[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S4567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING QUEEN ELIZABETH II

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, the attacks of September 11, 2001, 
exposed the American people to a level of vulnerability we had not 
encountered since the Second World War. While the terrorists failed in 
their objective of breaking us, they were successful in forcing the 
rest of the world to decide if they would give in to fear and remain 
silent or take a stand against the violent hatred that motivated the 
murders of almost 3,000 innocents.
  For me, the memory of 9/11 is and always will be dominated by fear 
for the safety of my own children. The hours that passed without 
hearing from them were among the loneliest of my life, and indeed, that 
loneliness was shared by every American who spent the next few terrible 
days waiting for the phone to ring. Our sense of isolation was 
compounded by a growing chorus of voices that blamed Americans for the 
bloodshed in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
  When Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II broke with centuries of tradition 
and directed the band of the Coldstream Guards to play the ``Star-
Spangled Banner'' outside Buckingham Palace just 2 days after the 
attacks, she did much more than make a political statement. Her small 
act of rebellion confirmed that the special kinship between our nations 
will unite us forever under a common cause of freedom. While some chose 
cowardice in the wake of the attacks, she recognized the anguish of a 
friend and offered a gesture meant only to assure us that we were not, 
and never would be, alone.
  For more than 70 years, the Queen ruled with the same grace and 
dignity she afforded the American people in our darkest hour. On behalf 
of all Tennesseans, I offer my gratitude for her long life of service, 
my condolences to the royal family, and my assurances to the people of 
the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth that, should great need arise, 
there will be no need to ask for our help, for we are already standing 
beside you.

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