[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 145 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5437-S5438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Remembering September 11th

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I so enjoy listening to my colleagues 
as they talk about the issues that are important to them and to the 
States they represent. It is, indeed, one of those privileges that we 
in this body enjoy, and many times we take it for granted. Yet today is 
a day of remembrance. It is a day that we look back and say we ought 
not take it for granted because there are many in this world who would 
threaten our freedoms and our liberties.
  Earlier this week, I was talking with some of the members of our 
team, and we were trading stories about where we were on the morning of 
September 11 and how it affected the way we viewed their place in the 
world, and their memories, and what their recollections were. Those of 
us who vividly remember that day still recall an unsettling cascade of 
emotions. There was shock, confusion, and, finally, dread as we 
realized we were not, as initially thought, seeing a senseless 
accident, but that, indeed, we were under attack. As the morning wore 
on, dread really gave way to fear and panic and, finally, to absolute 
terror that our loved ones who were in New York, Washington, and 
Pennsylvania and who were in the air, maybe flying home, were among 
those who were experiencing firsthand what was happening. It was the 
perfect storm of conflicting media reports and jammed cell service that 
made it almost impossible to reach out to people and to ask that 
question, ``Are you OK?'' and to hear their voices.
  Through the smoke and the blood came a moment of awful clarity. Life 
would never be the same because we would never again experience life 
without feeling as if we were a target. The events of September 11 
introduced a new generation of Americans to the reality that our 
country is not and will never be immune to the threat of terror.
  Those who were teetering on the edge of adulthood may not have 
immediately made the connection between global politics and the 
disaster that was playing out on TV in real time. Yet, by the time 
terrorists struck that second tower, I think a lot of people really had 
begun to understand what was happening. Later, they learned that a half 
a world away, a group of men who referred to themselves as al-Qaida had 
made it their life's mission to murder Americans. They were doing it to 
prove a point. Yes, it did leave a mark on this Nation and on our 
citizens. Younger Americans' memories of that day really are fuzzier, 
but almost without exception, my staff members remember what they now 
describe as a sense of national unity rising up in the days following 
the attacks.
  They remember that every house on the street flew an American flag 
and that every adult they knew stood in a line to give blood. They saw 
small town first responders load up those firetrucks and emergency 
vehicles and head to New York.
  At the time, they really didn't understand geopolitics, but they did 
understand fear and suffering because they saw that fear in the eyes of 
their teachers and in the eyes of the adults who surrounded them; but 
they also saw the shift that the attacks and the aftermath caused in 
our country. For a time, partisanship and bitterness was washed away. 
What you saw was unity, and waving flags.
  Now, almost 20 years later, memories are growing fuzzy. Sometimes 
they are nonexistent. Calls for unity have been replaced by heated 
debate. Too often, the loudest voices look back at 9/11 as an event in 
the collective memory, and they don't look at it as an occurrence that 
changed lives and lifestyles forever.
  They consider in passing the remnants of the attacks in debates over 
foreign policy and defense spending, but ignore why we remain so 
focused on national security. This is why every year, without 
exception, we remind ourselves that the kind of hatred it takes to 
bring an entire country to its knees gives no quarter.
  We acknowledge the actions of 19 terrorists whose twisted beliefs led 
to the violent murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people because even 
though the panic of that awful morning has faded, our enemies' desire 
to make an example of us has not. But America, with all her

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imperfections, still thrives in utter defiance of hatred, divisiveness, 
and destruction.
  Today, we remember those who died, and we keep their memory as a 
beacon against the void that allowed violence and terror.
  We remember the heroes who defied fear and reason and ran toward the 
flames, putting love of country and countrymen above all else.
  And we remember and remind ourselves that by simply standing back up, 
America made herself the world's best example of what it looks like 
when love, hope, and valor triumph over the forces of darkness.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.

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