[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17036]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 17036]]

                          MINNESOTANS MOBILIZE

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. My congratulations 
to Chris and Jackie on the birth of their daughter.
  Mr. President, there are many times to speak in this Chamber. Today I 
speak from the Senate floor to make the remarks of one Senator from 
Minnesota part of our historical record. The Senator from South Dakota 
is right, it is a very somber time. The unthinkable happened.
  We have witnessed the slaughter of parents and their kids. I want to 
talk about this in the following way: First of all, it sounds so 
political to do this, but I want to thank the people of Minnesota for 
mobilizing the way they have mobilized: the blood banks, the offers of 
assistance, the prayers. Nothing could be more important.
  As a Senator from New Jersey, as someone who worked in the World 
Trade Center, the Chair has probably a more direct understanding of the 
agony and the hell of so many families, but I am very proud that the 
people of Minnesota, in every way possible, are there for support.
  This represents the best in our country. I say this because I want to 
say, drawing on the Minnesota example, that I do not want to let these 
terrorists ever take away from us as Americans the greatness of our 
country, including the values by which we live. I am talking about the 
civil liberties of Americans, and I am talking about the freedom that 
is so important to each and every one of us.
  I say this as well because unlike these terrorists who slaughtered 
parents and kids, let us be clear, as we pass a resolution and move 
forward, that when we respond, our intention is to target the people 
that are responsible for this. Unlike these terrorists and what they 
did to Americans, we care about innocent civilians. We care about 
parents and kids.
  Our effort must be focused on the people who are responsible, their 
network, their organizations. Our greatness, even in carrying out 
military action, is always to do everything we can to make sure 
innocent people do not lose their lives.
  These are our values. This is what we are about. Whether it be how we 
now conduct ourselves as a nation, or the kind of military action that 
we are going to be taking, we will never let these terrorists take away 
from us what has made our country great.
  As the son of a Jewish immigrant who fled persecution from Russia, I 
have always cherished our freedoms, and I always will. I hold that 
dear, and I believe that Americans hold it dear. As the son of a Jewish 
immigrant who fled persecution from Russia, I have always believed the 
greatness of our country is the value we place on human life. I am not 
responding to anybody's particular comments. But of course we will 
always care and make sure that to the maximum extent possible there 
will not be loss of lives of innocent people, wherever they live. That 
is what we are about.
  Our effort is going to be targeted to these terrorists, targeted to 
their organization, targeted to their infrastructure. As many people 
have written in the papers, as Tom Friedman said today in the New York 
Times, which was right on the mark, and as I think Secretary Powell has 
been trying to say, our efforts will not be a single action, and may 
not be done right away. It is going to be a long, difficult struggle. I 
believe people in our country and in Minnesota are united in this, but 
we need to do this the smart way. We need to do this the right way.
  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. REID. Mr. 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.

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