[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 13, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2470-H2474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING VICTIMS OF OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1206) remembering the victims of
the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, and supporting the goals and ideals of the National Week of
Hope, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1206
Whereas, on April 19, 1995, at 9:02 a.m., a terrorist
detonated a truck bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;
Whereas this was one of the worst terrorist attacks ever to
occur on United States soil, taking the lives of 168 people
and injuring more than 850 others, many of them United States
Government employees who worked in the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building;
Whereas this cowardly act of domestic terrorism directly
affected thousands of families and horrified millions of
people across the State of Oklahoma and the United States;
Whereas the people of Oklahoma and the United States
responded to this tragedy through the remarkable efforts of
local, State, and Federal law enforcement personnel,
firefighters, search and rescue teams, public and private
medical personnel, other emergency services personnel, and
thousands of volunteers from the community who saved lives,
assisted the injured and wounded, comforted the bereaved, and
provided meals and support to those who came to Oklahoma City
to offer assistance;
Whereas this courageous response set what has come to be
known as the ``Oklahoma Standard'', which was later emulated
by many Americans following the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001;
Whereas, following the 1995 attack, the people of Oklahoma
and the United States pledged to build and maintain a
permanent national memorial to remember those who were
killed, those who survived, and those changed forever;
Whereas this pledge was fulfilled by establishing the
Oklahoma City National Memorial, which draws hundreds of
thousands of visitors from around the world every year to the
site of the attack;
Whereas the inscription on the wall of the Oklahoma City
National Memorial reads: ``We come here to remember those who
were killed, those who survived, and those changed forever.
May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this
memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope, and
serenity.'';
Whereas the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention
of Terrorism was established to educate the Nation's
emergency responders about preventing and mitigating the
effects of terrorist attacks;
Whereas the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building has been
replaced with a new, safe, secure, and functional Federal
building in downtown Oklahoma City that houses many of the
offices once housed in the Murrah Building, sending a message
that the people and Government of the United States will not
be cowed by terrorists; and
Whereas the 15th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of
the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is April 19, 2010: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) joins with the people of the United States in sending
best wishes and prayers to the families, friends, and
neighbors of the 168 people killed in the terrorist bombing
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma; and
(2) sends its best wishes and prayers to those injured in
the bombing and expresses gratitude to the thousands of first
responders, rescue workers, medical personnel, and volunteers
from the community and across the Nation who answered the
call for help on the morning of the attack and in the days
and weeks thereafter.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
[[Page H2471]]
all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend
their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Congresswoman Mary Fallin and our
colleagues from Oklahoma for introducing this resolution. This
resolution commemorates the lives of the Federal employees and other
victims of this savage terrorist attack and reminds us of the ongoing
terrorist threat in our borders.
House Resolution 1206 was introduced by the gentlewoman from
Oklahoma, Representative Mary Fallin, on March 23 of this year and was
referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. It comes
to the floor today with the bipartisan support of over 50 cosponsors.
Over the last year, we've witnessed a rise in violent rhetoric by
extremist groups in America. In the most recent incident, Andrew Joseph
Stack intentionally crashed his small plane into a Federal building in
Austin, Texas, that included offices of the Internal Revenue Service,
among others.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there have been over 75
violent attacks by domestic terrorists since 1995, Mr. Speaker. The
resolution before us today is especially poignant because it is but the
most destructive example of a recent frightening trend in domestic
terrorism, that is to say, the incident in Oklahoma City.
At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols
used a truck full of explosives to attack the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City. Their vicious attack, conducted at a time
when most of the building's employees were at work and their children
at a day care center, killed 168 people and wounded 850 others. The
explosion was so powerful it reduced much of the building to rubble and
damaged at least six adjacent buildings, including an apartment
building, a church, and a YMCA. Some of the victims of the Murrah
Federal Building were children who were in the day care center for
building employees.
McVeigh and Nichols appear to have been motivated by similar anti-
government ideology as the dozens of domestic terrorist who have
attacked America in 15 years subsequent to that bombing.
