Remember 9/11 Health Act

Mr. Speaker, today I extend my ``deepest sympathies to the thousands of innocent victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, their families, friends, and loved ones.''

There is no doubt that I honor ``the heroic actions and the sacrifice of United States military and civilian personnel and their families who have sacrificed much, including their lives and health, in defense of their country in the Global War on Terrorism.''

``I [honor] the heroic actions of first responders, law enforcement personnel, State and local officials, volunteers, and others who aided the innocent victims and, in so doing, bravely risked their own lives and long-term health.''

I express ``thanks and gratitude to the foreign leaders and citizens of all Nations who have assisted and continue to stand in solidarity with the United States against terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.''

There is no question that I ``[discourage], in the strongest possible terms, any effort to confuse the Global War on Terrorism with a war on any people or any faith.''

Today I reaffirm our ``commitment to the Global War on Terrorism and to providing the United States Armed Forces with the resources and support to wage it effectively and safely.''

As we all have done in this Congress over the last 3 years, I also ``vow that we will continue to take whatever actions necessary to identify, intercept, and disrupt terrorists and their activities.''

And, today I also ``reaffirm that the American people will never forget the sacrifices made on September 11, 2001, and will never bow to terrorists.''

Yes, I strongly agree with these provisions of the 9/11 resolution passed by this House today. However, I do not agree with other provisions that distort the facts and, in some cases, are simply false. Therefore, I cannot vote for this resolution.

The Bush Administration has not ``[strengthened] the authority of the Director of Central Intelligence to coordinate national intelligence activities.'' In fact, Congress is currently embroiled in that debate prompted by the 9/11 Commission Report, not by the Bush Administration.

Yes, the Administration has finally ``initiated . . . the Container Security Initiative, to extend our borders overseas and to secure and screen cargo before it is placed on ships destined for United States ports of entry.'' However, initiation of a program is a far cry from fully administering the program and contributing to our homeland security. The Container Security Initiative is, so far, a failure.

The resolution gives us the false impression that the US-VISIT border security screening system is fully operational and ensuring our homeland security. Yet, the Administration has not even connected US- VISIT port of entry systems to a central database that can handle immediate screenings upon entry.

Yes, as the 9/11 resolution states, ``a multi-agency partnership, was established to integrate the dozens of separate terrorist databases'' after 9/11. However, 3 years later, we still have multiple watch lists. The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC)--designed to be the central repository for terrorist-related watch list information--is still not complete and linked electronically to all law enforcement agencies. The DHS's Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) competes with at least 2 other Federal networks that are designed to share homeland security information between Federal, State and local officials. State and local officials still lack basic Federal security clearances needed to do their jobs. What has the Administration been doing for 3 years?

9/11 is truly a day of solace, a day to remember the victims of 9/11, a day to give thanks to those who have sacrificed so much to keep this country safe, and a day to reaffirm our commitment to the war on terror. This is also a time to honor those we lost on that terrible day and those we have lost in the fight against terrorism since.

The real way to honor those we lost would have been to do a competent job of preventing terrorism from succeeding again. But saying we have taken action is not the same thing as actually taking action. The representations about our successes in this resolution are mostly false. We should not lie to the American people about this.

The last thing this day should represent is praise for what really are failures of the Bush Administration to secure our homeland.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I thank the chairman for introducing this resolution. I stand in strong support of it.

On Friday, September 6, 2002, we had a special session of Congress in Federal Hall in New York City, and the poet laureate of the United States, Billy Collins, read this moving poem, entitled ``The Names.''

Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night. A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze, and when I saw the silver glaze on the windows, I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened, Then Baxter and Calabro, Davis and Eberling, names falling into place as droplets fell through the dark. Names printed on the ceiling of the night. Names slipping around a watery bend. Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream. In the morning, I walked out barefoot among thousands of flowers heavy with dew like the eyes of tears, and each had a name, Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal, then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins. Names written in the air and stitched into the cloth of the day. A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox. Monogram on a torn shirt, I see you spelled out on storefront windows and on the bright unfurled awnings of this city. I say the syllables as I turn a corner, Kelly and Lee, Medina, Nardella, and O'Connor. When I peer into the woods, I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden as in a puzzle concocted for children. Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash, Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and Upton, secrets in the boughs of an ancient maple. Names written in the pale sky. Names rising in the updraft amid buildings. Names silent in stone or cried out behind a door. Names blown over the earth and out to sea. In the evening, weakening light, the last swallows. A boy on a lake lifts his oars. A woman by a window puts a match to a candle, and the names are outlined on the rose clouds, Vanacore and Wallace, let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound. Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z. Names etched on the head of a pin. One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel. A blue name needled into the skin. Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers, the bright-eyed daughter, the quick son. Alphabet of names in a green field. Names in the small tracks of birds. Names lifted from a hat or balanced on the tip of the tongue. Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory. So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.

Mr. Speaker, on this day, 3 years ago, our Nation utterly changed as tragedy struck in the streets of Lower Manhattan, the fields of Pennsylvania, and here in our Nation's capital.

On this day, we also saw good rise in the face of evil and heroes rise in the face of danger.

In Lower Manhattan, many of our brave first responders knew the risks they were taking, but were determined to do their job. Police officers and EMS officials calmly escorted workers out of burning buildings as firefighters raced up stairwells of these same buildings to rescue those trapped high above.

When the day was over, and as we learned more about the tragic attacks, and loss of nearly 3,000 Americans, including 700 New Jerseyans, we witnessed neighbors and friends consoling one another and watched as Americans from all walks of life stood united--side-by-side, waving the stars and stripes, and lighting candles to honor those missing or lost.

As America rebounded and recovered, our Nation--displaying the resiliency of its people--responded to these acts of terrorism with the might of our military.

The war we continue to fight today began September 11, 2001. It began without provocation and without warning. It was not a war of our choosing but rather was made our priority. And we are fighting this war in Afaghanistan and Iraq today so that what happened on September 11 does not happen in America again.

So many of our heroes currently fighting terrorism across the globe put their lives on hold after 9/11 to join the National Guard, serve our country, and defend our freedom.

We see the character and resolve of America in these brave young men and women. And especially in this post 9/11 era, we are grateful for their service and sacrifice.

May God Bless those who continue to fight for and defend our freedom, and may God continue to bless America.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, most Americans can tell you precisely where they were and what they were doing 3 years ago when the grim news broke that the terrorists had crashed commercial jet liners into both towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania. Sadly, approximately 3,000 innocent people were savagely murdered, including 697 from my own State of New Jersey, with 60 families in my congressional district feeling the pain directly.

The extraordinary courage of the victims like Todd Beamer and Captain Chip Burlingame and so many others who sacrificed their lives in an attempt to thwart the terrorists' plots and plans, as well as the first responders who bravely ran into burning buildings, deserve the highest honor and respect a Nation can bestow. Sadly, some 374 first responders died going into skyscrapers as they were engulfed in flames. They died trying to save those who were victimized by the 9/11 attackers.

Last week, President Bush very eloquently summed up America's heart and spirit when reflecting on 9/11. President Bush said, ``I have seen the character of a great Nation, decent and idealistic and strong.'' President Bush went on to say, ``The world saw that spirit 3 miles from here,'' he was speaking at the Garden, ``when the people of this city faced peril together and lifted a flag over the ruins and defied the enemy with their courage. My fellow Americans, for as long as our country stands, people will look to the resurrection of New York City and they will say here buildings fell and here a Nation rose.''

9/11, Mr. Speaker, was America's wake-up call that transnational terrorism, especially from the likes of al Qaeda, is willing and able and determined to murder us in a massive way. Much, however, has been done by the President and by the Congress to mitigate that threat in the 3 years since 9/11.

