[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8825-H8828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FALLEN HEROES OF 9/11 ACT

  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3421) to award Congressional Gold Medals in honor of the 
men and women who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks on the 
United States on September 11, 2001.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3421

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act''.

     SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the tragic deaths at the World Trade Center, at the 
     Pentagon, and in rural Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, 
     have forever changed our Nation;
       (2) the officers, emergency workers, and other employees of 
     State and local government agencies, including the Port 
     Authority of New York and New Jersey, and of the United 
     States government and others, who responded to the attacks on 
     the World Trade Center in New York City and perished as a 
     result of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 (including 
     those who are missing and presumed dead), took heroic and 
     noble action on that day;
       (3) the officers, emergency rescue workers, and employees 
     of local and United States government agencies, who responded 
     to the attack on the Pentagon in Washington, DC, took heroic 
     and noble action to evacuate the premises and prevent further 
     casualties of Pentagon employees;
       (4) the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, 
     recognizing the imminent danger that the aircraft that they 
     were aboard posed to large numbers of innocent men, women and 
     children, American institutions, and the symbols of American 
     democracy, took heroic and noble action to ensure that the 
     aircraft could not be used as a weapon; and
       (5) given the unprecedented nature of the attacks against 
     the United States of America and the need to properly 
     demonstrate the support of the country for those who lost 
     their lives to terrorism, it is fitting that their sacrifice 
     be recognized with the award of an appropriate medal.

     SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Award.--
       (1) Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 
     shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf 
     of Congress, of 3 gold medals of appropriate design in honor 
     of the men and women who perished as a result of the 
     terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
       (2) Display.--Following the award of the gold medals 
     referred to in paragraph (1), one gold medal shall be given 
     to each of--
       (A) the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania,
       (B) the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New 
     York, and
       (C) the Pentagon Memorial at the Pentagon,
     with the understanding that each medal is to be put on 
     permanent, appropriate display.
       (3) Design and striking.--For the purposes of the awards 
     referred to in paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall strike 3 designs of the gold medals with suitable 
     emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
     Secretary.
       (b) Duplicate Medals.--Under such regulations as the 
     Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell 
     duplicates in bronze of the gold medals struck under this 
     Act, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of

[[Page H8826]]

     the medals, including labor, materials, dyes, use of 
     machinery, and overhead expenses.
       (c) National Medals.--Medals struck pursuant to this Act 
     are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, 
     United States Code.
       (d) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of 
     duplicate bronze medals under subsection (b) shall be 
     deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Meeks) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and to add extraneous material on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit an exchange of 
letters with the Ways and Means Committee regarding this bill.

         House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 
           Longworth House Office Building,
                                Washington, DC, December 13, 2011.
     Hon. Spencer Bachus,
     Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, Rayburn House 
         Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Bachus: I am writing concerning H.R. 3421, 
     the ``Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act,'' which is scheduled for 
     Floor action today.
       As you know, the Committee on Ways and Means maintains 
     jurisdiction over matters that concern raising revenue. H.R. 
     3421 contains a provision that provides for the sale of 
     duplicate medals, and thus falls within the jurisdiction of 
     the Committee on Ways and Means.
       However, as part of our ongoing understanding regarding 
     commemorative coin and medal bills and in order to expedite 
     this bill for floor consideration, the Committee will forgo 
     action. This is being done with the understanding that it 
     does not in any way prejudice the Committee with respect to 
     the appointment of conferees or its jurisdictional 
     prerogatives on this or similar legislation in the future.
       I would appreciate your response to this letter, confirming 
     this understanding with respect to H.R. 3421, and would ask 
     that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be 
     included in the Congressional Record during Floor 
     consideration.
           Sincerely,
                                                        Dave Camp,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                              Committee on Financial Services,

                                Washington, DC, December 13, 2011.
     Hon. Dave Camp,
     Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, Longworth House Office 
         Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Camp: I am writing in response to your letter 
     regarding H.R. 3421, the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, which is 
     scheduled under for Floor consideration under suspension of 
     the rules on Tuesday, December 13, 2011.
       I wish to confirm our mutual understanding on this bill. As 
     you know, section 3 of the bill relates to the proceeds of 
     the sale of the medals. I acknowledge your committee's 
     jurisdictional interest in such proceeds as revenue matters 
     and appreciate your willingness to forego action by the 
     Committee on Ways and Means on H.R. 3421 in order to allow 
     the bill to come to the Floor expeditiously. Also, I agree 
     that your decision to forego further action on this bill will 
     not prejudice the Committee on Ways and Means with respect to 
     its jurisdictional prerogatives on this or similar 
     legislation. Therefore, I would support your request for 
     conferees on those provisions within your jurisdiction should 
     this bill be the subject of a House-Senate conference.
       I will include this exchange of letters in the 
     Congressional Record when this bill is considered by the 
     House. Thank you again for your assistance and if you should 
     need anything further, please do not hesitate to contact 
     Natalie McGarry of my staff at 202-225-7502.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Spencer Bachus,
                                                         Chairman.

