Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the terrorist attacks launched against the United States on September 11, 2001.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it has been 8 years since our country and the entire world stopped and looked on helplessly as the slaughter of innocents at the hands of al Qaeda unfolded before our eyes. And although we watched in safety, our fear and hopes were enmeshed with those who, without warning, were suddenly forced to fight for their lives and for those of the friends and strangers around them. It is a true miracle that so many escaped destruction, but we will forever mourn the thousands who perished on that terrible day. Our sorrow, however deep, cannot match those whose loved ones were taken away from them on 9/11. But we will always share a part of it even for those whom we will never know. The passage of years has not smoothed the deep impressions that we will bear for the rest of our lives.

But as Americans, it is not in our nature to resign ourselves to helplessness, even when facing seemingly impossible challenges. Instead, we instinctively rally and focus our minds and efforts on meeting and overcoming the threats that we face. We have always done so, and we have always won.

If there is anything useful that we could take away from this tragedy it is the unmistakable warning we have been given of the unseen dangers that we face in this new century. From that, a clarity of vision and a new understanding of the world has emerged. Over the past 8 years we have come to know our enemies. We have learned that their hatred of us, our success, and our freedom is too deep to be changed by concessions and appeals to reason. We now grasp the magnitude of the threat, and it is a global one. Other countries have come under attack and so can no longer deceive themselves that, once again, this is a menace for the United States to handle alone while they stand safely on the sidelines. We have uncovered their hiding places in caves, in villages, in deserts, in cities, in jungles, in back alleys in nations far away, as well as right here in our own homeland.

But it would be a mistake if our successes lead us to believe that the danger has passed. We have seen destruction descend from clear and sunny skies and know that it can happen again. To hope that our enemies will abandon their mission, to relax our watch, is to invite destruction.

President Lincoln said that those who are responsible for our Nation's course, which includes the Members of this body, cannot escape history. We have a responsibility to do all in our power to ensure that our country is secure and that America's promise for the world that generations have labored and fought for and died to protect remains whole and unbounded.

How we meet this reality will repeatedly test our national character. We are right to remember and mourn those men, women, and children who died on that day so sharply etched in our minds that it seems like yesterday. But this tragedy must be redeemed by a new understanding of our duty to our beloved country and to our fellow citizens and by what it is to be an American.

As long as we draw breath, we will remember those who, asking nothing other than to live their lives in peace, were brutally murdered by men without conscience or mercy. Let those of us who remain be steadfast, be courageous, and live lives worthy of their great sacrifice and thereby honor their memories.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner), our respected Republican leader.

I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence), the chairman of our Republican Conference.

(Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. King), the ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, who lost so many of his constituents that day on 9/11.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), the ranking member on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen), an esteemed member of the Committee on Appropriations who also lost constituents that day.

Yes, we would be more than happy to do so. We were waiting to see if some of the speakers who had reserved time would show up; but since they are not here yet, we would be more than pleased to give you some of our time, 1 minute.

Do you need an additional minute? I think we only have how much time, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank my good friend from New York and our chairman, Mr. Berman, and Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Boehner for this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the 9/11 attacks on our Nation, we must also recall that it was an attack on our way of life. It was an attack on what we stand for, on what we represent. What is it that we represent? Freedom, democracy, liberty.

These are the values that distinguish our Nation, our people, from our attackers, the belief in freedom, the belief in democracy, the belief in liberty. And as we recall this somber anniversary of this resolution before us, let us honor the memory of those whom we lost, the murdered, for it was a crime, and the heroism of our public servants, our first responders, our ordinary fellow citizens who were so extraordinary that day, who discovered the extraordinary courage of self-sacrifice on behalf of their fellow citizens, some of whom they had never met, including many of us in this building.

And let us resolve that 9/11 will not just be an anniversary that we commemorate with an interesting and touching ceremony, but that 9/11 is really a symbol of what America is about, how we dealt with that struggle, how we dealt with that devastation, how we dealt with that sorrow and what we said we would do as a people, that we would not let this attack go unanswered.

And to frame the events of that day as they should be framed, as freedom versus oppression, as tolerance versus hatred, as incitement versus understanding. And this is what we fight for to this day: for freedom, for tolerance, to make sure that we can just not recall the days of 9/11, but also honor the memory and what they stood for.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege now to recognize the cosponsor, the main sponsor of the resolution, the majority leader of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the resolution and commend the majority leader and the minority leader for their good work. We have before us an excellent memorial resolution. It is succinct and strong and truly expresses what I believe to be the position of the entire House.

