views, we 
are not frightened. We are hurt; we are saddened; sometimes we feel 
lost. But we are not frightened. They have strengthened our resolve--
our resolve to win the war on terror, do it the smart and rational way, 
don't do it in a mean, evil way

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like the means used by the terrorists. But we will prevail. We will 
rebuild buildings at Ground Zero. We will rebuild the network--slowly, 
but surely--that protects us at home. We will rebuild the strength of 
America abroad to fight terrorism and adapt. And we will prevail. But 
we will also never forget, never forget those people, some of whom were 
friends of mine, a guy I played basketball with as a kid in high 
school, a firefighter from the neighborhood in which I was raised, a 
businessman, very successful, who helped me on my way up--we will never 
forget them, never. We will resolve that their memory will importune us 
to be better as individuals and as a nation.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President. I would like to take a few moments to 
remember the Americans who were killed in the terrorist attacks of 
September 11, 2001.
  In the 6 years since terrorists carried out the September 11 attacks, 
our Nation has not forgotten the innocent Americans who were killed, 
one of whom was Al Marchand from Alamogordo, NM, a flight attendant on 
United Airlines flight 175 and one of the first casualties on this 
horrific day. Neither have we forgotten the heroic policemen and 
firefighters who lost their lives trying to save fellow Americans or 
our brave men and women in uniform who have served their country in the 
war on terror. I do not believe Americans will ever cease to remember 
the shock and sadness we all felt that day.
  September 11 also serves as a reminder that there are many in this 
world who would harm us and that we must remain vigilant. In the last 6 
years we have made great progress in making sure America is secure and 
I am proud of the contribution many of my fellow citizens from New 
Mexico have made to strengthen our defenses against terrorist attack. 
The men and women at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories have 
worked hard to develop many of the technologies that now help us detect 
terrorist threats. Many members of the New Mexico National Guard have 
been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the global war on terror as 
well as many active duty members of the Armed Forces who are stationed 
in or are from New Mexico. All these service men and women are doing a 
fantastic job and we should not forget to thank them for their service 
and the scarifies they have made to keep us safe.
  Although the Islamic extremists behind the attacks sought to break 
our will and erode our freedom, they were unsuccessful on both fronts. 
Our liberty is dearer to us now, and we are reminded of that each day, 
as our nation continues the war against terror that these terrorists 
began 6 years ago.
  I hope New Mexicans will take a moment today to reflect on the 
tragedy of 9/11, the Americans who lost their lives and the loved ones 
they left behind and pay tribute to the individuals who serve and 
defend us today.
  Mr. SMITH. Madam President, I rise today in remembrance of the 2,974 
Americans who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. They were family, 
friends, and neighbors going about their everyday lives. They were 
airline passengers, office workers, emergency personnel, and public 
servants. They were men, women, and children of every age and color. 
Yet they were targeted all the same, as citizens of a nation upholding 
the principles of freedom and personal liberty. We did not invite this 
extreme act of violence, nor will we soon forget the heroes who gave 
their lives that day. My prayers are with their families and the 
survivors of this unprovoked, cold-blooded attack.
  Many brave Americans fought back that Tuesday morning, and many 
others have continued the fight these last 6 years. The United States 
has not suffered another 9/11 because we have pursued al-Qaida on our 
terms, attacking them where they plan and train before they can reach 
us at home. Many Oregonians have paid the ultimate price to protect 
their friends, family and country. For them, America is eternally 
grateful.
  September 11 exposed the vulnerability of free societies to acts of 
terrorism. In response, Congress acted to improve our intelligence 
gathering and law enforcement agencies. These improvements have 
protected this country from further attacks. Today, we are better 
prepared to face this ideological battle of the 21st century, but we 
must never become complacent.
  As today's ceremonies commemorate those fallen in New York City, the 
Pentagon, and Pennsylvania, may we also remember those Americans on the 
battlefield fighting to protect us back at home. Their courage and 
dedication testifies to the endurance of free men against all 
adversaries. God bless liberty and all those devoted to its 
preservation.

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