  I yield 3 minutes to the author and sponsor of this bill, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster).
  Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  I rise today in support of the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, which I 
introduced earlier this year in honor of the 10th anniversary of 
September 11. I represent Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the area where 
Flight 93 went down, and, more importantly, where the first 
counterattack of the war on terror occurred.
  It has been an honor for me to work closely with the Families of 
Flight 93 over the years on key initiatives, including funding the 
Flight 93 National Memorial and awarding the 9/11 heroes a 
Congressional Gold Medal. The Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act would award one 
collective Congressional Gold Medal to honor the heroes that perished 
on 9/11, to be displayed at each memorial site--the Flight 93 National 
Memorial in Pennsylvania, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum 
in New York, and the Pentagon Memorial. The tragic deaths at the World 
Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in rural Pennsylvania on September 
11, 2001, have forever changed our Nation.
  The officers, emergency workers, and other employees of State and 
local government agencies, including the Port Authority of New York and 
New Jersey, and of the United States Government and others, who 
responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and 
perished as a result of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, took 
heroic and noble action on that day.
  The officers, emergency rescue workers and employees of local and 
United States Government agencies who responded to the attack on the 
Pentagon and Washington took heroic and noble action to evacuate the 
premises and prevent further casualties of the Pentagon employees.
  And the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, recognizing 
the imminent danger that the aircraft that they had boarded posed to 
large numbers of innocent men, women, and children, American 
institutions, and the symbols of American democracy, took heroic and 
noble action to ensure that that aircraft could not be used as a 
weapon.
  Given the unprecedented nature of the attacks against the United 
States of America and the need to properly demonstrate the support of 
the country for those who lost their lives to terrorism, it is fitting 
that their sacrifice be recognized with the award of an appropriate 
medal.
  Awarding this medal would give Congress and the American people an 
opportunity to further pay tribute and honor the heroic men and women 
that lost their lives that day. There would be no better gift this 
holiday season to those who lost loved ones than passing this bill and 
officially recognizing those that lost their lives that fateful day.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bill, the 
Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, and I want to thank the over 350 Members I 
believe it was that signed on to this bill to make it possible that 
we're here today, going to pass this and hopefully send it to the 
President.
  Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This year represents the 10th year since our country was attacked by 
terrorists and it forever changed our Nation. The events that took 
place on September 11, 2001, will be forever embedded into every 
American soul. I, being a New Yorker, on that day can recall with vivid 
memory that I was in the city because it was an Election Day in New 
York, a beautiful day in New York, and being pulled to the television 
by some individuals that our Nation was under attack. I could then look 
out from the venue where I was and literally see the two towers. Then 
getting on the phone to talk to individuals, many and some of whom were 
racing to the scene of the tragedy--not racing from it. Our first 
responders were racing to it because they wanted to help their fellow 
human beings. These were heroes, indeed, and we use the word ``heroes'' 
sometimes as a manner of course. But if you want to talk about a heroic 
act, when and in the time of crisis, individuals willing to put their 
own lives on the line to help a fellow human being, I tell you, the 
first responders, the officers, the emergency workers and others indeed 
are truly American heroes.
  When you think about what took place, what must have taken place on 
that fateful day, for the passengers and the crew of the United 
Airlines Flight 93, think about what they must have gone through 
knowing that there had been planes already attacking our Nation, but 
yet they made a decision to sacrifice their lives and to make sure that 
the plane would go down so that

[[Page H8827]]

no one, no other lives would be destroyed. That is the true meaning of 
a hero.

  Think about the government employees, both local and the United 
States Government, who responded to the attack on the Pentagon in 
Washington, D.C., who took courageous steps to protect fellow 
Americans. They were heroes. And that is why on this 10th anniversary, 
H.R. 3421, where we would have three coins to commemorate those heroes, 
those sheroes of the day that the United States of America was attacked 
by terrorists, is a way that we can come together and say we shall 
never forget, and we shall honor those individuals who left their 
families because of a vicious act but also in attempting to save many 
other American lives.
  And so, Mr. Speaker, I say that I thank all of the 328 cosponsors who 
united together to say to those heroes, we shall never forget you, we 
shall never stop thanking you, we will always, always hold your name up 
high, and these coins are the commemoratives of those acts so that 
children yet unborn will know of your heroic acts, and they shall never 
ever perish from the minds of an American citizen, whether they are 
here today or whether they will be born tomorrow.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today also in support of H.R. 3421, the Fallen Heroes of 9/11 
Act, introduced November 14 by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Shuster). Remarkably in the short 4 weeks since its introduction, it 
has obtained almost 330 cosponsors from this House of Representatives.