As we consider this resolution, I would suggest that every Member take a moment to close their eyes, if they are in their offices, turn off the chattering of the television or the importuning of their staff and try to think back to September 11, 2001. It really was 8 years ago.

Remember how beautiful that day was. Perfect. A clear, crisp September day with a cloudless sky. Remember where you were when you heard that our Nation was under attack, when you first saw those awful images of the towers gushing black smoke and the Pentagon in flames. Remember the thousands of our fellow Americans who perished in the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon. Remember the inconceivable heroism of the first responders who rushed into the flames and the chaos in order to save others.

Remember the defiant courage of the passengers on United Flight 93 who lost their lives but probably saved the most glorious symbol of our democracy in the world, the U.S. Capitol, and many, many who were working here on that day. Remember our shock and fury. Remember our national unity and the feeling of common purpose. Remember how the whole world stood with us and shared our outrage and our agony.

These memories are available to all of us if we take but that one moment. We all experienced these events, and all that's needed is to take a moment, to set aside a little bit of time and let it all come back. Why? Is it a morbid fascination with catastrophe? Is it merely to justify some policy or expenditure? I would suggest two other reasons.

First, memory is what we owe to those who were so unjustly murdered. We cannot bring them back and we cannot give meaning to the horrific act that took them from us, but we can remember them as our fellow Americans, as people whose lives were connected to thousands of our fellow citizens who still mourn them to this very day.

Second, I think we should take a moment to ponder the last 8 years. What have we done in response to that day? What have we learned? What do we still owe to those who died? And what we have used their deaths to justify? Have we made the world a safer place? Have we made our homeland more secure? Will the next generation of Americans face more or less danger because of our actions? Each of us will still have our own answers to those questions, just as each one of us remembers that awful day uniquely.

I yield myself another 15 seconds.

In this great Nation which gives each person complete freedom of thought, belief and expression, in which the governed choose who will govern them, the meaning of 9/11 and the consequences of that terrible, terrible, terrible day remain for us to decide, each man and woman for themselves. All it takes is that moment to remember.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. McMahon).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich).

Mr. Speaker, could I request of the gentlewoman from Florida if she has the time and would be willing to lend us one of her minutes.

Thank you so much. And if someone shows up and you need the time, I would be happy to make a unanimous request that that be restored to you.

Mr. Speaker, it is now my pleasure to recognize the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell) for 1\3/4\ minutes.

I yield myself 10 seconds.

We have no further additional Members, so if the gentlewoman would like to close we will wait on the Speaker if she chooses to close as well.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, the day after that horrific event, I was back in New York. I went to the piers where the people were waiting to claim bodies and hear of missing loved ones.

There was a gentleman before this huge wall where people had posted pictures of relatives that were missing. And there was one gentleman standing there--it was close to midnight--all by himself, in traditional Orthodox Jewish garb, with a long black coat and large black-brimmed hat standing in front of a picture of someone who looked remarkably like him.

And he just stood there stone-faced. And I just went over and stood next to him as one of the firemen called him to my attention. And he said, without turning away from the picture that he was looking at on the wall, the missing person, he said, That was my brother. He is gone. He called me moments before the building collapsed. He said he knew what was happening, but he would not leave his workplace.

He worked in a station next to a young man from Puerto Rico who was sitting in a wheelchair and who was frightened. And he said, My brother told me I will not let him stay here to die alone. And they were holding hands when his brother hung up the phone. That was the kind of bravery we saw from Americans, all kinds of Americans on that fateful day.

Let us remember them and the sacrifice they made.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield for the purpose of a unanimous consent request to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke).

(Ms. CLARKE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

I thank the distinguished gentlelady from Florida for her cooperation in this bipartisan effort and expression of the House.

I yield the balance of our time, 1 minute, to the distinguished Speaker of the House to close the debate, Ms. Pelosi.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from New York and the distinguished gentlelady from Florida.

This is a duty that we do not relish, but that we obligate ourselves to be able to be reminded of the lost souls of September 11, 2001. It changed the innocence of America, but yet we stood tall as we mourned with these families from far and wide that we are America that believes in justice and civil liberties and, yes, the Bill of Rights.

The Homeland Security effort was born during that time. I began to serve on the Select Committee and now the Homeland Security Committee. The work we do every day should be silent work, but it is work to ensure that the Nation's airlines and airports, train stations and railroads and mass transit and everywhere we go protects the American people. It is a world that stands up against terrorism, but understands that America can be a friend.