Seven emergency response crews responded to the attack after
receiving a call reporting it in at 9:03 a.m., with Fire Station One's
crew arriving first at the scene. Oklahoma City's police force set up
an incident command system to manage a massive search and rescue
operation. Average citizens, as well as the Civil Air Patrol, American
Red Cross, and other organizations assisted with responses to the
attack.
After the attack, Oklahomans and other Americans responded with
generous offers of assistance. Immediately after McVeigh detonated the
explosives in the truck, many bystanders ran to the building to try to
save people who were still in it. Oklahoma City restaurant owners gave
first responders free meals. Blood drives were so overwhelmed with
volunteers that long lines forced the city to ask blood donors to wait
for the next drive.
Workers actually left their boots on-site after response crews ran
out of work boots. This collective sacrifice and outpouring of support
earned the moniker ``Oklahoma Standard,'' which describes an
extraordinary, spontaneous outpouring of community support in times of
tragedy.
Thank you again, Congresswoman Fallin, our colleague, for introducing
this legislation which I'm a proud cosponsor of.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1206,
remembering the victims of the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Fifteen years ago, domestic terrorists set off a truck bomb in front
of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in what would
become one of the worst terrorist attacks to happen on American soil.
In a matter of moments, the lives of 168 people, including 19 children,
were cruelly brought to an end. In the aftermath, we learned that more
than 850 people were injured, and 30 children were orphaned; 219
children lost at least one parent in the tragedy.
To those there, it seemed as if no one in Oklahoma escaped unscathed.
Indeed, it has been said that ``at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, every
American became an Oklahoman.'' The outpouring of support for the
people of Oklahoma in the hours, days, weeks and months following this
attack revealed the depth of character of the citizens of this great
Nation.
Many of those killed and injured were Federal employees or the
families of Federal employees. It is important that we take time to
remember the civil servants who served our country honorably and
perished in this tragedy. All of these employees' service to our
country deserve recognition and distinction.
I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to local, State and Federal
law enforcement, firefighters and emergency response teams from
Oklahoma and across the United States; the servicemen and -women, the
medical personnel, and the thousands of volunteers who donated their
time to help save lives and assist the injured and provide meals to
those that came to help the people of Oklahoma. Without these brave men
and women, countless more lives may have been lost that day.
Oklahomans have demonstrated the depth of their own character by
rebuilding in the wake of the bombing. This tragedy could have
devastated the future of Oklahoma City; but in the 15 years since the
bombing, the city and all Oklahomans have undergone profound healing. I
commend them for their strength and for the continued commitment to
triumph over such senseless violence, and I stand with them as they
persevere.
Rather than allowing fear to hinder them, the people of Oklahoma City
determined to continue the city's growth while keeping alive the memory
of those lost.
Nowhere is that determination more beautifully exhibited than at the
Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. This facility has attracted
hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world each year
since its opening. It serves as a reminder of not only the tragic event
that took place 15 years ago, but also the way that all Americans came
together to pick up the pieces and move on. It provides Oklahomans and
all Americans with a sense of hope that we truly are able to rise from
the ashes of terrorism and come out a stronger community and Nation.
The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism was also
created to help educate the Nation's emergency responders and law
enforcement about preventing and mitigating the effects of terrorist
attacks.
Before I close, I will quote the inscription on the wall of the
memorial which sums up the lessons learned from this senseless tragedy.
It reads: ``We come here to remember those who were killed, those who
survived, and those who changed forever. May all who leave here know
the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength,
peace, hope and serenity.''
As we near the 15th anniversary of the bombing of the Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, I hope we will keep those impacted by this
in our minds and heed these important words.
I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution, and I urge all of my
colleagues to support this resolution.
And, Mr. Speaker, I think this speaks volumes about what we are as a
Nation. We're not a Nation of political parties. We're all Americans,
and we come together in a tragedy like this to help heal. And I extend
my condolences from the great State of Tennessee to Oklahoma. And I
thank my friend from Virginia here today for helping us commemorate
this.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. I thank my friend from Tennessee for his
kind words. And now I am pleased to recognize our colleague and friend
from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum) for 4 minutes.