We now know that the President, working with our coalition partners, has captured and destroyed many of the al Qaeda operatives, and the Taliban has been crushed, and we have now entered into a close collaboration with partners like Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

Much has been done to assist the victims' families, but no assistance, as we all know, can ever remotely replace their staggering loss. Still, when all is said and done, the victims' compensation fund, while not perfect, will have provided close to $7 billion to the surviving families. We also know that the Federal government has provided about $26.7 billion thus far, which has been awarded to enhance the abilities of State and local governments and first responders to prevent, prepare for, and respond to acts of terrorism and other emergencies.

Much has been done to reform our defenses, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, no small feat, particularly in this town, to do such a massive reorganization. And the Terrorist Threat Integration Center now has the left hand talking with the right hand so that intelligence is properly shared. We are all on the same page.

For its part, the 9/11 Commission, a commission created by the families of 9/11, declared that ``we are safer,'' but they also pointed out that we are ``not safe''. Over the course of the August district work period, some 26 hearings were held to respond to and to try to figure out what a new comprehensive

reform bill should look like, and I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), chairman of the Committee on International Relations, for the two outstanding full committee hearings he put together. We are now poised to act on those recommendations, and in some cases, we may opt to exceed the 9/11 blueprint.

Finally, let us all remember, if this is an extremely difficult week for us, the sense of collective violation pales compared to the pain of the families who lost their loved ones, their wives and husbands, their children, their brothers, their sisters. For them, this is the toughest week and September 11th--the saddest day. This is a day of remembrance, a week of remembrance, and our prayers and our hearts go out to the victims' families and friends, because they have lost so much and have stood up so bravely in the years since.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support and commend both the chairman and the ranking member for bringing this resolution to the floor. I think all Americans, indeed all free-loving people, come together again on the third anniversary of that dreadful day, forever to be known as 9/11, or September 11, to pay tribute to the victims who died, so many heroically, and all of them innocently, on that fateful day.

I cannot help but think that on September 11 people around the world will take a moment to remember what that day was all about, and I cannot help but think about what was happening 3 years ago today. Three years ago today, a bunch of individuals who were barbaric in nature put together the plan, the final touches that would lead ultimately to the death of almost 3,000 innocent people and how they scurried about the country, here, the United States of America, once thought to be not possible. In fact when they built the World Trade Center, no one ever contemplated an attack on our own soil; but that is what happened.

These barbarians, after reaping the fruits of what America had to offer, decided to take those planes and use those planes as missiles and kill innocent people just going about their lives, too many of whom I had the privilege to represent in Staten Island and Brooklyn. Chances are they were getting up to send their kids to school, got on the bus, took the Staten Island ferry, and walked up to the Trade Center, never to return. As we join today, there are still many families who have not recovered from that day, and perhaps some never will; but our hearts and prayers hope that they find the strength to move on.

We can never erase the lives of the likes of guys like Marty Egan who was not working in Manhattan that day but jumped on a fire engine and ran into the Trade Center to try to help. His wife, Diane, and kids live in Great Hills in Staten Island, and they try to go on; but I know it will never be the same.

There were people like Stephen Siller, a fireman who was supposed to meet his brothers to play golf, said there is an emergency, I have to go into Manhattan, and ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to help his fellow firefighters and try to save innocent people. Stephen never saw his brothers again, not to mention the hundreds, if not thousands, of others who went about their lives as they should have that day. All this while those barbarians contrived and plotted, as terrorist barbarians do, to take the life of innocent people. Let us not forget what these terrorist barbarians are apt to do. Just last week look at what happened in Russia where the ultimate acts of barbary took place and innocent children were blown up. That is what we are up against.

As we honor those who lost their lives on September 11 and give thanks to the families who have suffered every day since, let us not forget what we are up against. Let us not forget that freedom is under attack still. Let us not forget there are individuals around this globe who still want to see the destruction of the United States of America.

