[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12076]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it seems it was just a few minutes ago, but 
it wasn't; it was 15 years ago that, just a few feet from where I stand 
now, I went to a meeting. It was approaching 9 o'clock, and no one was 
in the room, S-211. Senator Breaux from Louisiana walked in, and he 
said: Flip on the TV. And we did. We could see the tower had been hit 
in New York. We thought a plane had hit it by mistake. So we shut off 
the TV and Senator Daschle came in and started the meeting. In just a 
few minutes, some people came in and ushered Senator Daschle out of the 
meeting. He came back in quickly and said: The building has to be 
evacuated; there is a plane headed toward the Capitol. As we walked out 
of the room and looked out the window, we could all see the smoke 
billowing from the place we learned was the Pentagon. I will always 
remember that. Of course I will. And, of course, we have learned since 
of the many heroes of that day--people running not away from danger but 
toward danger.
  On that day, I was first taken home. I had to rush back to the 
Capitol, through police barricades. Four Members of the leadership were 
helicoptered out of the Capitol to a secure location outside of DC. As 
the sun was going down, we came back to the Capitol steps. Barbara 
Mikulski, the Senator from Maryland, who is known for giving dynamic 
speeches, didn't give a speech that day. In front of this bipartisan 
group of Senators, she very simply said: I think what we should sing is 
``God Bless America.'' We all did that. It was a beautiful rendition of 
all the varied voices of Senators, Republicans and Democrats, singing 
that song. We didn't know what that meant--what tomorrow would bring--
but that gave us some inspiration to think about how great our country 
is.
  The perpetrators sought to attack our democracy, our way of life, but 
they failed. The tragedy of that day reminded every American of our 
collective strength and resilience, led by George Bush who did such a 
remarkable job of rallying the Nation.
  We exhibited the best of ourselves in front of the world, and we 
resolved to degrade and destroy the terrorists responsible. After many 
failed attempts and in spite of some people saying ``Let's wait,'' 
President Obama said ``Let's do this.'' And they killed Bin Laden. That 
was the right thing to do. It was a courageous move on behalf of 
President Obama but the right thing to do. He was ultimately brought to 
justice.
  Today, 15 years later--I will always remember that experience a few 
feet from here, but we will all remember, in our own way, September 11, 
and in our own way honor the victims and the heroes of that day and 
never forget. We are always stronger together when we are united.

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