(Ms. McCOLLUM asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to remember the victims of
the
[[Page H2472]]
1995 terrorist attack on Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. This act
of terrorism was committed by a man who viewed the Federal Government
as such a threat it justified mass murder.
I applaud my colleague from Oklahoma for her resolution because it
serves as a reminder that right-wing anti-government extremist groups
are on the rise today. Only 2 weeks ago, members of a so-called
Christian militia in Michigan were arrested by the FBI for plotting to
kill law enforcement officers in the hopes of inciting an anti-
government uprising.
A national civil rights organization has documented a growing number
of hate groups in America and states they are ``driven largely by an
angry backlash against non-white immigration, economic meltdown and the
climb to power of an African American President.'' In one word: racism.
Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center states: ``Individuals
associated with the Patriot movement during its heydays in the 1990s
produced an enormous amount of violence, most dramatically the Oklahoma
City bombing.''
Today Mr. Potok states: ``As the movement has exploded, so has the
reaches of its ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and
politicians.''
Only last month a Fox News media commentator, with Members of
Congress next to him, rallied a tea party crowd by disparaging Congress
and calling the crowd ``all these Tim McVeigh wannabes here.'' To that,
the crowds cheered and applauded.
When Members of Congress compare health care legislation to
``government tyranny,'' ``socialism'' or ``totalitarianism'' in the
hopes of scoring political points, it's like pouring gas on the fire of
extremism.
Members of this House, Democrats and Republicans, have a duty and
obligation to end the dangerous name-calling that can only inspire
extremist militias and phony patriots. In the most free, prosperous and
greatest democracy on Earth, it is time to return to civil, decent
debate of public policy.
I don't want another ``Oklahoma City'' to ever take place again. And
just as we would not give aid and comfort to al Qaeda, let us not allow
the words of elected leaders to give comfort and comfortable excuses to
extremists bent on violence. Words have power for both good and evil,
and I implore my colleagues to temper their rhetoric and not allow the
words of a Member of Congress to ever be used by a violent militia or
phony, hate-filled patriot to cause violence.
The victims of the Oklahoma City bombing were women at work, men in
line for government services, and children in a day care center. And
these families were torn apart, and they struggle to heal. A community
was devastated, but it is again filled with hope and memories.
And I hope with this resolution every Member of Congress will reflect
upon the victims of Oklahoma City, as well as our duty as elected
leaders in a proud and free country.
[From the Southern Poverty Law Center, Apr. 2010]
Rage on the Right--The Year in Hate and Extremism
(By Mark Potok)
The radical right caught fire last year, as broad-based
populist anger at political, demographic and economic changes
in America ignited an explosion of new extremist groups and
activism across the nation.
Hate groups stayed at record levels--almost 1,000--despite
the total collapse of the second largest neo-Nazi group in
America. Furious anti-immigrant vigilante groups soared by
nearly 80%, adding some 136 new groups during 2009. And, most
remarkably of all, so-called ``Patriot'' groups--militias and
other organizations that see the federal government as part
of a plot to impose ``one-world government'' on liberty-
loving Americans--came roaring back after years out of the
limelight.
The anger seething across the American political
landscape--over racial changes in the population, soaring
public debt and the terrible economy, the bailouts of bankers
and other elites, and an array of initiatives by the
relatively liberal Obama Administration that are seen as
``socialist'' or even ``fascist''--goes beyond the radical
right. The ``tea parties'' and similar groups that have
sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered
extremist groups, but they are shot through with rich veins
of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism.
``We are in the midst of one of the most significant right-
wing populist rebellions in United States history,'' Chip
Berlet, a veteran analyst of the American radical right,
wrote earlier this year. ``We see around us a series of
overlapping social and political movements populated by
people [who are] angry, resentful, and full of anxiety. They
are raging against the machinery of the federal bureaucracy
and liberal government programs and policies including health
care, reform of immigration and labor laws, abortion, and gay
marriage.''
Sixty-one percent of Americans believe the country is in
decline, according to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal
poll. Just a quarter think the government can be trusted. And
the anti-tax tea party movement is viewed in much more
positive terms than either the Democratic or Republican
parties, the poll found.
