[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 18119]]

                        CANADA: NO TRUER FRIEND

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN J. LaFALCE

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 26, 2001

  Mr. LaFALCE. Mr. Speaker, today The Buffalo News carried an editorial 
entitled ``No Truer Friend,'' expressing thanks to Canada for its 
support for the United States following the attacks of September 11, 
2001. I commend this editorial to the attention of all Members and know 
they join me in thanking Canada for its long friendship, even 
brotherhood, with the United States.
  The United States cannot, and will not, forget the special 
relationship between our two countries. We will not allow terrorist 
attacks to strain that relationship. As Canada's reaction to the events 
of September 11 show, Canada is the truest friend of the United States.
  Again, I thank all Canadians for their steadfastness and friendship 
to the United States.

                            No Truer Friend

       This is a time of tragedy and a time of crisis, and not a 
     moment to invest nuances of diplomacy with a gravity they 
     don't deserve. But neither can Americans allow a perceived 
     slight to go uncorrected, or retreat so deeply into sorrow 
     that family goes unnoticed and gratitude is neglected.
       Thank you, Canada. Thank you for the support, thank you for 
     the huge banner in Fort Erie, just across our shared river, 
     that proclaimed ``God Bless Our American Friends.'' Thank you 
     for your prayers.
       Here in this border city, all of us listened with 
     understanding and approval as a president burdened with the 
     awful weight of a terrorist onslaught, and the duty to 
     respond to it, acknowledged the presence of Great Britain's 
     prime minister at an extraordinary session of Congress and 
     singled out that nation for its support. But when he properly 
     noted the strong ties both countries have forged in the fires 
     of adversity, that America has no truer friend, we all in our 
     hearts added the phrase, ``except Canada.''
       We know who our friends are. We know that the very first 
     international act of support for America in this terrible 
     time came from Canada, which accepted more than 200 diverted 
     American airline flights and took care of more than 45,000 
     stranded passengers.
       We remember Canada's role in rescuing Americans from an 
     ealier political maelstrom in Tehran, and we remember the 
     stirring support the late Canadian broadcaster Gordon 
     Sinclair provided nearly 30 years ago when he took on a world 
     that was kicking America when it had been brought low by the 
     Vietnam War.
       We remember. Most of us in this northern city know the 
     Canadian national anthem and many of us sing it at our shared 
     sporting events. We also share an annual international 
     Friendship Festival, and mean it. We quibble at times--the 
     design of a proposed new international bridge springs to 
     mind--but we do so as family.
       Perhaps that's why President Bush didn't mention Canada in 
     a stirring speech that focused on a global problem, but also 
     recognized support from several nations. He may simply have 
     been looking beyond family. ``No need to praise the 
     brother,'' Bush asserted while meeting with Prime Minister 
     Jean Chretien in Washington Monday. To be frank, it more 
     likely was just a speech-writing snafu.
       Some of you, in Canada, have read into it s snub, or 
     petulance over Canada's liberal visa problems. Please don't. 
     We are grateful for the forensic team that was dispatched 
     immediately from Ontario to Manhattan, for the strong and 
     ongoing cooperation of law enforcement and border agencies, 
     for the more than 100,000 Canadians who turned out for 
     remembrance services on Ottawa's Parliament Hill and for the 
     counteless American flags still waving in Canadian towns.
       Most of all we are grateful that, once again, Americans and 
     Canadians stand together. We may both need to draw comfort 
     from that in the days ahead. In fact, we already have.