I commend the 9/11 report to every American to read so they can get some insight into what these individuals, these terrorists have coming, that is, they do not want to see us be free. They would rather take innocent life after innocent life after innocent life until they get their way.

I hope and pray that Republicans and Democrats long ago understood that we need to unite in a vigilant and a constant and a steadfast way to root out those evil ones wherever they may be. They may be here, they may be in the caves in Afghanistan, they may be in spots around the globe; and we do not even know the names of the towns or cities or villages they are in. If we can stay together and leave the ridiculous rhetoric aside and join with our young men and women who wear our Nation's uniform to support our Commander in Chief when he makes that claim that we are under attack, if we can somehow put our partisan differences aside and unite and stay fast for our great country, and if anything, to remember those victims who perished on September 11, 2001.

Mr. Speaker, I am forced to rise in opposition to this legislation, I do so despite my desire to commemorate the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001 and again express my sympathy to the families of the victims. But don't be fooled by the label. This legislation is no mere commemoration of the events of September 11, 2001. Rather, it is page after page of Congressional self- congratulation. It is page after page of praise for policies that have made us no safer from terrorist attack, but that have certainly made us much less free at home. Does it not strike anyone else as a bit unseemly for Congress to be congratulating itself on this solemn occasion?

This legislation is an endorsement of the policy of restricting freedoms at home that I have consistently opposed, including praise for the creation of the bloated and impotent Department of Homeland Security, the liberty-killing PATRIOT Act, and many other futile measures. It praises the notoriously ineffective air marshal program while avoiding altogether one of the most important lessons of the September 11, 2001 tragedy; The entire disaster could have been avoided with just one gun in the hands of each of the pilots. Four guns could have prevented September 11, 2001, but we are no closer to arming pilots than we were on September 10, 2001. Shortly after the attacks, I introduced a bill to allow pilots to be armed. Eventually, a version of that bill was passed, but pilots are still not armed. I also introduced several other bills to deal with the attacks of 9/11, protect us against future attacks, and do so without sacrificing our liberty.

What this legislation does not do is address some of the real causes of the hatred that lead others to wish to harm us. Why should we bother to understand the motivations of madmen and murderers? It is not to sympathize with them or their cause. It is to ensure our self- preservation. Those who oppose us and who have attacked us have made it very clear: They oppose our foreign policy of interventionism and meddling, and they oppose our one-sided approach to the Middle East. Therefore, mitigating the anger against us could be as simple as returning to the foreign policy recommended by our forefathers. We should not be stationing hundreds of thousands of our troops in more than 100 foreign countries, guarding their borders while our own remain open to terrorist infiltration. We should not be meddling in the internal affairs of foreign countries, nor should we be involving ourselves in foreign conflicts that have nothing to do with the United States. We should not be sending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars overseas to ``build nations'' and ``export democracy'' at the barrel of a gun.

Many of my colleagues like to repeat the mantra that ``freedom is under attack'' in the United States. Well, they are right. Freedom is under attack in the United States, but not only from foreign terrorists. Freedom is under attack from a government that rushes to pass legislation like the PATRIOT Act, that guts civil liberties in the United States. Freedom is under attack from those who are rushing to create a national biometric identification card and internal check- points, which will force innocent Americans to prove to government authorities that they are not terrorists. Freedom is under attack from a government that is spending itself into bankruptcy at an unprecedented pace. Freedom is under attack from a foreign policy that generates millions of enemies across the globe.

This legislation praises the number of Coast Guard boardings as one example of success, but we should not take a false sense of security from boardings. Rather, we should claim victories only if we have stopped another planned attack. Both shippers and recreational users of the gulf ports I represent have expressed concern about our new Federal policies and practices.

If we fail to heed the real lessons of September 11, 2001, we may well be condemned to see such tragedies repeated again in our land. It unfortunately seems that this is exactly what we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) for giving me the opportunity to speak on this resolution.

