[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16928]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 16928]]

              IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE SENSE OF TERRORIST ATTACK

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, words cannot begin to express the emotions 
that Americans all across this country are experiencing after Tuesday's 
events. We are all grief stricken. We are stunned. We are amazed. We 
are angry. And amongst these emotions, we are just simply trying to 
make sense of it all.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I stand here to say that it is impossible to make 
sense of it all. It is impossible to make sense of the loss; possibly 
in the tens of thousands of Americans have lost their lives in these 
recent terrorist attacks. Innocent civilians, military officers, men 
and women not fighting a war but innocent mothers and fathers, sons and 
daughters, brothers and sisters, who were only going about their daily 
routine.
  I would like to reiterate the words expressed by Leonard Pitts, a 
columnist for the Miami Herald, who is also trying to make sense of 
these recent events, and I quote: ``Did you want us to respect your 
cause? You just damned Your cause. Did you want us to fear you? You 
just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You just 
brought us together.''
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are a united Nation, a united country, the 
United States, today, tomorrow, and forever, and we will overcome.

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