[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 13350-13351]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I can remember events 12 years ago so 
clearly. I was not far from here at the time. I was in S-219, which is 
a meeting room. That is where Leader Daschle held his leadership 
meetings every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. I was the first one in the 
room. Senator John Breaux from Louisiana came in and said: Flip on the 
TV. There is something going on in New York.
  We turned on the TV, and it looked as though something happened in 
New York. We just thought an airplane had malfunctioned or something 
had gone wrong to cause the plane to hit that tower.
  So the meeting started and the TVs were off. We were doing our 
business of the day when suddenly a group of police officers came in 
and grabbed Senator Daschle and took him outside. He came back very 
quickly and said: There is an airplane headed for the Capitol. We have 
to get out of here.
  There was a lot of confusion, to say the least, as staff and Senators 
were ordered out of the buildings--plural. As we left S-219, we looked 
out the window toward the Pentagon, and smoke was billowing out of it. 
We could see it so very plainly. At that time we didn't know what was 
happening; we just knew we had been ordered to get out of the building.
  Of course, we all have memories of what took place that day. I was 
the assistant leader, as was Senator Nickles from Oklahoma. Senator 
Lott was the Republican leader, and Senator Daschle was the Democratic 
leader. We were taken in helicopters from the west front of the Capitol 
to a secure location. When I was taken to the west front of the 
Capitol, the scene was eerie to say the least. There were lots of 
people in black uniforms trying to create order out of confusion. 
Without going into a lot of detail, we went to a location, and the Vice 
President was there. He met with us and kept us informed as to what was 
going on with the President. We spent the day there and then came back 
to the west front of the Capitol, where all Members of Congress 
gathered. Barbara Mikulski, for lack of anyone having a better 
suggestion, said: We should sing ``God Bless America.'' She got the 
song started, and that was extremely memorable.
  We are going to have a ceremony in a few minutes out front, and I 
will talk a little bit there. The four leaders have been asked to talk 
out there.
  We did have a moment of silence regarding the more than 3,000 people 
who were killed in New York, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon. In 
addition to those 3,000 people who were taken from us permanently, 
thousands of other people were injured, some of them permanently 
injured. Some of them have missing legs, some are blind, and some 
suffer from paralysis. So we raise our voices today in celebration of 
America's spirit and perseverance. May we never forget 9/11.
  It is also worth mentioning that on this day we also honor what took 
place

[[Page 13351]]

a year ago in Libya, where one of our stellar Ambassadors was murdered 
along with three of his brave colleagues. They were all killed in 
Libya. Our country remains committed to seeking justice for them and 
every American victim of terrorism, and that is what the debate of 
Syria is all about--terrorism.
  Before I began the caucus yesterday, when the President came, my 
introduction to the President was a film that was created by Senator 
Feinstein and others. It is about 12 or 13 minutes long, and it shows 
what went on in graphic detail with the brutal chemical weapons attack 
in Syria where these children were left to die. Remember, these poisons 
get the little kids first.
  Senator Durbin has a Palestinian on his staff. We all know Reema. She 
does the whip count for Senator Durbin and for me. I had her listen to 
the film. I watched it and she listened so she could give me some idea 
of what people were saying there. They were yelling. It was so sad. 
Mostly they were praying. It was very, very sad to see people holding 
little babies and saying: Breathe, breathe. They couldn't breathe. We 
could see the perspiration on some of them. They dumped water on them--
anything to give them some relief. The video showed rows of dead 
people. Hundreds of them were little children. Some of them were 
dressed in their play clothes, little fancy, colorful T-shirts.
  Even as we pay tribute to America's tradition of freedom for every 
citizen across the globe, an evil dictator denies its citizens not only 
their right to liberty but also their right to live. The Asad family is 
pretty good at killing people. The New York Times had an article over 
the last 24 hours about his dad, because of the failed assassination 
attempt, killing 30,000 people he thought needed to be killed--30,000. 
That country, Syria, denies its citizens the right to liberty, but even 
more significant the right to live.
  Yesterday I showed the video at the caucus. No one wanted to see it. 
I didn't want to see it again. It was all I could do to glance up. I 
had already seen it. Those visions will always be in my mind. I showed 
my Senators a video of this: little boys and girls and grown men with 
their eyes crusted, frothing from the mouth. It was such unspeakable 
scenery. They were convulsing, writhing, spasms from the poison gas he 
used to murder his victims. It was hard to watch, but it confirmed all 
of our conviction that the United States must not let the Syrian regime 
go unpunished for using something that is outlawed. Those weapons are 
not to be used in a war, let alone used on a bunch of innocent people.
  Yesterday the President spoke to two caucuses. He spoke last night 
and made a compelling case for military action against the Asad regime. 
As the President said, we have to send an explicit message not only to 
Syria but the rest of the world. Remember--who has more chemical 
weapons than Syria? Only one country--North Korea. Think about that. If 
they get away with this, what is North Korea going to do? Then are we 
going to have a marketplace for purchasing chemical weapons? The use of 
chemical weapons by anyone, any time, anywhere, including the 
battlefield, should not be tolerated.
  Preventing these weapons from being used is not only in our own 
national interests, but it is in the interests of the world. Diplomacy 
should always be the first choice. That is who we are as a country. So 
we have been asked to temporarily suspend consideration of the Syria 
resolution to allow for these conversations to take place around the 
world.
  Tomorrow our Secretary of State is meeting with the Russian Secretary 
of State, Mr. Lavrov, to explore in fact if this is a legitimate 
proposal. Talking and action are two separate things. So what the 
Republican leader and I have spoken about--and we will talk more about 
it today--is to see what we can do to give the President the time and 
space our country needs to pursue these international negotiations. We 
will report back at a later time. America must remain vigilant and 
ready to use force if necessary, and Congress should not take the 
threat of military action off the table.
  I want to spend a little time talking to Senator Menendez, the chair 
of the committee. I want to talk to other Senators who are trying to 
work something out on their own, and I will do that.
  Leaders in Damascus and Moscow should understand that Congress will 
be watching these negotiations very closely. If there is any indication 
this is not serious--that it is a ploy to delay, to obstruct, to 
divert--then I think we have to again give the President the authority 
to hold the Asad regime accountable. So it is our determination not to 
let Asad's atrocities go unanswered. How we answer is a question we 
will continue to pursue. But it is very clear that we wouldn't be where 
we are today--even my friend, the junior Senator from Kentucky, today 
said the reason we are having the possibility of a deal is because of 
the President threatening force.
  It is interesting. Asad has even denied, until just recent hours, 
ever even having had chemical weapons. So it is in Syria's power to 
avoid these strikes, but that will require swift and decisive action on 
the part of the Asad regime to relinquish these weapons. We need a 
diplomatic solution to succeed, but saying we want one doesn't mean it 
will happen. So he must quickly prove the offer to turn over Syria's 
chemical weapons is real and not an attempt to delay.
  All eyes are on the Russian President, President Putin. We all know 
he was formerly head of the KGB. We all know about the KGB. He is the 
President of that very big country. We are also grateful that even 
though relations aren't perfect with Russia, they are OK--so much 
better than they have been prior to the breakup of that massive 
country, the Soviet Union.
  We hope Russia is a productive partner in these negotiations. Any 
agreement must also assure it is possible to secure these chemical 
weapons in spite of the ongoing civil war, to keep those stockpiles out 
of the hands of terrorists.
  In short, I am happy we have some conversations going to see if this 
can be resolved diplomatically. I certainly hope so.
  I apologize to my counterpart, the Republican leader, for taking so 
much time.
  I yield the floor.

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