I know that most, if not all, Members who have spoken on the resolution have spoken in a positive way; but I feel it is necessary to point out some aspects of the whereas clauses in this resolution that do not stand up to scrutiny and in fact are false.

The resolution says that the war in Iraq is a responsible and necessary response to the attack on our country of September 11. I think that this resolution in saying that, which is blatantly false, does a disservice to our country, and does a disservice particularly to all of the victims of the attack of September 11. The war in Iraq had nothing to do with the attack of September 11. We know that from our own study of this issue.

Anyone in this body who has read the Senate Intelligence Committee report, 511 pages, knows very well that that report debunks the notion that the war in Iraq is a necessary response to the attack of September 11. The Senate Intelligence Committee report makes it clear that Iraq had nothing to do with the attack of September 11; and that in addition, Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. There was no connection between Iraq and al Qaeda, no connection between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. The Senate Intelligence Committee report says so precisely and clearly.

Furthermore, the independent commission known as the 9/11 Commission which studied this issue also very closely and very carefully in a bipartisan way came to precisely the same conclusion, that there was no connection between the attack of September 11 and the war in Iraq, and that the President has taken us to war in Iraq without any foundation whatsoever.

So this resolution in its whereas clauses presents information as if they were facts, but they are clearly not facts. They are wrong; they are misstatements of the facts.

The resolution goes on to say, for example, that the international military coalition is very active here and engaged in this activity, but the fact of the matter is that this international coalition is falling apart. Six nations have already withdrawn. Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Spain, the Philippines, Norway and Nicaragua have already left a coalition that in the first place was not very large. Poland, the Netherlands, and New Zealand are planning to withdraw.

So the statement in this resolution, particularly in the whereas clauses, and I wish I had more time because there is a whole host of things that need to be addressed here, the whereas clauses stipulate things which are blatantly untrue. This resolution is unfortunate.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution would have been much better if the people who put it on the floor here had not decided to bring us a political document. We ought to be commemorating the event of September 11, 2001. We ought to be thinking of it in a solemn, honest, and sincere way. We ought to have uppermost in our minds the people who were killed in that attack, more than 3,000 of them; but we ought to do it in a way that does honor to their sacrifice, not in a way that dissembles, not in a way that presents information that is not factual, not in a way that is dishonest in our presentation.

Unfortunately, that is what this resolution does in its whereas clauses. The resolved clauses I think is fine, but in the whereas clauses it stipulates things that are false and untrue.

Why do we have a political document like this on the floor? Why do we have a document that is not clear, not honest, not sincere, not in keeping with the sacrifice made by those people? That is what we ought to have, but unfortunately we do not have.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and for his leadership on the Committee on International Relations in working on so many issues in a bipartisan fashion. I just want to also say thank you to our chairman, the gentleman from Illinois, and rise today to respectfully disagree with this resolution in terms of the content of it and talk a little bit about for a minute the intent.

First, I think we should during this period remember the victims and the families and all of those who died during the horrific attack of 9/ 11. We express our sorrow for these families, for New York, for Virginia, for those on Flight 93. My former chief of staff, his cousin was on Flight 93. These individuals were heroes, and they saved many lives. So today we must remember them, and we must talk also and remember the fact that we need to fully fund our first responders and those who came to the rescue of so many. We need to provide the funding for homeland security, and we need to move forward to address a real war on terror.

I might remind this body that the 9/11 Commission, bipartisan Commission, the 9/11 Commission, reported that there was no connection between 9/11 and Iraq. This resolution really puts all that together and forces a vote for Members of Congress who believe in the 9/11 Commission that there was no connection. This resolution says that there was a connection between 9/11 and Iraq. There was no connection, as the 9/11 Commission mentioned, between al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

Again, why are we putting forth a resolution that convolutes the issue? We know that the war on terror has been botched. We know that in Iraq over 1,000 of our young men and women have died, and we know that al Qaeda is still strong, and we know that America is not any safer.