The signs of growing radicalization are everywhere. Armed
men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs suggesting that
the ``tree of liberty'' needs to be ``watered'' with ``the
blood of tyrants.'' The Conservative Political Action
Conference held this February was co-sponsored by groups like
the John Birch Society, which believes President Eisenhower
was a Communist agent, and Oath Keepers, a Patriot outfit
formed last year that suggests, in thinly veiled language,
that the government has secret plans to declare martial law
and intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps.
Politicians pandering to the antigovernment right in 37
states have introduced ``Tenth Amendment Resolutions,'' based
on the constitutional provision keeping all powers not
explicitly given to the federal government with the states.
And, at the ``A Well Regulated Militia'' website, a recent
discussion of how to build ``clandestine safe houses'' to
stay clear of the federal government included a conversation
about how mass murderers like Timothy McVeigh and Olympics
bomber Eric Rudolph were supposedly betrayed at such houses.
Doing the Numbers
The number of hate groups in America has been going up for
years, rising 54% between 2000 and 2008 and driven largely by
an angry backlash against non-white immigration and,
starting in the last year of that period, the economic
meltdown and the climb to power of an African American
president.
According to the latest annual count by the Southern
Poverty Law Center (SPLC), these groups rose again slightly
in 2009--from 926 in 2008 to 932 last year--despite the
demise of a key neo-Nazi group. The American National
Socialist Workers Party, which had 35 chapters in 28 states,
imploded shortly after the October 2008 arrest of founder
Bill White for making threats against his enemies.
At the same time, the number of what the SPLC designates as
``nativist extremist'' groups--organizations that go beyond
mere advocacy of restrictive immigration policy to actually
confront or harass suspected immigrants--jumped from 173
groups in 2008 to 309 last year. Virtually all of these
vigilante groups have appeared since the spring of 2005.
But the most dramatic story by far has been with the
antigovernment Patriots.
The militias and the larger Patriot movement first came to
Americans' attention in the mid-1990s, when they appeared as
an angry reaction to what was seen as a tyrannical government
bent on crushing all dissent. Sparked most dramatically by
the death of 76 Branch Davidians during a 1993 law
enforcement siege in Waco, Texas, those who joined the
militias also railed against the Democratic Clinton
Administration and initiatives like gun control and
environmental regulation. Although the Patriot movement
included people formerly associated with racially based hate
groups, it was above all animated by a view of the federal
government as the primary enemy, along with a fondness for
antigovernment conspiracy theories. By early this decade, the
groups had largely disappeared from public view.
But last year, as noted in the SPLC's August report, ``The
Second Wave: Return of the Militias,'' a dramatic resurgence
in the Patriot movement and its paramilitary wing, the
militias, began. Now, the latest SPLC count finds that an
astonishing 363 new Patriot groups appeared in 2009, with the
totals going from 149 groups (including 42 militias) to 512
(127 of them militias)--a 244% jump.
That is cause for grave concern. Individuals associated
with the Patriot movement during its 1990s heyday produced an
enormous amount of violence, most dramatically the Oklahoma
City bombing that left 168 people dead.
Already there are signs of similar violence emanating from
the radical right. Since the installation of Barack Obama,
right-wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement
officers. Racist skinheads and others have been arrested in
alleged plots to assassinate the nation's first black
president. One man from Brockton, Mass.--who told police he
had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was
under way against whites--is charged with murdering two black
people and planning to kill as many Jews as possible on the
day after Obama's inauguration. Most recently, a rash of
individuals with antigovernment, survivalist or racist views
have been arrested in a series of bomb cases.
As the movement has exploded, so has the reach of its
ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and politicians in
the ostensible mainstream. While in the 1990s, the movement
got good reviews from a few lawmakers
[[Page H2473]]
and talk-radio hosts, some of its central ideas today are
being plugged by people with far larger audiences like FOX
News' Glenn Beck and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn).
Beck, for instance, re-popularized a key Patriot conspiracy
theory--the charge that FEMA is secretly running
concentration camps--before finally ``debunking'' it.
