[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 144 (Thursday, September 11, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8330-S8331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             COMMEMORATING
                           SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, it is important that we commemorate 
today, the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 
11, 2001. This Nation and the world should also remember that the first 
battle of the war against terror started in the skies over this 
country, and it was started not by the military but by an average group 
of American citizens who, by fate, found themselves on Flight 93, which 
had taken off from New Jersey, headed to San Francisco, CA. When they, 
as a group, figured out their plane had been taken over by terrorists 
who planned to use that plane and the passengers in it as a weapon of 
mass destruction against the Capitol of the United States, they did an 
extraordinary thing: This group of average citizens made a battle plan 
and executed that plan against America's enemies. This exceptional 
group of Americans knew they were risking and sacrificing their lives 
to stop an attack on America, which, in fact, was on the White House or 
this very building we are in today--this very building, the U.S. 
Capitol. The passengers of Flight 93 faced their enemies without 
hesitation and brought that plane to the ground in Shanksville, PA. 
That action was the opening battle in the war against terror.
  Today, people are gathering in New York City at Ground Zero, where 
the World Trade Towers once stood so proudly. People will gather here 
in the Nation's Capital. This morning, the President observed a moment 
of silence on the White House lawn and then joined those gathering at 
the Pentagon, at the site where Flight 77 crashed, to dedicate a 
memorial to those who died in that building--a building that symbolizes 
the American military, the greatest fighting force in the world.
  This remembrance is not just taking place in New York and in our 
Nation's Capital, it is taking place all across our Nation. Certainly, 
we are not alone in mourning the 2,975 people--citizens from more than 
90 nations--who died in the terrorist attacks. So our allies and 
friends mourn with us.
  These attacks carried out on September 11 changed the way we view our 
world. Many Americans, for the first time, felt vulnerable. While it 
was not the first terrorist attack on America, it was the largest on 
our soil since Pearl Harbor. So it is critically important to note that 
this attack wasn't an isolated incident but a carefully planned 
operation that was part of al-Qaida's war on America. Bin Laden had 
already declared war on America publicly. It was, at its foundation, an 
attack based on a belief that America was corrupt, decadent, and lacked 
the courage or the will to vigorously defend its very existence.
  They were wrong. The attacks that led up to that day--I will just 
make a note of them--the attacks that led up to that event were:
  In 1983, there was an attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, 
Lebanon, that killed 241 American servicemen.
  In 1985, the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked by terrorists, 
and a 70-year-old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard 
in his wheelchair.
  In 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a U.S. Navy diver 
trying to rescue fellow passengers was murdered.
  In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed, leaving 270 dead.
  In 1993, al-Qaida operatives attacked the World Trade Center and 
bombed it, killing 6 people and injuring 1,042. In June of 1996, 19 
American servicemembers were killed, with 372 wounded, in the Khobar 
Towers barracks attack in Saudi Arabia.
  In 1998, the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, 
killing 223 and wounding thousands.
  On October 12, 2000, while a warship of the United States of America, 
the USS Cole, was harbored in the Yemeni port of Aden for a routine 
fuel stop, a small craft approached and detonated their payload, 
putting a 40-by-60-foot gash in the ship's port side, killing 17 
American sailors.
  All of that occurred before the hijacking of those four planes on 
September 11, 2001. Since that day, while there have been attacks on 
England, Spain, and around the world, there have been no further 
successful attacks on the United States.
  Even though we are in an election campaign, it is important for us 
not to forget that the failure of al-Qaida to launch another attack on 
us is not due to the terrorist organization's relinquishing their 
objective, renouncing their goal of killing Americans and disrupting 
our lives and economy, but it is a testament to the vigilance of our 
law enforcement and military officials and President Bush's bold 
decision to stop sitting back, stop being on the defensive, and to 
treat these attacks for what they were--part of a war against the 
United States. He firmly declared that we should go after these 
terrorists and any who harbor them and utilize deadly force where 
necessary. This strategy has worked. No successful attacks have 
occurred since that time on our homeland. I don't think any of us would 
have felt that was likely the case, or would be the case, on September 
11, 2001, even though I think all of us, as a nation, agreed it was 
time to move on the offensive. That is the best way to defend our great 
country.
  Since September 11, 2001, 19 attacks have been thwarted in various 
stages of preparation. This chart is difficult to read, but the red 
lines across it indicate some of the successful interventions and 
defeats of terrorist plans. I will just mention those.
  In December 2001, Richard Reid attempted to blow up an airplane 
headed to Miami from Paris, using explosives in his shoe.
  In May 2002, Jose Padilla, who was charged with conspiring with 
Islamic terrorist groups, planned to set off a dirty bomb in the United 
States.
  In September 2002, the Lackawanna Six from Buffalo, NY, were arrested 
and charged with conspiring with terrorist groups.
  In May 2003, Lyman Faris, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kashmir 
living in Columbus, OH, was arrested for plotting the collapse of the 
Brooklyn Bridge.
  In June 2003, a Virginia jihad network, involving 11 men from 
Alexandria, was arrested for conspiring to support terrorists.
  In August 2004, members of a terrorist cell were arrested for 
plotting to attack financial institutions in the United States and 
other sites in England.
  In August 2004, two men were arrested for plotting to bomb a subway 
station near Madison Square Garden in New York.
  In August 2004, two leaders of an Albany, NY, mosque were charged 
with plotting to purchase a shoulder-fired grenade launcher to 
assassinate a Pakistani diplomat in New York.
  In June 2005, a California father-son terrorist team was charged with 
supporting terrorism.
  In August 2005, four men in Los Angeles were accused of conspiring to 
attack National Guard facilities in Los Angeles and other targets in 
the area.
  In December 2005, Michael C. Reynolds was arrested by the FBI and 
charged with being involved in a plot to blow up a Wyoming natural gas 
refinery.
  In February 2006, three men from Toledo, OH, were arrested and 
charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization.
  In April of 2006, Atlanta natives were accused of conspiring with 
terrorist organizations to attack targets in Washington, DC.
  In June of 2006, seven men were arrested in Miami and Atlanta and 
charged with plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, as well as 
FBI offices and other buildings.
  In July 2006, 10 people were arrested after the FBI discovered a plot 
to attack underground transit tunnels in New York.
  In August of 2006, British authorities stopped a plot to load 10 
commercial airliners with liquid explosives and attack sites in New 
York, Washington, and California. Fifteen men were charged.
  In March 2007, a senior operative for Osama bin Laden already in 
custody

