[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18037-18038]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, TERRORIST ATTACKS

  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to offer my thoughts 
on the eve of the third anniversary of the September 11, 2001, 
terrorist attacks. Rather than show divisiveness and criticism, or talk 
about politics, I think it is important to reflect on how much that 
tragedy has changed our lives and challenged all of us--not just 
Republicans, not just Democrats, but all Americans--to do all that we 
can to protect all that is good and wholesome about America.
  Tomorrow, Saturday, American families will be doing what they have 
done for generations in the early fall. In Charlottesville, the 
University of Virginia will be hosting the Tar Heels from North 
Carolina; in Columbia, SC, the University of Georgia football team will 
be playing the Gamecocks of South Carolina; in Richmond, Saturday 
night, there will be more than 100,000 fans there for the big NASCAR 
race; at the wonderful and traditional Wrigley Field in Chicago, the 
Cubs will be playing the Florida Marlins; and families, in the 
afternoon, will be having cookouts in their backyards; others will be 
gathered as a family at their dinner tables.
  During all of these wonderful, truly American events, we will all 
pause to remember a day when such innocence was shattered by the vile, 
hate-filled attacks on our homeland that manifested themselves so 
viciously in New York City, at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and in 
Somerset County, PA. We will remember the loss of 3,000 Americans that 
day, and we will pray for their souls and certainly pray for their 
families. We will remember friends and we will remember neighbors lost 
on that day.
  At all of those sporting events, when the National Anthem is sung, I 
venture to guess that song will be sung with greater vigor, more 
loudly, and with greater patriotism than one would normally hear. When 
they conclude those final lines talking about how we are the ``land of 
the free,'' and because we are the ``home of the brave,'' we will be 
thinking of our troops who are serving and protecting us in precarious 
positions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and prosecuting the war on terrorism.
  In some ways, September 11, 2001, seems a long time ago. Yet we have 
done so much in only a few years, and we will continue to do so in the 
future, to prevent such attacks on America.
  Our focus in Government and our private lives has obviously 
profoundly changed. We see it with our fortified airports, greater 
protection in our public buildings, our shipping ports, and even 
cyberspace.
  We have strengthened and updated law enforcement capabilities and 
intelligence, and our work on the Senate floor in the next few weeks 
will further enhance those efforts with meaningful improvements and the 
use of innovations of technology to better gather and analyze 
counterterrorism information.
  We have been more vigilant in watching enemies and threats at home 
and abroad. We have intercepted financial assistance to terrorists.
  Yes, through it all, the fabric of our Nation has become stronger and 
more appreciated as we face these unprecedented challenges. Our resolve 
and our focus is more clear. Our determination to protect freedoms here 
and around the world is greater than ever before.
  We are so appreciative of the men and women in uniform who are 
protecting us, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq or on ships around the 
world. For our security, they are taking the offensive to the 
terrorists overseas. We are grateful for those who are active or maybe 
in the Guard or in the Reserves, or their employers here at home. Of 
course, we are so grateful to their families who have sent their sons 
and daughters, their loved ones and their friends overseas to protect 
us.
  Our economic ingenuity, our competitiveness, our strength is being 
rekindled and reignited by free people and free enterprise. In many 
ways, those who brought us harm on September 11 surely miscalculated 
the character of the American people. We are a Nation of bravery and 
heroism.
  I will never forget the stories about the first responders in New 
York City going into the Trade Centers, breathing their last breaths of 
life trying to save a few more innocent victims. The same with the 
Pentagon. The responders came in not only from Arlington but all over 
northern Virginia, from Maryland, and even some from the District of 
Columbia, rushing into acrid, toxic air, trying to save those who had 
been hit, whether on the plane, but

[[Page 18038]]

mostly those who were the surviving or people working at the Pentagon. 
These people ignored their personal safety. They rushed into harm's way 
to help their fellow Americans on that day.
  Yesterday, I was at the Pentagon. In fact, I went in through the side 
of the Pentagon where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into it. It 
is all rebuilt. It is strong, in fact stronger than ever. The reason I 
was at the Pentagon is the Secretary of the Navy, Secretary England, 
decided to name two new marine landing ships. They are named the USS 
Arlington, because that is where the Pentagon is and was hit, and 
Somerset after Somerset County, PA, to honor the victims of 9/11 who 
died in Pennsylvania and Virginia. These two ships will be a tangible 
demonstration of our shared resolve in this country. For our friends, 
neighbors, and loved ones who lost their lives, they will be fitting 
reminders of their sacrifice.
  One of those who lost their lives was a captain of American Airlines 
Flight 77, Captain Chic Burlingame. He had with him a wonderful poem. 
It is a poem his brother and sister gave to me. We were making sure he 
was properly buried at Arlington Cemetery, and I have kept it in my 
pocket until the Phoenix Project had the rebuilding of the Pentagon. 
Where I get my neckties and get dressed every morning, I have this 
picture they gave me. The picture is important, but also what is 
important is what is on the back of it, and that is a poem Captain 
Burlingame had on him when they crashed into the Pentagon. It is 
entitled ``I Did Not Die.''
  I will share the poem with my colleagues.

       Do not stand at my grave and weep.
       I am not there, I do not sleep.
       I am a thousand winds that blow,
       I am the diamond glints on snow.
       I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
       I am the autumn's gentle rain.
       When you waken in the morning's hush,
       I am the swift uplifting rush
       Of quiet birds in circled flight.
       I am the soft stars that shine at night.
       Do not stand at my grave and cry.
       I am not there, I did not die.

  Tomorrow, we will be coming together, as is our tradition, to be 
cheering teams, grilling hamburgers and hot dogs, gathering around 
tables with those we love and those whom we cherish even more and, yes, 
indeed, we will pause. We will remember. We will never forget.
  Three years after that terrible day that changed our lives, America 
has come back strong. Everything that makes us good is more appreciated 
than ever. We are resolved more than ever to stand strong for freedom. 
I am confident that with the wholesome character of our American 
people, justice will prevail and liberty will endure.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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