Last year also experienced levels of cross-pollination
between different sectors of the radical right not seen in
years. Nativist activists increasingly adopted the ideas of
the Patriots; racist rants against Obama and others coursed
through the Patriot movement; and conspiracy theories
involving the government appeared in all kinds of right-wing
venues. A good example is the upcoming Second Amendment March
in Washington, D.C. The website promoting the march is topped
by a picture of a colonial militiaman, and key supporters
include Larry Pratt, a long-time militia enthusiast with
connections to white supremacists, and Richard Mack, a
conspiracy-mongering former sheriff associated with the
Patriot group Oath Keepers.
What may be most noteworthy about the march, however, is
its date--April 19. That is the date of the first shots fired
at Lexington in the Revolutionary War. And it is also the
anniversary of the fiery end of the government siege in Waco
and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I again offer my deepest
sympathies to the victims of the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building, as well as to the families and friends of those victims.
Fifteen years later, we remember and mourn their tragic loss.
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H. Res. 1206.
Ms. FALLIN. Mr. Speaker, fifteen years ago next Monday, America was
shocked and saddened by a murderous attack in our heartland. 168
Oklahomans died and hundreds others injured when a homegrown terrorist
detonated a bomb outside the Oklahoma City Federal Building.
Today I offer a resolution to commemorate that tragedy, but it is
also a resolution of hope.
On April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City, the State of Oklahoma and our
Nation saw the face of evil. But rather than cower in fear we came
together. From the very first moments after the blast, neighbors rushed
forward to help neighbors. They lined up around the block to give
blood. They became volunteer rescuers--and one, a nurse, gave her life
in that effort.
As our wounds began to heal, we vowed always to remember those we
lost, those who were injured and those who were changed forever. Five
years after the bombing, in 2000, a beautiful and peaceful outdoor
memorial was dedicated on the same block that was once marked by blood
and tears.
That memorial includes 168 empty chairs in memory of those who died--
19 of them children. It contains a reflecting pool and a tough old tree
that survived the blast. We call it the Survivor Tree, and it is the
emblem of our memorial.
A year later, we added a museum where visitors come each day to learn
more about the bombing, and to absorb the lesson that in our free
Nation, free speech is honorable, but violence is not.
Those are the physical symbols of hope. There are others just as
vital. Dozens of children lost one or more parent in the bombing, or
were themselves injured. Today a special fund is sending some of those
children to college.
And each year, as we will next Monday, we gather again at the
Oklahoma City National Memorial to pause for 168 seconds of silence, to
honor memories, to see old friends with whom we share an unbreakable
bond forged of both tragedy and hope. And we also come to renew that
vow we made in 1995--we will never forget.
Fifteen years ago this Congress and the Clinton administration
stepped forward to bring the help and the justice the events of that
day demanded. Subsequent laws made it easier to prosecute terrorists
and bring them to final justice.
This resolution continues the commitment of this Congress to stand
with and for Oklahoma City. In memory of all those touched by the
events of April 19, 1995, I urge its unanimous passage.''
Mr. BOREN. Mr. Speaker, at 9:02 a.m. on the morning of April 19th,
1995, a truck bomb detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in downtown Oklahoma City killing 168 individuals--all of them
unsuspecting women, children, and men--thereby becoming one of the most
abhorrent acts of violence ever undertaken against the American people.
Fifteen years after the bombing, we recognize on this day--April 19th,
2010--all those both in Oklahoma and across the United States who were
touched by this inexplicable articulation of violence, violence which
signaled an irrevocable act of domestic terrorism. Our recollections of
that nascent dawn are consequently entombed within these words as a
small yet vital elegy to the mid-April daylight a decade and a half ago
when our world exploded.
We cannot and we must not allow the events from 15 years past to
lapse in our memories. The actions of that day still scar the
surrounding landscape like the ghosts of an enduring trauma, latent but
ever present behind the unyielding advances of time. Within a 16-block
radius of the blast site where 850 individuals were injured, where 19
of the 168 killed were under the age of 6, where 324 structures were
either damaged or destroyed, where 86 cars were utterly incinerated and
where the window panes of 258 buildings were thoroughly shattered, the
scorched earth campaign of Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols permanently
impacted not only the existence of each and every Oklahoman but of all
Americans. Yet, the remarkable efforts of local, State, and Federal law
enforcement, fire and emergency services, search and rescue teams from
near and far, medical personnel both public and private, as well as
vast numbers of volunteers who willingly endangered themselves to save
others, assist the injured, support the grieving, and provide amenities
to those endangered or otherwise altered by this act of terrorism all
attest to the irrepressible character of Oklahoma and of America as a
whole.
