[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16205]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO FLIGHT 93

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I would like to include the remarks made by 
Mr. Gordon Felt, former President of the Families of Flight 93, for the 
Record in honor of the Congressional tribute held earlier this morning. 
I want to extend my gratitude to Mr. Felt and the Families of Flight 93 
for their tireless commitment to honoring the heroic sacrifice of their 
loved ones.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Good morning. Mrs. Toomey, Mrs. Casey, the entire host 
     committee and members of the House and Senate joining us 
     today, to our partners at the National Park Service and 
     National Park Foundation and to those family members in 
     attendance, I stand before you with an overwhelming sense of 
     pride knowing that this building, this symbol of our nation's 
     great democracy, perhaps would have been destroyed were it 
     not for the selfless actions of 40 brave men and women aboard 
     United Flight 93. For without their courageous stand taken on 
     September 11, 2001, our Capitol building and many of those 
     serving within, perhaps some of you, may have been further 
     victims of the terrorism that fundamentally changed our lives 
     and our country on that dark day. With each visit to the 
     Capitol I make time to pass through the Rotunda and view the 
     magnificent plaque dedicated to the actions of the passengers 
     and crew of United Flight 93. While the traumatic 
     repercussions of September 11, 2001 have been deeply felt by 
     each and every family member that lost a loved one that day, 
     and by the community of Somerset County whose lives and way 
     of life have been forever changed, I appreciate the conscious 
     awareness of those serving in this building of the fact, that 
     as tragic as that day was to our country, it could have been 
     significantly worse.
       As family members that lost loved ones aboard United Flight 
     93, we struggle continually with our loss. Our lives over the 
     past eleven years have all taken differing paths with one 
     common factor that will forever bind us together. Our family 
     of Flight 93, forged in tragedy and thrust into the public 
     domain has provided an avenue by which we can advocate for 
     those family members that will forever remain alive in our 
     hearts and minds. This journey has not been easy for any and 
     more difficult for some.
       For some families and individuals, withdrawal into their 
     personal lives at home, or fresh new starts beyond the reach 
     of the media and chaos of September 11th have been an avenue 
     of survival. Others have joined in community with family 
     members suffering similar loss and have found comfort with 
     the understanding that comes from shared tragedy. And there 
     are others that have continued to move forward masking their 
     grief as they approach life one day at a time . . . 
     surviving. Within our families there are others that have 
     made a conscious decision to serve as advocates, representing 
     the interests of the Families of Flight 93 through the Flight 
     93 National Memorial Partnership. No avenue of healing is 
     proper and correct for all, just as no closure will ever be 
     felt for those experiencing such great loss.
       Our families are spread out across the globe and represent 
     a unique diversity in culture. Yet, when we gather together 
     each year on the anniversary of September 11th, we are one. 
     Somerset County, Pennsylvania has become an extension of our 
     homes and the community has welcomed us into their hearts 
     unconditionally even as they struggle daily with the impact 
     of events set in motion on September 11, 2001. Their lives 
     have been impacted in ways that they are still coming to 
     understand. Yet there is a strength and wholesomeness in the 
     people of Somerset County that provides great comfort to our 
     families. They proudly stand as Ambassadors working hand in 
     hand with the National Park Service ready to tell the story 
     of our loved ones to any and all that visit the memorial.
       The Flight 93 National Memorial is more than a tribute to 
     40 heroes. Its existence serves our country in a far greater 
     capacity than just as a place marker for history. Over these 
     past 11 years we have come to realize that the Flight 93 
     National Memorial has a quality within similar to that of 
     Gettysburg or Pearl Harbor. A strong sense of purpose, of 
     loss, yet triumph permeates the entire site and only becomes 
     more intense as visitors approach and gaze upon our Sacred 
     Ground. The memorial was designed to honor 40 heroes, but 
     also serves in the short term to help heal a generation of 
     Americans deeply affected by the traumatic effects of 
     September 11th and stands to preserve a piece of our cultural 
     heritage in order to educate and inspire future generations.
       ``Do what is right, not what is easy.'' Since September 
     11th this mantra has guided so many within our Flight 93 
     National Memorial partnership and our extended Flight 93 
     National Memorial Family. Whether it is in the halls of 
     Congress, Harrisburg, Somerset, or Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 
     this project has been joined by all that appreciate the 
     personal, political, cultural and historical impact September 
     11th has had on our country and freedom loving peoples around 
     the world. On one of the bleakest days in our history, the 
     trial of 40 individuals helped us remember that we are strong 
     with an unquenched thirst for freedom and that no person or 
     ideology will ever cause us to waver from a course that was 
     set in motion by our forefathers.
       In those defining 22 minutes when our loved ones 
     experienced a horror beyond comprehension, they collectively 
     chose to act. Not as individuals, but as a force ignited by 
     the love of family, love of freedom and a superiority in 
     spirit unwilling to sit back and allow an evil so incarnate 
     to suppress their dreams and desires. They were thrust 
     together by events not caused by individual existences, but 
     by social, political, and religious forces that sought to 
     break our spirit through terror. How can we not stand in awe? 
     How can we not celebrate their spirit? How can we not honor 
     those 40 individuals that have been woven into the fabric of 
     our nation's proud history? The Flight 93 National Memorial 
     will ensure that their efforts, their actions and their 
     spirit will not be forgotten.

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