[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 165 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IN RECOGNITION OF 9/11 ARTICLE BY JAMES PATTERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 2021

  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize this 
article by James Patterson that originally appeared in The Montgomery 
Advertiser, September 9, 2016:

          [From the Montgomery Advertiser, September 9, 2016]

                    Alabamian Recalls Sept. 11, 2001

                   (By Jim Patterson, Alabama Voices)

       Sept. 11, 2001, began like many busy mornings for me. I was 
     in my Washington office and ready to leave for an appointment 
     with a colleague near Georgetown University. Later, I had a 
     meeting on Capitol Hill and after that, I planned to take 
     Amtrak to Penn Station in New York.
       Moments before I left the office, a radio news presenter 
     said a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. This 
     news astonished me! I stopped to hear more. While I waited 
     for news, I reasoned a small aircraft with an amateur pilot 
     could have hit one of the Twin Towers.
       As a longtime traveler to New York, colleagues had told me 
     stories of pilots in small planes that had hit tall apartment 
     buildings. This happens in New York. I proceeded to leave for 
     my appointment.
       The radio presenter then said a commercial jet had flown 
     into the World Trade Center. This boggled my mind as I knew 
     jets did not fly so low as to hit the World Trade Center. It 
     had to be a hoax, I assumed.
       When the radio presenter said the image was on the network 
     news, I had to see it for myself. I was stunned to see 
     billowing black smoke from the North Tower. An incredible 
     pilot error, I thought. I thought perhaps the pilot died in 
     the cockpit and lost control of the airliner causing it to 
     crash into the tower. Still, I had doubts as I stood 
     speechless watching the horrible images.
       Within a few minutes, I witnessed a second airliner crash 
     in the South Tower. It was a day of unspeakable events and 
     lost friends. Shortly after 9:30 that morning, the windows in 
     my office, situated near the John F. Kennedy Center for the 
     Performing Arts, rattled. I looked out the window and saw 
     black smoke billowing in the distance from Virginia. Nearly 
     200 people died at the Pentagon that morning.
       President George W. Bush was in Florida that morning with 
     Vice President Dick Cheney in the White House. Members of 
     Congress were evacuated to safety. Cheney decided to stay in 
     The White House and issued military orders to shoot down any 
     plane out of its flight path. Washington DC was a war zone!
       Federal employees were ordered home. Military and National 
     Guard troops quickly appeared to safeguard property and 
     citizens. In a short time, the highways leaving Washington DC 
     became clogged with cars. Many vehicles ran out of gas. 
     Stranded motorists walked away from their cars. Washington's 
     Metrorail was closed in several directions. Washington's 
     mayor ordered businesses closed and residents to stay 
     indoors.
       Being a brave Alabama sort, I decided to go for a walk down 
     a deserted Pennsylvania Avenue at around 10:30 a.m. I saw no 
     cars and no people. A military vehicle with troops passed me 
     by. Relieved they did not arrest me, I awkwardly waved at 
     them. Two troops awkwardly waved in response.
       In an episode of the 1960s TV program The Twilight Zone 
     called ``Time Enough at Last'' a middle-aged bank teller 
     longs for a life where he can read without the distraction of 
     work. When he accidentally gets locked overnight in a bank 
     vault and exits the next morning to find his town destroyed 
     by terrorists, he is alone in the world.
       As I disobeyed U.S. government orders to stay inside my 
     office, I casually walked down a deserted Pennsylvania 
     Avenue. I felt I was alone in the world. Perhaps this was the 
     last walk I would ever make if more terrorism by commercial 
     airliner took me away.
       I stopped at a neighborhood restaurant to see a sign on the 
     door. ``Closed. Go home,'' it read. I walked to a barbershop 
     and saw men inside fearful to wave back at me.
       I saw fear on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. I saw 
     confusion. I wondered when it would be over. Fifteen years 
     on, the threat of terrorism is not over. It is, sadly, a fact 
     of life for all Americans everywhere in the world.
       James Patterson, a former U.S. diplomat, is a writer and 
     speaker based in Washington, D.C., and a life member of the 
     Auburn University Alumni Association.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in recognizing this article by James 
Patterson.

                          ____________________