[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 154 (Tuesday, December 4, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7398-S7399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO FLIGHT 93
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I would like to include the remarks made by
Mr. Gordon Felt, former President of the Families of Flight 93, for the
Record in honor of the Congressional tribute held earlier this morning.
I want to extend my gratitude to Mr. Felt and the Families of Flight 93
for their tireless commitment to honoring the heroic sacrifice of their
loved ones.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Good morning. Mrs. Toomey, Mrs. Casey, the entire host
committee and members of the House and Senate joining us
today, to our partners at the National Park Service and
National Park Foundation and to those family members in
attendance, I stand before you with an overwhelming sense of
pride knowing that this building, this symbol of our nation's
great democracy, perhaps would have been destroyed were it
not for the selfless actions of 40 brave men and women
[[Page S7399]]
aboard United Flight 93. For without their courageous stand
taken on September 11, 2001, our Capitol building and many of
those serving within, perhaps some of you, may have been
further victims of the terrorism that fundamentally changed
our lives and our country on that dark day. With each visit
to the Capitol I make time to pass through the Rotunda and
view the magnificent plaque dedicated to the actions of the
passengers and crew of United Flight 93. While the traumatic
repercussions of September 11, 2001 have been deeply felt by
each and every family member that lost a loved one that day,
and by the community of Somerset County whose lives and way
of life have been forever changed, I appreciate the conscious
awareness of those serving in this building of the fact, that
as tragic as that day was to our country, it could have been
significantly worse.
As family members that lost loved ones aboard United Flight
93, we struggle continually with our loss. Our lives over the
past eleven years have all taken differing paths with one
common factor that will forever bind us together. Our family
of Flight 93, forged in tragedy and thrust into the public
domain has provided an avenue by which we can advocate for
those family members that will forever remain alive in our
hearts and minds. This journey has not been easy for any and
more difficult for some.
For some families and individuals, withdrawal into their
personal lives at home, or fresh new starts beyond the reach
of the media and chaos of September 11th have been an avenue
of survival. Others have joined in community with family
members suffering similar loss and have found comfort with
the understanding that comes from shared tragedy. And there
are others that have continued to move forward masking their
grief as they approach life one day at a time . . .
surviving. Within our families there are others that have
made a conscious decision to serve as advocates, representing
the interests of the Families of Flight 93 through the Flight
93 National Memorial Partnership. No avenue of healing is
proper and correct for all, just as no closure will ever be
felt for those experiencing such great loss.
Our families are spread out across the globe and represent
a unique diversity in culture. Yet, when we gather together
each year on the anniversary of September 11th, we are one.
Somerset County, Pennsylvania has become an extension of our
homes and the community has welcomed us into their hearts
unconditionally even as they struggle daily with the impact
of events set in motion on September 11, 2001. Their lives
have been impacted in ways that they are still coming to
understand. Yet there is a strength and wholesomeness in the
people of Somerset County that provides great comfort to our
families. They proudly stand as Ambassadors working hand in
hand with the National Park Service ready to tell the story
of our loved ones to any and all that visit the memorial.
The Flight 93 National Memorial is more than a tribute to
40 heroes. Its existence serves our country in a far greater
capacity than just as a place marker for history. Over these
past 11 years we have come to realize that the Flight 93
National Memorial has a quality within similar to that of
Gettysburg or Pearl Harbor. A strong sense of purpose, of
loss, yet triumph permeates the entire site and only becomes
more intense as visitors approach and gaze upon our Sacred
Ground. The memorial was designed to honor 40 heroes, but
also serves in the short term to help heal a generation of
Americans deeply affected by the traumatic effects of
September 11th and stands to preserve a piece of our cultural
heritage in order to educate and inspire future generations.
``Do what is right, not what is easy.'' Since September
11th this mantra has guided so many within our Flight 93
National Memorial partnership and our extended Flight 93
National Memorial Family. Whether it is in the halls of
Congress, Harrisburg, Somerset, or Shanksville, Pennsylvania,
this project has been joined by all that appreciate the
personal, political, cultural and historical impact September
11th has had on our country and freedom loving peoples around
the world. On one of the bleakest days in our history, the
trial of 40 individuals helped us remember that we are strong
with an unquenched thirst for freedom and that no person or
ideology will ever cause us to waver from a course that was
set in motion by our forefathers.
In those defining 22 minutes when our loved ones
experienced a horror beyond comprehension, they collectively
chose to act. Not as individuals, but as a force ignited by
the love of family, love of freedom and a superiority in
spirit unwilling to sit back and allow an evil so incarnate
to suppress their dreams and desires. They were thrust
together by events not caused by individual existences, but
by social, political, and religious forces that sought to
break our spirit through terror. How can we not stand in awe?
How can we not celebrate their spirit? How can we not honor
those 40 individuals that have been woven into the fabric of
our nation's proud history? The Flight 93 National Memorial
will ensure that their efforts, their actions and their
spirit will not be forgotten.
____________________