So today, as we come together as a Congress, as we did those few years ago and stood on the front steps singing ``God bless America,'' I rise today to tell those families we will never forget them. And it is our obligation to be diligent, to be responsive, and to be remembered.

God bless America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the H. Res. 722. The legacy of the events of September 11, 2001 still resonates today. We will never forget the harrowing experience of the loss of more than 3,000 lives that marked this national tragedy. We will never forget the events of that day, nor those who paid the ultimate price. We will forever remember how the country suffered profound sadness, the likes of which we as a nation hope to never experience again.

Mr. Speaker, I recall vividly the intense emotions evoked as the attacks unfolded. The nation watched in horror as two airliners crashed into the Twin Towers and brought down the World Trade Center. That horror intensified as we witnessed an attack on the Pentagon, and a crashed airplane in Pennsylvania. Horror turned to anger as it came to light that the attacks were the actions of hate-filled cowards who had no respect for human life. I remember too, that in the aftermath of these senseless attacks, we came together as a nation and with friends from around the world united in grief and sadness. That moment transformed our country and the world, as the resolve of our nation strengthened and our principles hardened.

We remember the heroes from that day; those who ran into the danger, sacrificing themselves to save strangers. They were the brave firefighters, police officers, and civil servants who died in the service of protecting others. We remember the heroes from United Flight 93 who overpowered the terrorists and gave their own lives to prevent the deaths of countless others. We hope that their families can take some small measure of comfort knowing that Americans have made a permanent place for those heroes in our hearts.

In Houston, we mourned the loss of two of our own: Naval Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Martin Caballero and Army Lieutenant Colonel Karen Wagner. Twenty-one year old Petty Officer Caballero was an electronics technician who had a bright life ahead of him. Forty-year- old Lt. Col. Wagner had a distinguished career as a medical personnel officer in the office of the Army surgeon general. Both lives were taken when United Flight 77 was steered into the Pentagon. Also Councilmember Toni Lawrence lost her dear sister to this horrible tragedy.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that we also pay tribute today to those who have fought the wars born from September 11. In the years since that tragic day, our country has fought ardently to eliminate the enemies who would work to perpetuate the culture of fear and violence born from 9/11.

The men and women of the U.S. military prove daily that their commitment to protecting and defending our country is steadfast. Let us remember those who fought and died while serving the country, let us honor those who continue to fight, and let us pledge our unending support for our soldiers and their families.

As a Senior Member of the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees, I believe that we must continue to honor the fallen by working to prevent needless deaths. In the years since September 11, 2001, Congress has worked hard to make sure that such a tragedy will never happen again. In large part, we have taken heed of the advice of the 9/11 Commission and built a strong system to prevent future attacks.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before this body to say that our work is not yet done. Our nation's rail and mass transit lines continue to be vulnerable. Millions of Americans rely on our rail and mass transit for transportation. Terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2006 indicate that transportation routes continue to be potential security threats. We must not let another tragedy occur. As Chair of the Transportation Security Subcommittee--we are working to increase America's security.

Preventing terrorism at home begins with addressing terrorism abroad. We must engage nations that are susceptible to the influence of extremists and arm them with the tools to fight radicalism. That means increasing education, improving living conditions, and increasing the capacity to govern. The struggle against terrorism will be won in the hearts and minds of people around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all members to join me in supporting H. Res. 722. Let us remember this day and the tragedy that befell the nation by properly honoring the victims with our renewed commitment to America's security and Democracy.

Mr. Speaker, this week we commemorate the eighth anniversary of the most devastating attack on our country since Pearl Harbor. The planes which destroyed the World Trade Center towers took off from Boston. The planes carried 142 passengers and crew members, many of them were our neighbors, and the catastrophe almost 200 miles south in Manhattan was also a catastrophe for victims' families and their loved ones and friends in communities across Massachusetts.

The September 11th attacks demonstrated that America's very strengths--its technology and its open society--could be turned into weapons and used against us. We have spent much of the past eight years trying to reduce the opportunities for terrorists to exploit our vulnerabilities; while we can claim significant achievements we must admit that the job is not done.

Two years ago, the Democratic Congress passed legislation to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, designating it as our top priority--H.R. 1. But much work to implement the bill's provisions and other needed homeland security upgrades is still needed, and it is now up to the Obama Administration to end the years of delays, obstruction and catering to industry's demands that was characteristic of the Bush Administration's homeland security policy.

I authored a provision in the 9/11 law to require the screening, within three years, of all the cargo carried on passenger planes to a level of security commensurate with the level of security applied to passengers' checked bags. The statutory deadline is less than one year from now, in August 2010. I am concerned that the system developed by the previous administration to implement the 100 percent screening requirement is facing significant challenges and must be quickly remedied by this Administration in order to comply with the law.

