[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17890-17891]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          SEPTEMBER 11, 2006--A DAY OF SORROW AND REMEMBRANCE

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                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 12, 2006

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, 5 years removed from 
the tragedy of September 11, 2001, our Nation still feels the pain and 
sorrow from that fateful day. Like no other event in recent history, 
September 11 brought America together in a time of grief and an 
outpouring of emotion. Today, we remember the 3,000 innocent lives 
taken in the blink of an eye by these terrorist attacks.
  I still remember watching the news that Tuesday morning and seeing 
footage of the planes hitting the World Trade Center towers and the 
Pentagon. Like you, I sat and prayed for the men and women that were 
trapped in the smoking buildings. Everyone offered our thanks to those 
brave citizens of New York and Virginia who rushed into the burning 
wreckage, trying to rescue any possible survivors. And I wept when 
watching the towers collapse into the streets of New York. These are 
moments frozen in time that no American could ever forget.
  On the anniversary of these horrible attacks, it is fitting for 
Americans to pause and reflect on the challenges our Nation now faces 
to defend our freedoms. A committed group of religious Islamic 
terrorists--fanatics who twist and pervert the teachings of the Koran 
to meet their extremist goals--are bent on destroying America and its 
allies in the global war on terror.
  We have seen attacks in Britain, Spain and Indonesia that have killed 
hundreds of innocent civilians. Law enforcement officials have used 
innovative and modernized counterterrorism policies to help 
successfully thwart terrorist plots in the Netherlands, Britain, Canada 
and the United States; plots that may have killed thousands. The lesson 
learned from these experiences is that we must remain ever vigilant in 
the global war if we are to defend against this enemy.
  Like December 7, 1941 before it, September 11 has become a day of 
remembrance. It is a time to remember the lives lost that day, as well 
as the sacrifices made by our brave soldiers deployed on the front 
lines. September 11 is also a reminder that there is work left to do. 
It is groups like al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas whose goal it is to 
destroy America and everything that defines our great Nation. They will 
continue to plot new and innovative terrorist attacks against our 
homeland and our people. It is up to the Congress and the President to 
work together to ensure that September 11 is never repeated again.
  America must never forget the events of September 11, 2001. They 
shaped a generation of men and women across the country and thrust us 
squarely into the global war on terror. On the fifth anniversary of 
that day, the United States should pause to remember the thousands of 
innocent lives lost and the sacrifices of the military men and women 
who serve around the globe to protect our rights and freedoms.

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