[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 135 (Tuesday, September 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1615-E1616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SPEECH BY JEFFREY BLEICH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRALIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 2011

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share a speech given by 
Jeffrey Bleich U.S. Ambassador to Australia commemorating the 10th 
anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Mr. Bleich's speech 
eloquently addresses the tragedy of that day, our struggle to come to 
terms with what happened and our resiliency in the years since 9/11. 
The harrowing experience of his friend, Jeff Thompson, reminds us that 
while September 11th left an indelible mark on the nation, it was also 
a deeply personal tragedy for the thousands of Americans in New York 
City, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, who felt the full 
brunt of the violence of that day on their families and friends. I am 
pleased to enter the Ambassador's full speech into the Record today.

September 11th 10 Year Anniversary Commemoration Speech Jeffrey Bleich 
                      U.S. Ambassador to Australia

       The Honorable Ms. Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of 
     Australia and Mr. Tim Mathieson, Your Excellencies, 
     Ambassadors and High Commissioners, of more than 70 nations, 
     The Honorable Mr. Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition, Ms. 
     Katy Gallagher, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital 
     Territory, General David Hurley, Chief of the Australian 
     Defence Force and Mrs. Linda Hurley, Members of the 
     Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Chiefs of the 
     Australian Defense Force Services, Senior Members of the 
     Australian Public Service, Members of Australian First 
     Responder Services, and welcome to our visiting international 
     dignitary, the Honourable Mr. Peter MacKay, Canadian Minister 
     of National Defence, Distinguished guests, friends and family 
     from many countries.
       We come together today to remember a terrible day; but even 
     more to consider the days that have followed and that will 
     follow.
       It has been ten years since September 11.
       The world that we imagined on September 10, 2001 all 
     changed--changed utterly--in 24 hours. That morning of 9/11, 
     thousands of men and women, Americans, Australians, and 
     people of dozens of nationalities, Christians, Jews, Muslims, 
     awoke thinking it was a normal day. In New York City they 
     headed to work in the World Trade Towers. In Boston, Newark, 
     and D.C., they rushed off to the airport to catch the early 
     morning flight to San Francisco. In New York, firefighters 
     and police officers--men and women--kissed their spouses or 
     partners goodbye as they left for the station. They all had 
     their plans for the day: their meetings, who they would see 
     at lunch, friends, appointments, errands with children. The 
     world they imagined that morning, like the life they 
     imagined, was one filled with many more days and years. They 
     assumed life in all its fullness, whatever that life was. The 
     ideals they held, the religion they practiced, the people 
     they chose as their friends, their political views, the words 
     they chose to say.
       We don't refer to these things usually as ``freedom of 
     religion,'' ``freedom of speech,'' ``freedom of 
     association,'' ``equality,'' or ``liberty.'' We just call it 
     living. We call it life. And likely so did the people on that 
     day too.
       But that casual belief changed on September 11. These men 
     and women--sons, daughters, fathers, mothers--were killed 
     that day for simply living as they did, and where they did. 
     People from over 90 nations were killed because they chose to 
     live in a land that celebrated these values.
       For those of us who survived, it was also a day we never 
     imagined. Wherever we were, in countries around the world, we 
     imagined a normal day as well. None of us expected the world 
     to stop, and for us to watch in horror as people--people like 
     us--perished before our very eyes, in flames, and ash, and 
     rubble.
       Faced suddenly with a world that we'd never imagined, the 
     stark question for each of us to answer was this: ``what do 
     we do now?''
       If people like us were going to be killed for living as we 
     did, what would we do now?
       One of the people asking this question was my college 
     roommate, Jeff Thompson. Jeff and his girlfriend lived in New 
     York, where he worked in finance and also sometimes went on 
     the road to play with his band.
       On September 11, he was at work, on one of the top floors 
     of the Second World Trade tower, when the first plane hit 
     Tower One. Seeing the destruction next door, he started 
     downstairs, but no one followed. He was halfway down, when 
     the second plane hit--above him--cutting off all of his 
     colleagues; everyone he knew from work. The stairwells filled 
     with people as they marched down to get out of the building, 
     while firefighters and police struggled to get up. Jeff was 
     barely out of the tower when it all collapsed behind him. He 
     was covered in dust, and blood, and tears.