[[Page S8331]]

confesses to have planned September 11 attacks and said he also planned 
attacks on Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and other sites.
  In May of 2007, six men were arrested and charged with plotting to 
attack soldiers at Fort Dix, NJ.
  In June of 2007, four men were charged with plotting to blow up jet 
fuel in a residential neighborhood near JFK Airport in New York.
  It is quite clear that it is imperative this Nation continue to be 
vigilant and keep these terrorist groups off balance, to keep our 
homeland and our allies secure.
  I believe as the years go by, history will view the efforts of the 
U.S. Government favorably in keeping its citizens safe after the 
attacks on September 11, 2001.
  President Bush made a bold decision. He took decisive action. A 
reorganized intelligence community that Senator Bond talked about was 
put in high gear and has dramatically improved our intelligence 
concerning terrorist groups. We were not where we should have been. We 
are still not, but we are dramatically improved. The FBI has 
dramatically changed its mode of operation from mere investigation 
after an attack to preventing further attacks. Unprecedented 
cooperation with and assistance from State and local law enforcement 
has raised our defensive capabilities and our intelligence-gathering 
networks manyfold. It is tremendous the improved relations we have with 
State and local law enforcement, and there are many more of those 
officers than there are Federal officers.
  For 7 years, we may thank the Lord and the hard work of so many that 
this Nation has remained free from terrorist attack. Will it continue? 
We may all pray that it will, but we know we remain at risk. We know 
for decades to come there will be some in this world who are willing to 
even give their lives to attack free nations around the world.
  We must remain vigilant. We must not forget what we have done wrong 
in the past, how we refused to recognize the reality of the threat, as 
the 9/11 Commission so clearly reported. But we must also not forget 
how going on the offensive, destroying the bases of operation of the 
radical Islamic networks, of attacking their military infrastructure, 
of attacking their soldiers, of capturing thousands and killing 
thousands of their operatives has made us safe and have put the 
terrorists on the defensive.
  Despite what some say, these efforts have gained worldwide support. 
The terrorists are losing support throughout the world. Al-Qaida made 
Iraq the central front against the United States and poured people into 
that country. But they made a bad decision to challenge the 
magnificent, courageous, and lethal U.S. military.
  Recent reports have declared that al-Qaida in Iraq has been 
decimated. There may still be some left, but the power of that network 
that 2 or 3 years ago existed has been decimated today, most experts 
say.
  So let's remember what we have done right. Also, we must keep these 
efforts up because it may well take decades before we will be 
victorious in this effort. If we remain firm, if this Nation continues 
to be smart, determined, and dedicated, their doom is sure. This group 
cannot defeat us. They may succeed with an attack here, they may 
succeed with an attack there, but if we have the will, if we have the 
courage, if we have the maturity, if we have the determination to 
remember those heroic people who started this war defending this very 
Capitol Building, who gave their lives in Pennsylvania for us--and we 
will honor their memory and honor the memory of those in New York City 
and honor the memory of those in the Pentagon and on the ship, the USS 
Cole--we will honor them by being firm, being faithful. We will be 
successful.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Ohio.

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