And so, Mr. Speaker, I think today we need to be honest with the American people, and we need to remember those who gave their lives, who were so viciously killed, in a resolution that does just that. This resolution does not do that. This resolution promotes a policy of connecting the war on terror with the war against Iraq, a perspective and a distortion of fact that the 9/11 Commission indicated was not real, and I think we do a real disservice to the people of our country and to the world community by not being truthful during this very somber moment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the victims and remember the families of those who were killed in the horrible tragedy that occurred 3 years ago this coming Saturday, September 11th. We will always mourn the tragic loss of life and never forget the sacrifices made that day. Likewise, we will always support our troops and their well being.

Unfortunately, the resolution before us today goes far beyond paying tribute to the victims of 9/11. The resolution falsely reaffirms a connection between the attacks of 9/11 and the war in Iraq. These connections simply never existed and repeating this falsehood again and again will never make it true. The President's own 9/11 bipartisan commission has reported that there was no connection between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks. This resolution does a disservice to the American people.

The administration's preemptive, virtually unilateral war in Iraq has made us and indeed the world a less secure place. I cannot ignore the fact that over 1,000 American lives have been lost. Nor, can I disregard the significance of the 7,000 members of our Armed Forces that have been wounded including the untold thousands of Iraqi lives and the lives of other international non-combatants.

For these reasons, I am unable to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend we pause to remember the third anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We pause to recollect the full meaning of the lives lost--nearly 3,000 Americans and foreign nationals. Our compatriots were not just casualty figures. They were mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters. They were best friends and good neighborhoods. They were lovers and loved ones. They were employers and employees. Their best contributions were still ahead of them.

We pause to recall the first responders who rescued thousands from the twin towers. We recall with amazement their bravery as they went into the towering infernos. And we recall that had it not been for heroic action of passengers abroad Flight 93, al Qaeda's terrorists might have crashed that airliner into the White House or the Capitol Building instead of a field in rural Pennsylvania.

On this third anniversary of 9/11, we also pause to reaffirm our determination to triumph over fear. We reaffirm our determination to foster tolerance in our land and in the world, to build respect for all faiths, and to promote the collaborative action of people and governments across the globe, to mobilize for mutual development rather the civilizational destruction advocated by Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and other adherents of radical Islamist fundamentalism.

On this day and this occasion, our thoughts turn to the survivors of 9/11 and the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. It is impossible to calculate their enduring pain. Yet, we are inspired by how these families have turned their tragedy into effective action. Their dedication to the memory of loves ones lost led to the creation of the 9/11 commission, which in turn led to a set of recommendations for intelligence and homeland security reform that if implemented could better protect our nation, make us for secure, and positioned to share peace and prosperity with the world.

As a country, we must be as determined as the 9/11 families. We must be as determined now as we were on 9/11 to bring to justice the perpetrators of this colossal assault on human decency. But, mindful of all that has transpired since then--on the one hand a just but unfinished war in Afghanistan, on the other hand a disastrous diversion and unparalleled miscalculation in Iraq--we must proceed in meeting the al Qaeda challenge with wise leadership, with patience and persistence, with global allies, with sound plans, with focused effort.

Most of all, we must proceed together as Americans. We must reclaim the unity of purpose that gripped all of us on 9/11. I remember well utter destruction that took place on that beautiful September morning. But, I remember even better how every New Yorker, every American-- Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, and Arabs, Jews, gentiles, and Muslims, rich and poor--came together as one.

We must reclaim that spirit and that purpose. We must overcome those among us who have distracted us by using our suffering as a nation for narrow and selfish political gain or have diverted resources, personnel, time, and energy from the struggle against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. We must regain the momentum and solidarity befitting a great people and a great nation focused on accomplishing great deeds of remembrance for the victims of 9/11.