Today, after the chaos of tragedy unexpected, after the initial
anguish of the moment, after the exposure of a malice which rocked us
to our very core, the Oklahoma City National Memorial stands resilient
in the downtown area as a sobering reminder of the attack on America's
heartland 15 years previous. The memorial itself--set on the grounds of
the incendiary assault, in the solitary shadow of an elm known as the
Survivor Tree--bears the following inscription: ``We come here to
remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed
forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this
memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.'' And, may
we as Americans, never permit ourselves to forget the pilfered vitality
those 168 empty chairs signify, especially the 16 smaller seats--each
one a life, literally in its infancy, extinguished by the unmitigated
cruelty of a terrorist plot planted and brought to fruition on American
soil.
Moreover, we cannot dismiss the somber relevance the beloved departed
lend to the grievous affairs of that morning. We cannot dismiss the 580
injured. Nor can we dismiss the countless number of volunteers from
every corner of this country who came from near and far to aid in
Oklahoma City's continued recovery. April 19th must remain firmly in
our minds as the day America was altered permanently, as the day I urge
us to recognize and to never forget.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.
Res. 1206, ``Remembering the victims of the attack on the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and supporting the
goals and ideals of the National Week of Hope.''
Let me begin by thanking my colleague Representative Mary Fallin for
introducing this important piece of legislation into the House of
Representatives as it is important that we always remember the men,
women and children who lost their lives in the tragic bombing of the
Oklahoma City Federal Building. I would also like to recognize
Congresswoman Fallin for her bravery and leadership in the aftermath of
the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Just four months after taking her initial oath of office as
Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, Representative Fallin was faced with
this horrible attack. Through her courage and dedication to the people
of Oklahoma however, Representative Fallin successfully worked toward
the recovery and reconstruction of ground-zero and also formed a task
force to rebuild the childcare center lost in the disaster.
In one of the most shocking and horrifying terrorist attacks ever
directed against the United States homeland, the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was bombed by homegrown
terrorist Timothy McVeigh, leading to the deaths of over one-hundred
citizens and Federal employees.
Timothy McVeigh detonated his homemade bomb in front of the Federal
building on the morning of April 19, 1995, just as employees and
citizens were arriving at work for the day. The large explosion took
the lives of 168 people and injured more than 850 others in the area
around ground-zero.
I deplore in the strongest terms possible this cowardly act of
terrorism against the men, women and children in a Federal building.
This type of senseless violence is not welcome in our democratic
society and we must work to see that this type of action is never
allowed to take place again.
I would especially like to recognize the fine men and women of the
police, fire department and other first responders who provided
immediate assistance in the aftermath of the bombing. Because of their
courageous actions that day, many lives were able to be saved.
[[Page H2474]]
As the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and
Infrastructure protection I have consistently worked towards increasing
the security in and around Federal buildings most notably through my
sponsorship of H.R. 3225. I introduced H.R. 3225 right after 9/11 and
pushed for the implementation of a uniform Federal alert standard that
would go into effect in the event of an emergency or threat against a
Federal or private facility.
We must always ensure that the safety of the American people remains
our top priority. Furthermore it is vitally important that we continue
to work together to protect Federal infrastructure from future attack.
Through the passage of this bill, we will help to ensure that the
horrible bombing on the Oklahoma City Federal building, and those lost
in the attack are never forgotten. We will also ensure that a strong
emphasis is put on the protection of Federal infrastructure across the
nation and across the globe.
I would like to again thank my colleague Representative Mary Fallin
for introducing H. Res. 1206. I ask my colleagues for their support of
this legislation as well as their continued support for the families of
those lost in the Oklahoma City Bombing and other acts of terrorism.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H. Res. 1206.
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1206, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
The title was amended so as to read: ``Resolution remembering the
victims of the attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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