[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



        HONOR FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS BY FLYING FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge the 
unanimous support of my colleagues for H.J.Res. 42. This resolution 
simply requires Federal Government entities to fly the American flag at 
half staff on Sunday, October 7.
  I ask my colleagues and all Americans to extend this extraordinary 
honor in conjunction with the annual memorial service in honor of 
fallen firefighters by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, 
which is located in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in the district I have the 
great privilege to represent in the House of Representatives.
  The October 7 service is the highlight of the foundation's annual 
weekend of events to honor the sacrifice of firefighters who lost their 
lives in the line of duty. Particularly this year, we honor the 
hundreds of firefighters in New York City who on September 11, 2001, 
gave our country what President Abraham Lincoln called the last full 
measure of devotion to our country. This is the very least that we as 
individuals and as a government can do to honor and commemorate the 
selfless call to duty by these brave men and to offer some small 
measure of comfort to their grieving families, friends, relatives, and 
coworkers.
  Madam Speaker, we owe it to them, ourselves and posterity to ensure 
that their deaths shall not be in vain.

                          ____________________