[[Page E1616]]

       There were no phones. No cars. No way to get back home to 
     his flat except to walk. And so he walked. He walked 18 
     miles, back to his apartment. When he arrived his girlfriend 
     was home mourning his death. And when she opened the door, 
     Jeff--covered in dust--looked like a ghost. They stood crying 
     at one another. And then, he dropped to one knee and he asked 
     her to marry him. That is how he answered the question, 
     ``what do you do now?''
       In the days and years since, they have married. They have a 
     son. Jeff has left the glamorous lifestyle of high finance 
     and show business, for a quiet life in a small town, where he 
     teaches math. He has committed to the things that matter most 
     to him: his wife, his child, his community, and to educating 
     the next generation. He can never make sense of that day, and 
     he will never be able to accept why he was spared when so 
     many other good people perished. But in the days and weeks 
     that have followed he has rededicated himself to doing the 
     things they might have done if they had lived: living a free 
     and good life.
       Each day since that terrible day offers each of us the 
     chance to do good things that help others. In the face of the 
     question of September 12--what do I do now? There is no 
     answer other than: I will be better.
       In the 10 years since September 11, survivors of terrorism 
     around the world have struggled just as Jeff has to 
     understand what happened, and why, and how to stop it from 
     happening again. Free people have come together from New York 
     to Nairobi, Bali to Belfast, Mumbai to Manila, Lahore to 
     London, and many other places and nations afflicted by 
     terrorism. We have all been more careful at our borders. We 
     have been more aware in our intelligence. We have been more 
     aggressive in our response to terror.
       But we have been more than that. We have looked inward; and 
     we have looked outward. We have been more inclusive of 
     religions--learning each others traditions, hosting Iftars 
     together, celebrating Ramadan and renewing our commitment to 
     religious tolerance. We shared our thoughts and hopes and 
     beliefs even more freely through our political processes. We 
     innovated and built new ways to communicate--social media--
     that connected us to more people around the world than ever 
     before in human history. We made more friends. And we 
     invested more than ever in our alliances and in our 
     communities around the world. We gave more aid. We supported 
     more charities. We welcomed new Countries like South Sudan. 
     And we celebrated the spirit of democracy among the people of 
     Tunisia and other nations in this Arab Spring.
       We fought even harder against agents of hate, and fear, and 
     intolerance wherever they lived. Tens of thousands of us have 
     served this cause, often putting our lives at risk in 
     difficult and dangerous places. We've lost some of our best 
     and bravest men and women. And all of us have invested 
     billions of dollars to save the world from killers like Osama 
     Bin Laden, and those who followed his sick beliefs.
       The terrorists wanted us to respond in terror--to be afraid 
     to live as we had, and to believe as we did. In the 10 years 
     that have followed, we have done just the opposite. We went 
     back into our office buildings. We went back onto our 
     airplanes. We came together in our temples, and churches, and 
     Mosques. We lined up at our ballot boxes. We volunteered to 
     serve our nations. And we gathered publicly without fear, 
     whether to enjoy the simple pleasures of a football game, or 
     a concert, or a barbeque. And we came together each year on 
     this day to remember those who we lost, and to rededicate our 
     lives in their memory.
       Today members of the Embassy did not mourn. They went to 
     the Arboretum and planted new trees to make the world cleaner 
     and more beautiful. They ran around Lake Burley Griffin to 
     raise money to help those suffering from heart disease. We 
     joined with our Australian friends to volunteer at homeless 
     shelters, and with organizations thoughout this City to live 
     the principles and freedoms we cherish.
       Around the world, we resisted the natural instinct of 
     people when attacked to withdraw and close off; our response 
     has been to reach out and embrace.
       Confronted with hate, we choose not to hate.
       Confronted with death, we choose to live.
       Confronted with fear, we choose to hope.
       We have done, as Jeff did 10 years ago tonight. Faced with 
     unimaginable fear and death, he kneeled to pledge his faith 
     in love.
       Thank you.

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