                              {time}  1910

  The bill before us recognizes the heroism of the men and women who 
died on September 11, 2001, that day just over a decade ago that 
changed this country and in fact changed this world and changed it 
forever. At three sites--seemingly unconnected on that clear, bright 
morning--thousands of brave men and women died in the most agonizing 
way and before our eyes. Each of them was a hero, and this bill awards 
a Congressional Gold Medal in their memory.
  There will be three designs, one for each of the attack sites in New 
York City, at the Pentagon, and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
And the medals struck for those sites will be displayed at the museums 
there that preserve the memories of that frightful day.
  After the award of the medals, bronze copies of the medals will be 
available for purchase at a nominal price. Each design, which should be 
reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the Commission 
on Fine Arts, is to capture the horror of that day and the majesty of 
those heroic deaths.
  This medal will be the second and final Congressional Gold Medal to 
be approved during this session of the 112th Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge immediate passage of this bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. MEEKS. I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from the great State of 
New York, Carolyn Maloney.
  (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3421, the 
Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act.
  After 9/11, I have never seen this body so united and determined; and 
this same determination and united spirit is behind the bill that we 
are passing today, with well over 300 cosponsors.
  This year marked the 10th anniversary of that tragic day where we had 
innocent Americans murdered on our soil, invaded; the first act of 
terrorism that we are confronting and combating today in this Congress.
  The bill will symbolize in the gold coin the 9/11 site in New York, 
the site at the Pentagon, the heroic flight over Pennsylvania, and will 
have the gold coin put on display in the museums in these three 
locations.
  On 9/11, we lost thousands and thousands of Americans, innocent 
Americans, who did what we did today, went up and went to work and were 
murdered because they were Americans. It was outrageous. We will never 
forget. This is another way that we can memorialize the heroic actions, 
the heroes and heroines that worked hard to try to protect them, and 
really recognize how outrageous it was that an American citizen was 
murdered just for being an American.
  Since 9/11, thousands and thousands more have lost their health. And 
I thank this body for acting in the last Congress to provide health 
care and compensation and monitoring for those who risked their lives 
to save the lives of others.
  No other act has changed this country as much as 9/11. We totally 
reorganized our priorities, created a Homeland Security Department, 
totally reorganized our intelligence gathering, and implemented 43 of 
the 53 recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. It was this Congress at 
its best.
  The 9/11 Commission report, which was a bipartisan product, came 
forward with concrete recommendations. Their report sold more copies 
than ``Harry Potter.'' It was an important report, and this Congress 
took that report and enacted those recommendations into law. With that 
same bipartisan spirit, we should be attacking the economic challenges 
that we confront today.
  I compliment my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for sponsoring 
and working on this legislation. It will mean a great deal to the men 
and women that I have the honor of representing to have a bronze coin 
that they can purchase to remember, to have their input into the 
artistic framing of the message for these three tragedies in our 
country. It is thoughtful, it is purposeful, and it is historic. I 
thank my colleagues.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. I reserve the balance of my time and inform the 
gentleman from New York that I am prepared to close.
  Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Being a New Yorker, I still, to this day, as I walk the streets of 
downtown Manhattan, cannot believe that the Twin Towers are not there. 
I taught my daughters how to navigate the streets of New York looking 
up at those towers as some look up to see the North Star. I will never 
really, in my heart, conceive of the towers not being there, even as we 
build this great memorial.
  But when I think about the families, how they must feel--if I just 
utilized them as a tool for my daughters and they're gone--but when you 
think about the families whose loved ones are gone, we have to do 
everything in our power so they know that we will always be thinking of 
the ones that are not able to have dinner with them this evening.
  These coins--when tourists come to visit the various sites or when 
individuals want to purchase them for the commemorative event so they 
can always remember these heroes--are a symbol of the United States 
House of Representatives and Congress that in these kinds of times we 
do come together and we will work together in a bipartisan manner to 
salute Americans and others, because some lost their lives who were not 
American citizens, that we shall never forget. And we thank them for 
their courage, we thank them for their heroism, and we thank the 
families for the sacrifices that they have made as a result of not 
having those loved ones.
  Let me also thank my colleagues and Mr. Shuster for introducing this 
bill and working collectively together in a spirit of being Americans. 
I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I represent Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 
which is the home of a 9/11 memorial for Pennsylvanians, for Americans, 
for all those killed on September 11, 2001. It is also the home of 
Ellen Saracini, widow of Captain Victor Saracini, who was the pilot of 
United Flight 175, which was crashed into the south tower at 
approximately 9:03 that morning.
  He went to work, along with 2,973 other men and women lost on 
September 11, never imagining that they would not be returning home. 
For Ellen Saracini and for the other 17 families from Bucks County who 
lost a loved family member on that day, I want to thank my friend and 
colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) for offering this bill. I was 
proud to help

[[Page H8828]]

him introduce it, and I humbly ask my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3421, a bill 
to award Congressional Gold Medals to the heroes of 9/11.
  During the attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2,996 
Americans lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and 
in a field in rural Pennsylvania. Many more might have perished had 
hundreds of law enforcement officers, emergency workers and State and 
local government employees, not sprung into action to help evacuate the 
World Trade Center and the Pentagon and, in the case of the passengers 
and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, averted greater disaster by 
sacrificing themselves.
  The three gold medals this legislation awards, will be permanently 
displayed at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, the 
National September 11 Memorial in New York and the Memorial at the 
Pentagon as a constant and visible reminder of the exceptional acts of 
heroism exercised on that tragic day.
  As a cosponsor of H.R. 3421, I encourage my colleagues to join me in 
support of the many heroic men and women who put themselves in harm's 
way on September 11th, 2001 with this Congressional Gold Medal.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3421.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________