[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 146 (Monday, September 12, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S4528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Continuing Resolution

  Madam President, finally, on the legislative front on the CR, both 
parties must work together to keep the government open beyond the 
September 30 deadline. As my colleagues know, negotiations continue on 
a CR to extend funding through about mid-December, which hopefully will 
give appropriators enough time to draft an omnibus funding package.
  I thank Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Shelby, and everyone from both 
sides working to keep the government open. No one wants to see a 
shutdown--and I know that includes my Republican colleagues--but in 
order to avoid a shutdown, Senate Republicans must continue working 
with us to resolve the issues that remain.


                    21st Anniversary of September 11

  Madam President, finally, on the 21st anniversary of the horrible 
day, 9/11, everywhere I go, whenever I am wearing a suit or a sport 
jacket, I wear this flag pin on my lapel, a small but constant reminder 
of a promise America made 21 years ago: ``Never forget.''
  It was on that day, September 12, 2001, that having seen the horror, 
smelling the death in the air, hearing the horrible stories, and seeing 
hundreds of people lined up with poignant signs that said: ``Have you 
seen my son, Bill?'' ``Have you seen my mother, Mary?'' because no one 
knew who was alive and who wasn't--on that day, I called on Americans 
to wear the flag, to display it at their homes, out their windows, or 
at least wear it on their clothing. I have done so ever since, and 
every day, I look at that flag, and I think of the people who were lost 
and the vicious evil of those who perpetrated this awful act.

  Yesterday, I joined with the Vice President, Governor Hochul, Mayor 
Adams, and others to honor the fallen on September 11, to grieve for 
those who were taken from us, and to affirm that over three decades 
later, though scarred and battered, our country and our democracy 
endure.
  An eternity can pass, and yet September 11 will always feel like 
yesterday to me. As clearly as the Presiding Officer sits before me, I 
still remember what it was like to visit the wreckage a day or 2 later. 
The destruction, the smell, the noise was nothing like the New York I 
knew and loved. People, as I mentioned, lined up along the sidewalks 
hoisting makeshift signs that asked the unthinkable: ``Have you seen my 
daughter?'' ``Have you seen my father?'' Those images, as well as the 
people I knew who were lost, will never leave me.
  Yet in the midst of so much pain on 9/11, America encountered its 
best self. Ordinary people banded together to do extraordinary things. 
Taxi drivers, store managers, businessmen, city workers, and everyone 
in between, abandoned their day jobs and became heroes. They donated 
blood. They organized prayer vigils.
  I will never forget the sight of a shoe store owner along the route, 
as people escaped from the towers, handing out shoes, just depleting 
his entire stock so people could walk home.
  People volunteered their time and resources to comfort those in need 
and rebuild our city to new heights, and the same is true for millions 
across the country.
  And to our first responders and volunteers who worked the pile, we 
owe you such a special and undying measure of thanks. Among all our 
heroes of that time, they were among the greatest and the most valiant, 
and many of them have paid for that with their lives because the toxins 
that were in the air entered their lungs and digestive systems and 
caused cancers to the extent we have never known in those age groups 
before.
  That is why we worked so hard in this Chamber to help provide 
healthcare and help for those who have lost loved ones. When we say 
that America will ``never forget'' what happened on 9/11, we mean 
something far more profound than recalling the memories of that awful 
day. It is not a passive promise, but it is an active one. It is why, 2 
months ago, the Senate worked together to pass the largest expansion of 
veteran healthcare benefits in decades, to aid the nearly 3 million 
servicemembers exposed to dangerous toxins while serving in 
Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places around the world. And it is why we 
must work to replenish that Ground Zero Fund that helped pay for the 
healthcare of those who rushed to the towers, and we must replenish 
that fund in the near future.
  And it is why all of us, regardless of party, must work together to 
defend the American way of life, to protect our precious democracy that 
the terrorists tried to bring down by violent means.
  The world has changed dramatically since that morning that the towers 
fell, but the need to protect our Nation from threats, foreign and 
domestic, remain.
  Today, 21 years after the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, let 
us stay awake to the things we must do if we are to keep our promise to 
``never forget.''
  May God bless all those who died on September 11, as well as their 
families and all our first responders and servicemembers who made the 
ultimate sacrifice in defense of our great Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.