A requirement that I helped to insert into the 9/11 law contains a mandate to scan all inbound maritime cargo at its point of origin by 2012, unless the Department of Homeland Security chooses to extend the deadline for a particular port or group of ports because of technological, economic or other barriers. I believe that Congress included sufficient flexibility in the statutory requirements to address any delays in meeting the 2012 statutory deadline for maritime scanning that may have been caused as a result of inaction by the last Administration, and now the Obama Administration is tasked with implementing this vital security safeguard.

Since 9/11, Congress has enacted legislation to secure the aviation, maritime, rail, mass transit, nuclear energy and other sectors. But what we have yet to do is act on comprehensive legislation to secure the facilities that make or store dangerous chemicals. Instead, we have relied on the incomplete, inadequate and loophole-ridden legislative language that was inserted into a 2007 Appropriations bill behind closed doors that amounted to little more than a long run-on sentence. The Energy and Environment Subcommittee which I chair will soon act on comprehensive chemical security legislation that will close the loopholes in part by requiring each high-risk facility to assess whether it could use safer processes or technologies and provide authority to ensure that the highest-risk facilities do so if it is economically and technologically possible.

The upcoming anniversary is a time for reflection and commemoration. But it is also an opportunity to review the progress we have made towards improving the security of all Americans.

On this 8th anniversary of a terrible tragedy, I am taking time to both remember those who we lost and to rededicate myself to ensuring that such a tragedy will never again be allowed to occur.

I thank the distinguished chairman and gentleman from New York. I thank Mr. Pence for his remarks. On many days, this floor is a place for heated debate, and that is, of course, as it should be. That is what our Founders intended. But at this moment, as Mr. Pence, the chairman of the Republican Conference pointed out, and as I will point out as the majority leader on the Democratic side, there are no Democrats or Republicans on this floor because we join to remember and mourn the attack on America, not on Democrats or Republicans, but on America and on its values and on what it stands for throughout the world: freedom and justice.

September 11, 2001, was a day of grief and of shock, of fear and of anger. But today it can and must be something more: a day to rededicate ourselves with memory and with service to the ideals that make our Nation great, as I said earlier, freedom, pluralism, equality, the rule of law, and justice. Those, no less than our buildings and our citizens, were the targets of the 9/11 terrorists.

Though buildings crumbled and the dead are lost to us, it is in our power to see our ideals remain strong and unscathed.

So on this eighth anniversary, along with the Republican leader, Mr. Boehner, I am proud to introduce this resolution marking September 11 not only as a day of remembrance, but also a day of resolve.

So many conflicting emotions marked this indelible day: grief for nearly 3,000 men, women and children murdered; heartfelt sympathy for those who loved and lost them; and an unspeakable pride in the first responders, firemen, policemen and medical personnel who served and, indeed, sacrificed on that day. Among the 3,000 are numbered 343 firefighters, 37 port authority officers and 23 police officers who died serving their fellow citizens as they ran into danger's jaws, not away from.

Alongside them in honor stand the passengers of the United Flight 93, ordinary Americans, who discovered their extraordinary heroism at a moment of crisis and who quite possibly saved this building, this Chamber, and the Capitol dome from ruin. It is my own view that that was the target of this third plane, to strike down that dome which here in America and throughout the world is a symbol of freedom, pluralism, justice and, yes, democracy.

We also remember the sacrifices of our troops, not only those who lost their lives under our flag, but those who make the everyday sacrifice of separation from family and home. Not all of us are called to serve as heroically, but in hundreds of small acts of dedication to our communities, we can emulate their service in ways both large and small. That is our resolve today. And along with it, we resolve to take the lesson of our vulnerability to heart.

We commit ourselves to defending America from whatever threats may confront it, with all of our military force, all of our diplomatic skill, and all the power of our moral example.

Our lives are limited, but we have in our keeping the ideals and truths that have animated our Nation since its founding, and that, we trust, will outlive us, outlive all of us, to light the lives of our children and grandchildren, and as a great-grandfather, let me say for generations to come.

They have lived through war, through economic crisis, and through the gravest attacks. Now, while they are in our keeping, let us defend them, serve them, live for them, and pass them down unharmed and undamaged.

All that, my fellow colleagues, on behalf of the 300 million people who have sent 435 of us here to represent their views and their aspirations, their courage and their commitment. Let us again resolve today, may we hold it for tomorrow and every day thereafter.