[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 146 (Monday, September 11, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4337-S4338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.


          22nd Anniversary of the September 11, 2001, Attacks

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, there is one day of the year that for me 
will always embody what is most admirable and most enduring about the 
human spirit, and that day is today.
  Twenty-two years after the towers fell in New York, after a plane 
crashed into the Pentagon, after United No. 93 came down in 
Pennsylvania, we pay our respects to those we lost on September 11. We 
mourn their loss--every last soul taken from us too early. We honor and 
thank every single American who became an unassuming hero in the 
aftermath of the attack: the first responders, the legions of 
volunteers and blood donors, the nameless many who did their part.
  I will never forget so many scenes. One of them was a guy who owned a 
shoe store a few blocks north of the World Trade Center, who was just 
handing out shoes to everybody because many people had lost their shoes 
as they tried to escape from the towers. But there were so many 
different things.
  Everywhere I go, I always wear this pin on my lapel as a reminder of 
our

[[Page S4338]]

sacred promise to never forget. I called on Americans the day after to 
wear and display the flag. Just about everybody did as a sign of unity, 
of our coming together after an awful day. I wear it every day, and 
every time I look at this flag, I think about so many who were lost.
  I was at Ground Zero this morning. I mean, you just hear the names 
that were read, those of every different background. They had people 
come up who had lost loved ones of every different background, of every 
different philosophy, race, creed, color, religion, origin, talking 
about the people they had lost.
  I remember, when I went down the day after when President Bush sent a 
plane for then-Senator Clinton and me to come up, there were 1,000 
people on line, holding up little signs--``Have you seen my brother, 
Bill?'' ``Have you seen my daughter, Mary?''--because when people were 
missing that first day, people had hoped and prayed that maybe they 
were still alive, but, of course, very few were.
  So a lifetime can pass, but, to me, it always feels like yesterday. I 
look out my window, and I see the Freedom Tower--a symbol of resilience 
in New York--and I can see it from my window in Brooklyn, but I also 
think of the Twin Towers that were there and of so many who were lost.
  I remember that day: the smell of the pile, human flesh; the noise 
from the chaos of the aftermath; the images of destruction that New 
Yorkers and Americans had never seen. I remember three friends of mine 
who perished--a guy I played basketball with in high school, a 
businessman who helped me on the way up, and a firefighter I went 
around New York City and did blood drives with. They are gone 22 years 
ago.
  But most of all, that day stays with me because on that day and on 
the days that followed, I saw countless ordinary Americans do 
extraordinary things. Taxi drivers and store managers and businessmen 
and city workers and so many others dropped what they were doing and 
became heroes. They gave blood, organized prayer vigils, helped 
neighbors track down family members, and visited with loved ones and 
friends who had lost loved ones. I saw firefighters and policemen and 
union workers and rescue workers cast aside any concern for their own 
safety as they worked the pile. Many of them--far too many--became sick 
and even died because of their illnesses.
  Our obligation to care for these first responders continues to this 
day. It is why I worked hard, along with Senator Gillibrand, to add 
$450 million for the World Trade Center Health Program to the NDAA. It 
is why I fought and successfully added another $1 billion for that 
program in last year's omnibus as well as the Fairness for 9/11 
Families Act. And it is why, last summer, Congress enacted the largest 
expansion of veterans' health benefits in the PACT Act, because we 
learned what these carcinogens could do to people whether it was over 
in Iraq or down in the pile in Lower New York--because the phrase 
``never forget'' is not just about remembering what happened two 
decades ago; it is all about taking action today to honor and care for 
all of those who made ultimate sacrifices in the defense of our 
beautiful Nation.
  So may God bless the memories of all of those who perished on 9/11. 
May God bless our first responders, our servicemembers, and their 
families. May God bless our great democracy, and may we keep it.